Body/Mind Connection

The Mystery within...

I had a freak accident this past January while walking in a wood with my son and our dogs.  A six inch rotted tree limb fell on my head, knocking me to the ground and temporarily stunning me.  Our walk ended abruptly with a trip to the Emergency Room where I received five staples to close the bloody gash on my head.  Later, when I told my acupuncturist what happened she said,  “It looks like the universe is trying to tell you something.”  I told her, “I’m all ears.”

It will soon be June and I am still feeling residual effects from that bump on the head.   I’m now seeing an Occupational Therapist for cranial sacral massage to see if she can help put things back in order so when I bend over to tie my shoes I can do it without pain in my eyes and head.  We are making progress along with unexpected discovery.

As my therapist’s caring and skillful hands worked to realign what the tree limb had disturbed, traumatic memories from my childhood came flooding back with surprising emotional intensity.  My strong reaction recalled my reading of Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk’s book, “The Body Keeps the Score” and his words regarding abuse, “The body needs to learn the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present.”  The mystery deepens for me on the body/mind connection and the many layers of slow healing needed from past abuse.  I also became aware there are real steps to successful forgiveness of the other that cannot be passed over lightly.

I reviewed some of Robert Enright’s writing on the process of forgiveness, particularly his caution that we not forgive prematurely before we gain real insight into how much the past injury has affected our life.  Enright states, “A fundamental step in coming to offer forgiveness to an offender is clarifying the nature of the offense and how it has compromised one’s life.”  I guess my body has recently reminded me of that.   

Coming in contact with those strong emotions still hiding in my body was a real surprise. I am grateful for their revelation along with the knowledge that healing from abuse is slow work, and the fundamental steps to real forgiveness cannot be passed over lightly.  It also left me knowing how open and non-judgmental I need to be toward others on their own healing journeys and forgiveness.

What if the universe could be gentler in telling us what we need to know?  Would we still learn?