Our body remembers and holds deep within the tissue of our being what the mind and heart may have forgotten. What we experience in our lives, our tissues remember.

Whether physical, mental, or emotional trauma, the physical body remembers the experience of the mind and vice versa.

In an effort to help us feel safe and so that we know how to respond and survive any given experience, the nervous and muscular systems develop a protective reaction for future threats. We develop a durable and robust defense mechanism or coping skill.

The problem occurs when this function no longer serves us and we are left with reactions shutting down, avoiding, dissociating, or habitual tension patterns. We find ourselves in an endless cycle of tightness and exhaustion due to an over-functioning of the sympathetic system—fight, freeze, or flight response.

So when we experience something in our environment that reminds us even slightly of a previous experience or emotion, we then unconsciously choose to avoid, tighten, and re-enact previous responses.

When we include the body in Sexual Healing during holistic counseling, we help bring into awareness non-verbal wisdom and embodied knowledge that shifts and ultimately assist us in releasing that which does not serve us. We then can make space for growth and vitality. This provides experiential healing and understanding that may not be present in traditional sit and talk therapy.