{"id":2424,"date":"2020-03-24T11:21:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T11:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillpointcounselingandwellness.com\/?p=2424"},"modified":"2020-03-24T11:21:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T11:21:34","slug":"resilience-and-collective-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillpointcounselingandwellness.com\/?p=2424","title":{"rendered":"Resilience and Collective Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jessica King, MSW, LCSW, E-RYT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a crazy time we live in right now, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Truth be told we are experiencing trauma on a global level.\u00a0 Not one person has been exempt from having an experience related to the pandemic.\u00a0 It is witnessed through news when other countries are severely impacted, and we see their pain.\u00a0 It is experienced locally when businesses shut down, there are limited resources, and when we hear of \u201cthe first confirmed case of COVID19\u201d in our area. It is experienced as fear in our nervous systems because at a basic level all our bodies want to do is survive.\u00a0 When our survival is threatened our nervous system sends smoke signals out to react in ways to protect it. So the stress you feel rising in your body is a normal and beautiful response to protect you. We start to experience stress and fear as trauma when we feel an inability to follow through with protection or keeping ourselves safe.\u00a0 My favorite definition of trauma is one I heard from Hala Khouri, trauma informed yoga teacher and somatic experiencing practitioner. She said, \u201cTrauma is \u201canything that overwhelms our capacity to cope and leaves us feeling helpless, hopeless, and out of control\u201d. Sound familiar??\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But, the most amazing thing about our bodies is that we have the ability to transform from trauma.\u00a0 All the challenges, all the bad things, all the fear can impact us in so many severe ways, but our bodies want to be in balance.\u00a0 Our body works everyday to bring us back to a place of balance and health. We call this resilience, and, man, are we resilient!!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am a trauma informed therapist and bear witness to individuals that do the hard work daily to transform from the challenges they face due to experiencing trauma.\u00a0 Some ask me, \u201chow do you do that everyday?!\u201d My response is \u201chow can I not do that everyday?!\u201d. The truth is that I do it everyday because I have the privilege to witness the strength and unbelievable resilience in each person I work with.\u00a0 I see first hand that transformation does happen and people do recover from horrible experiences. In witnessing the struggle and the strength and the vulnerability of my clients (and, yes, all three of these things can happen together), I am reminded of the strength of the human spirit and the connection we all have to something great and beautiful and powerful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No one wants bad things to happen, but the reality is that bad things do happen.\u00a0 What we do to cope and empower matters afterwards. This helps our resiliency and makes us stronger in the face of future challenges.\u00a0 And, maybe this is why I am not freaking out as much as the Coronavirus comes to hit closer to home. While I know the virus has some potentially harmful and huge effects on our physical and financial health both locally and globally, I also know that we as a people are resilient.\u00a0 We are powerful beyond what we even know right now. We have a chance for personal and collective healing and transformation. The healing starts personally, but we are all in it together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the thought of healing and transformation in mind, I want to offer some tangible practices to take away.\u00a0 These are to be incorporated while you are practicing social distance, but they are practices for life.\u00a0 I would suggest a normal self-care routine also.\u00a0 For example, f<\/span>ill your body with nutritious food, get outside, exercise, get enough sleep, start a meditation practice, and build a routine for yourself.\u00a0 Your routine will increase overall wellness and give you a system for the things you can control in a time period where much is out of your control.\u00a0 So do the things!!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, I also want you to consider these practices:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n