When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress By Gabor Mate

17 Dec When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress By Gabor Mate

Gabor Mate’s book about the body-mind-spirit connection is fascinating. The central theme that echoes throughout the book is about how emotional in/competence is intrinsically linked to the functioning of our biochemical and psycho-neuro immune system. Disease seems to be the way the body screams “No!” and advertises its dis- ease, causing us to take notice and make the necessary changes at the pain of more and more suffering and even death if its warnings are unheeded. The change, however, is not merely about adopting healthier eating habits or positive mindsets. The change really is whatever it takes – mind, body, spirit/soul – for us to develop into autonomous, awakened, emotionally competent, differentiated selves.

Body-mind-spirit connection

Gabor drums home the paramount importance of loving and accepting oneself, regaining autonomy and agency over one’s own life and learning to connect emotionally to oneself and others in a mutually satisfying sense of interdependence. He strenuously rejects the practice of treating the body, mind and soul as separate entities, and proposes that clinicians, therapists, healers the world over should treat each human being compassionately and wholly.

TRE supports wholistic connection

This view resonates strongly with tension and trauma release exercises (TRE) as we work to ground and centre ourselves when we are doing TRE, cultivating a loving and compassionate felt sense of self in body, mind and spirit, which can be sensed energetically through the physical vibrations of our body. As the tremors make their way throughout the entire body, working through blockages, pain, tightness, injuries and more, one gets a sense of ones entire body’s outline i.e. boundary, full of pulsating life with the richness of emotions, memories and sensations. In addition, as TRE honours and returns autonomy to individuals, the locus of control is returned to oneself and one is given the permission to decide what they are willing and want to do. At the same time, however, as trust and self-awareness grows, there comes a deep felt sense of confidence to surrender to the natural tremors and in that shift, gain confidence in one’s own body and come to know, deeply know one’s own self.

TRE is a powerful yet simple way to help people get out of their heads and be more in their body, focusing more on being more than doing. It is not uncommon then that as people do more TRE, pain, wounds and injuries that go beyond the physical nature start to surface and are gently released. That affirms the body-mind connection which Gabor Mate talks about in his book. The evidence presented in his book validates how TRE can aid in the release of toxic energies trapped in our bodies which may otherwise result in the development of life-threatening and life-reducing diseases and infirmities.

7As of Healing

The 7 As of Healing Gabor talks about in Chapter 19 of his book summarizes how we may develop emotional competence and whole-body approaches to enhance our body’s natural immune system.

The 7As are as follows:

1. Acceptance: the willingness to recognize and accept how things are.
2. Awareness: reclaiming the lost capacity for emotional truth recognition and learning how to read and heed the messages of our body
3. Anger: to allow a physiological experience of angry emotion without acting out as nature’s way of allowing us to assert ourselves in a way that says’s “I matter”; anger respects personal boundaries.
4. Autonomy: allow the development of an internal center of control; the freedom to decide what you want in body, mind and spirit with healthy, autonomous boundaries
5. Attachment: seeking and making connections with self and the world around us
6. Assertion: making the declaration to ourselves and the world that we are, and we are who we are
7. Affirmation: Cultivating a healthy and positive body-mind and soul/spiritual connection

I would certainly be incorporating these 7As into my work with clients. Drop us a ping if you would like to get in touch or find out more!