If the Body Keeps the Score, Let the Soul Call the Time-Outs
“The soul can heal itself, but it needs the support of the body.” — Deepak Chopra
There are so many reasons that Bessel van der Kolk’s book, “The Body Keeps the Score” has resonated so deeply with us. Anyone who has survived trauma recognizes that notion — your body is your “check engine” indicator, the silo where you store your experiences (good and bad), and your ring doorbell, alerting you to possible danger or triggers.
I know my body keeps the score. My body woke me up at the exact time and date every month for a year following being awakened and assaulted by an intruder. Once the year was up, it stopped. But it returned on the year anniversary every year for five years. Then stopped completely. My body had stored this memory, my subconscious set off the alarm, and the event was observed again in the calendar of dark things. Most of the time, I had no awareness of the date when these things happened, but my body knew.
If you’ve survived any kind of trauma, you probably have similar stories of your body acting or reacting of its own accord, because it has a way of holding memory. How we respond to sudden changes, noises, words, music, smells, triggers of all kinds are dictated by this cell memory. The body does, indeed, keep the score. And that’s why it’s so necessary to let your soul…
