June 24, 2026

173: Recognizing & Touching Trauma (with Dr. Peter Levine) Listener Favorite

53 minutes

🎙 Recognizing & Touching Trauma (with Dr. Peter Levine)

By popular demand! Originally aired as Episode 108, Til’s conversation with Dr. Peter Levine quickly became one of our most listened-to episodes ever — and it’s easy to hear why. The developer of Somatic Experiencing®, bestselling author of Waking the Tiger, and student of Ida Rolf shares how trauma lives in the body, how hands-on practitioners can recognize it, and how we can be most helpful when it shows up on our tables. Whether you missed it the first time or you’re ready for a second listen, this one rewards a revisit.

✨ Topics:

• How bodyworkers can recognize trauma as it’s held in the body — bracing, breath holding, and the “snapshot” of past responses

• The vagus nerve and gut-brain feedback loops: why 80% of its fibers carry signals from body to brain, and how to send the “all clear”

• What wild animals and NASA astronauts taught Dr. Levine about resilience and bouncing back

• Why pushing too hard backfires: “talking to the shoulders” with patient, supportive touch instead of forcing change

• Dr. Levine’s evolving view that Ida Rolf was “largely correct” about fascia — and how nervous system and tissue work fit together

• The four women who shaped his work: Charlotte Selver, Magda Proskauer, Ida Rolf, and Mira Rothenberg

• Trauma as “what happens in the absence of an empathetic other” — and how practitioners create relative safety

• Scope of practice: where bodyworkers’ trauma work ends and psychotherapy begins

• Healing rituals, shamanic traditions, and why community matters in trauma recovery

• Practitioner self-care, burnout, and Dr. Levine’s end-of-day river ritual

✨ Resources:

• Somatic Experiencing® International — trainings and practitioner directory: https://www.somaticexperiencing.com

• Peter A. Levine, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

• Peter A. Levine, An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey

• Mira Rothenberg, Children with Emerald Eyes

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• Jane – Try the Jane practice management app free for one month with code THINKING1MO at https://a-t.tv/jane

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• ABMP – Save $24 on new membership at https://abmp.com/thinking

• Books of Discovery – Save 15% with code thinking at https://booksofdiscovery.com/

• Advanced-Trainings – Try one month free of the A-T Subscription with code thinking at https://a-t.tv/subscriptions/

• Academy of Clinical Massage – Grab Whitney’s free Assessment Cheat Sheet at https://academyofclinicalmassage.com/cheatsheet

✨ Watch the video / connect with us:

• Whitney Lowe – https://academyofclinicalmassage.com | https://facebook.com/WhitneyLowe | https://twitter.com/whitneylowe | https://www.youtube.com/@whitlowe

• Til Luchau – https://advanced-trainings.com | https://facebook.com/advancedtrainings | https://instagram.com/til.luchau | https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancedTrainings/podcasts

📧 Email us: [email protected]

The Thinking Practitioner Podcast is intended for professional practitioners of manual and movement therapies — bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, physical therapy, osteopathy, and similar professions. It is not medical or treatment advice. Rolfing® is a registered trademark of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute.

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By Til Luchau & Whitney Lowe

4.9

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