In this “The Body Keeps the Score”-esque conversation, Rebecca and I we explore how our nervous systems hold onto past experiences and how movement-based practices (cough like yoga) can help reprocess these patterns that are quite literally stuck in our brains.

Rebecca explains the difference between big “T” and little “t” trauma, why we hold on to the familiar, top-down vs. bottom-up approaches to therapy, and how EMDR works.

“When someone is drowning, it’s not the time to teach them how to swim.” Sometimes we need to feel safe before we can go into that deeper work. Once we start the deeper work, as overwhelming as it might seem, remember that even a 1% change can shift everything.

Whether you're working through your own trauma or simply curious about the mind-body connection, this episode offers insight, personal reflection, and hopefully gives you a few tools for moving forward.

Rebecca is a trauma and somatics therapist and fellow Ashtangi, and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & DROP ME A RATING. Thank you!!!

Rebecca’s website and teaching schedule: ⁠⁠https://www.malayogaco.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabUDxxQIUVU1GqOn_tglMU3RmHnlGEEdprQYQRtFbC6LKoJUxiIOyXSuQ4_aem_GYNezuFw8J9nwRtipvdHEA 

Find Rebecca on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/rebeccagraceferguson/ 

Find me on Instagram:⁠⁠@marlasyoga⁠⁠

Practice yoga with me on Sādhaka Studio:

⁠⁠https://sadhakastudio.uscreen.io/catalog⁠⁠

Come with me to Costa Rica:

⁠⁠https://www.wetravel.com/trips/for-the-seekers-ashtanga-yoga-retreat-sadhaka-67726403

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

05:40 Defining trauma: Big “t” trauma versus little “t” trauma

14:13 How to begin to process stuck traumas

16:12 Marla’s experience with talk therapy

19:04 Top-down approaches vs. bottom-up approaches and getting to the root of trauma

22:18 How EMDR reprocesses the stuck patterns

26:20 It gets more familiar for us to stay stuck than it is to heal

27:13 How to get to the “root” of the trauma

31:28 How yoga can be another bottom-up approach to reprocessing trauma

36:14 Self-study

38:58 Having a teacher that believes you can do it when you don’t 

43:27 How trauma can be inherited or passed down through generations 

51:40 Asking myself why

52:42 A 1% change is a change; it’s a different system

56:35 The power of finding your thing