your body memory

After I started giving myself reiki treatments, a most peculiar thing began to occur. In random moments, my jaw would pull downward and force my mouth open, and it would then lock my mouth in that open position - usually for a minute or two. This was fine during reiki treatments. But then it began happening elsewhere - often when I was driving. Considering that when your mouth is open for a while, you start to drool, this was definitely not something I wanted to continue. I had no idea what this meant, or what to do. I asked my reiki practitioner about it once and she said that I would know what it meant eventually. Argh.

Recently, I was relaxing in savasana after yoga. All of a sudden, I had the passing thought that perhaps my jaw thing was due to my burn - that it was opening my mouth in a scream that I never screamed. But then I dismissed the idea - it seemed too crazy.

Well .. I went to see a shamanic counselor on Friday (who I'd recommend, by the way). I happened to mention my randomly locking jaw because it was happening even more frequently last week. She said something about body memory, pulled out a crystal, and began asking questions. She wasn't asking me, so I assume she was asking my body. As soon as she asked the first question (is this a body memory?), I burst into tears without the faintest idea why. She got that it was a body memory, that it was from age 6, and that it was a sound and an action.

I was 6 when I was burnt. Clearly my crazy idea wasn't so crazy after all.

Comments

[tammy]

i love the simplicity of michelle's site.
wow! clearly you are becoming more and more intuitive to your inner self . . and it's wonderful. i can see that kind of trauma being hidden for so long . . . especially in a little child that only lives in the 'today' world. don't you wish we didn't live in such a labelling world? . . so that when we connect with the mind, body and spirit, our first thought doesn't have to be "my crazy idea." As you say, clearly your idea wasn't crazy at all. i predict that one day you will KNOW that you know these things and not need anyone else's validation. and then what a fantastic feeling of freedom you'll have!!! (not that i have that knowing... i'm working on accepting it too!)

[Elizabeth]

tammy: I hope so! I would love to trust myself .. :) but I do trust that we will both get there!

[Toni]

I'm always fascinated by your stories, E. I must admit that I have a hard time grasping the concept, but that doesn't mean I'm closed to it. I'm learning a lot from you. :)

[Mella]

great sharing, Elizabeth. I agree, our bodies do have a complete memory of all completed and incompleted actions... yet we are so conditioned to ignore our own wisdom and intuition. Good for you for having the courage to peel off some of the layers and trust yourself!

I am experiencing some healing myself relating to childhood tooth fillings that are being expelled from my mouth ~ my acupuncturist has been helping me see the connection between my adult body ridding itself of toxins and the healing that needs to take place from the time they were put in.

fascinating stuff.

Continued healing to you relating to that trauma at 6...

[Elizabeth]

what's also interesting is that 7 months ago, I would've found it impossible to grasp most of this myself. clearly there has been a slow and steady shift .. :)

[Elizabeth]

that is fascinating! I'd love to hear more about the tooth story if you need an idea for a blog post .. :)

[Julie M.]

That is really interesting! That is very intuitive of you to have "known" something about your jaw.

Several years ago, I (as well as some family members) had seen a woman who specializes in reflexology and myofascial release/unwinding in the U.P.. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen and felt. She was trained in the John Barnes method -link-(http://www.myofascialrelease.com/mfr/mfr_what.asp)
and talked about the body having memory as well and although it's hard to explain, as she works on people, their hands/elbows/ankles/etc. will often assume a position in which an injury occured in the past. Does that make sense at all? When I was done with the treatment., my entire body did the hugest stretch on its own will and I let out one big sigh. :) It was wonderful. I highly, highly recommend it.

Random story: My brother went many times to a myofascialist in MN due to an accident that broke bones in his leg. At one of his final treatments, he walked in with his limp that he'd aquired from his injury and didn't realize until he was walking later that day that his limp was completely gone. It was unbelievable!

I think there are so many alternative treatments out there that people need to hear about from a personal view. Thanks for sharing yours, Elizabeth. The shamanic counselor you see sounds amazing- she seems uniquely and impressively qualified. :) I hope it continues to help you.

Wow, this was really long and rambling.

[Elizabeth]

thanks for sharing your stories! I am so interested to try myofascial release now - but there isn't anyone in Portland. (Now isn't that funny that I could see someone in the U.P., but not in Portland, LOL) It sounds like it was just what your body needed!