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There I was, standing on my yoga mat in a Warrior 2 position, Fear is a Liar<\/em> was playing in the background, and then the instructor invited us to look back over our shoulder gazing at our fingertips.\u00a0 She then said, \u201cbring to mind those times in your past that hurt. See that they are behind you.\u00a0 Now turn your gaze to our outstretched arm in front of you. What does it feel like to know your future is still before you? Now bring your attention to your core, your place here at the center. Be present in the moment. Appreciate the feeling of this strong pose of Warrior 2.\u00a0 Allow God to heal and strengthen you in this place.\u201d\u00a0 In that moment I found myself sobbing on my yoga mat. My experience occurred during my YogaFaith Instructor training.\u00a0 We were being guided through a \u201ctrauma sensitive\u201d class.\u00a0 It never occurred to me that my body was carrying around the marks of trauma until that emotional release on my yoga mat.<\/p>\n My Warrior 2 sob session came to mind as I read The Body Keeps The Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma <\/em>by Bessel Van Der Kolk. Kolk is a world leading psychiatrist and researcher who has focused most of his study on trauma, the ways in which trauma leaves imprints within the body, and developing methods \u201cthat utilize the brain\u2019s own natural neuroplasticity to help survivors feel fully present and move on with their lives.\u201d[1]<\/a> Kolk applies his trauma theorist expertise of over 30 years to help the average person understand the dynamics of trauma; trauma has a layered impact that is mental, emotional, and neurological, but also physiological. The Body Keeps the Score <\/em>is broken into 5 major sections including: The Rediscovery of Trauma, This Is Your Brain on Trauma, The minds of Children, The Imprint of Trauma, and Paths to Recovery.<\/p>\n I am very fascinated with the subject of trauma and the ways it is embodied in people and communities.\u00a0 Reading through the first section of The Body Keeps the Score I began wondering about the ways trauma seems to be impacting the body of Christ. Kolk talks about his Rorschach research with veterans and discovered that trauma affects the mental flexibility \u201cwhich is the hallmark of imagination.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Kolk goes on to say that \u201cImagination gives us the opportunity to envision new possibilities.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 There seems to be a clear connection to Friedmans claim that an anxious system is reveal through \u201cimaginative gridlock.\u201d[4]<\/a> This begs the question how much is the toxic system in a church due to trauma that goes unaddressed? Kolk ends chapter one saying that for there to be healing the body needs to experience and know safety and called to live in the present.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 So what are the Biblical stories that connect us to this concept of healing leads to shalom? For me it is marked by Jesus\u2019s engagement in the communities through the healing stories.\u00a0 Jesus seems to communicate that healing is not just about a cure but perhaps more importantly about restoration of relationships within the community, and therefore restoration of the community itself.<\/p>\n It is the restoration of individuals that motivates the skills\/teaching certifications I have pursued.\u00a0 Both Yoga (as Kolk mentions in chapter 16) and scuba are avenues that have proven to be therapeutic for healing for those with PTSD.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 Curating spaces and experiences for people to have a rewiring of their brains is important gospel work.\u00a0 And if the anxious stuckness of our churches is connected to trauma it seems paramount for church leaders to pay attention to the ways we can offer the shalom God has provided.\u00a0 When we invite restoration of the individual, we affect restoration for the community.<\/p>\n Imagine yourself standing on your yoga mat in Warrior 2\u2026you are invited \u00a0to look back over your shoulder gazing at your fingertips. Now bring to mind those times in your past that hurt. See that they are behind you.\u00a0 Now turn your gaze to our outstretched arm in front of you. What does it feel like to know your future is still before you? Now bring your attention to your core, your place here at the center. Be present in the moment. Appreciate the feeling of this strong pose of Warrior 2.\u00a0 Allow God to heal and strengthen you in this place<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> M.D, Bessel van der Kolk. 2015. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma<\/em>. Reprint edition. New York, NY: Penguin Publishing Group. Page 3.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid. Page 19.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Friedman, Edwin H., and Peter Steinke. 2017. A Failure of Nerve, Revised Edition: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix.<\/em> 10th Anniversary edition. New York: Church Publishing.<\/p>\n