Insights From Bessel "The Body Keeps Score

 Healing Trauma Through Shamanism: Insights from Bessel van der Kolk

In recent years, trauma has been recognized as a deeply complex psychological and physiological experience, impacting not just the mind but the body. Bessel van der Kolk, renowned psychiatrist and author of The Body Keeps the Score, has been at the forefront of understanding how trauma is stored in the body and how traditional therapies, like talk therapy, often fall short. What’s fascinating, though, is how many of his findings align with ancient shamanic practices—a healing system that has been around for thousands of years.

In both van der Kolk’s work and shamanic traditions, there is a shared understanding that trauma is not just a mental event but an energetic one, trapped in the body, needing to be released for true healing.

Trauma: The Body Remembers

Van der Kolk’s work emphasizes that trauma is not just a psychological scar but a disruption in the body’s nervous system. His research shows that traumatic experiences are stored in the body, often causing individuals to remain in a fight-or-flight state long after the original event. The body, in essence, “remembers” trauma in the form of chronic tension, hypervigilance, and emotional reactivity, which traditional therapy ,in my opinion,often cannot fully address.

This idea—that trauma is stored in the body—is central to many indigenous healing systems, especially shamanism. Shamans view trauma as an energetic wound, a spiritual disruption that leaves a person fragmented. In many shamanic cultures, trauma can cause a loss of personal power or “soul loss,” requiring healing at both the energetic and physical levels.

Shamanic Healing and Trauma

Shamanism offers a different approach to trauma, one that goes beyond talking and dives into the energetic, emotional, and physical aspects of the body. A key practice in shamanic healing is “soul retrieval,” a method designed to reintegrate fragmented parts of the self that may have been lost during traumatic events. This is remarkably aligned with van der Kolk’s understanding of dissociation, where parts of the self become disconnected as a coping mechanism for survival.

Shamanic practitioners use techniques like drumming, chanting, or journeying to access altered states of consciousness. These states allow them to connect with the spiritual realm, where they believe healing can occur. Drumming, for example, is used to shift brainwaves into a state similar to deep meditation, facilitating a space where trauma can be processed on a subconscious and energetic level. Van der Kolk’s research on trauma therapies like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or neurofeedback, which also rely on rhythmic patterns and altered states, shows how modern science and ancient practices can overlap in their methods of trauma healing.

Releasing Trauma Through the Body

One of van der Kolk’s most significant contributions is his advocacy for body-based therapies like yoga, somatic experiencing, and movement therapy. These techniques help individuals to reestablish a sense of safety and presence in their own bodies, teaching them to release the chronic tension stored from trauma. Yoga, for instance, helps survivors feel their body again, to safely explore sensations, and to reclaim their own breath and movement.

Shamanism has long employed movement and bodywork as integral parts of healing rituals. In many shamanic cultures, dance and bodywork are used to expel stuck energies, reconnect individuals with their bodies, and realign them with the natural world. Both shamanic practice and van der Kolk’s trauma research suggest that healing trauma requires more than intellectual understanding—it needs the body’s participation.

Bridging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Science

Bessel van der Kolk’s insights into trauma reveal what ancient healers have known for centuries: the body holds onto emotional and spiritual wounds, and healing requires engaging with the body and its energetic systems. Shamanism offers tools to access these deeper levels of trauma, facilitating the release of blocked energy and helping individuals reclaim their power.

While modern therapies continue to evolve, it’s important to recognize the profound wisdom inherent in shamanic healing practices. When approached with respect, these ancient methods can offer a path to wholeness that deeply resonates with the growing body of trauma research. In a world where trauma is all too common, combining the insights of van der Kolk’s work with the rituals of shamanism may offer a more holistic approach to healing the body, mind, and spirit.

In the end, both paths remind us that trauma, as Bessel van der Kolk would say, “lives in the body.” And through practices that integrate body, mind, and spirit—whether they stem from modern psychology or ancient shamanism—true healing becomes possible.

~Shanti Freedom Das