How To Regulate Your Nervous System For Stress, Anxiety, And Trauma | Peter Levine

10% Happier with Dan Harris

The creator of somatic experiencing shows Dan how to heal trauma through the body. Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., has spent the past 50 years developing Somatic Experiencing. He holds a doctorate in Biophysics from UC Berkeley and a doctorate in Psychology from International University. His work has been taught to over 30,000 therapists in over 42 countries. He is the author of the new book, An Autobiography of Trauma.

Content warning: This episode includes discussions of rape and violence.

In this episode we talk about:

• How to do somatic experiencing. You’ll see Dan play the role of guinea pig + make weird sounds
• The difference between somatic experiencing and talk therapy
• Somatic experiencing practices we can implement into our lives
• Why some people feel horror/terror at the thought of re-occupying the body and how to overcome those fears
• What the research says – and how these practices around body awareness have gone from the fringes to entering the scientific mainstream
• And how to move through ancient wounds – and enrich our lives (whether we have trauma or not)
• Practices to fortify us in times of difficulty
• Facing mortality

This episode was first published in April 2024.

Related Episodes:

• Become An Active Operator Of Your Nervous System | Deb Dana
• What Science and Buddhism Say About How to Regulate Your Own Nervous System | Deb Dana & Kaira Jewel Lingo
• How to Live with the Worst Things That Ever Happened to You | Stephanie Foo
• An Ace Therapist Gives Dan A Run For His Money | Dr. Jacob Ham
• How to Get Out of Your Head | Willa Blythe Baker

Get ready for another Meditation Party at Omega Institute! This in-person workshop brings together Dan with his friends and meditation teachers, Sebene Selassie, Jeff Warren, and for the first time, Ofosu Jones-Quartey. The event runs October 24th-26th. Sign up and learn more here! On Sunday, September 21st from 1-5pm ET, join Dan and Leslie Booker at the New York Insight Meditation Center in NYC as they lead a workshop titled, "Heavily Meditated – The Dharma of Depression + Anxiety." This event is both in-person and online. Sign up here!

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