Podcast Summary: "You Make Sense" – Episode: When We Feel Like We're Going Backward in Our Healing

Release Date: December 24, 2024

Host: Sarah Baldwin, SEP
Podcast Description: You Make Sense serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the human experience, empowering listeners to navigate life with freedom and ease. Leveraging the latest neuroscience and trauma research, Sarah Baldwin provides somatic tools to help individuals overcome obstacles and create their desired lives.

1. Understanding the Healing Journey: Forward or Backward?

Sarah Baldwin opens the episode by addressing a common misconception in the healing process: feeling as though progress is regressing. She states, “We are making incredible movement, and more often than not, it doesn't always feel that way” (00:45). Baldwin emphasizes that the sensation of moving backward is, in reality, a sign of forward progress in understanding and healing.

2. The Information Gathering Phase vs. Embodied Healing

Initially, individuals embark on their healing journey with enthusiasm, absorbing vast amounts of information through books and podcasts. Baldwin explains, “We learn so many things in our lives, but nobody teaches us how to navigate the human experience” (02:30). This cognitive phase, while essential, often leads to overwhelm because understanding alone doesn’t equate to lasting change. Baldwin notes, “The more we know isn't always the more we know” (04:10), highlighting the gap between knowledge and embodiment.

3. The Dominance of the Nervous System

Baldwin delves into the role of the nervous system in shaping our experiences. She asserts, “Your nervous system shapes your entire experience” (05:00), influencing sensations, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors. This lack of awareness about the nervous system keeps many in a state of "sleepwalking," where unconscious patterns dictate their lives.

4. Transitioning to Somatic Healing

Recognizing the limitations of purely cognitive approaches, Baldwin introduces somatic healing as the next critical step. She explains, “After we gain all of this understanding, it is important that we now get into our bodies” (13:00). Somatic healing involves regulating the nervous system to move from intellectual awareness to embodied experiences, facilitating genuine healing.

5. The Emotional Rollercoaster of Becoming Embodied

As individuals begin to embody their healing, they may experience intensified emotions, which can feel like regression. Baldwin shares her personal experience: “After I regulated my nervous system, all of a sudden I was feeling Anxiety and panic and terror and sadness” (22:50). This surge of emotions signifies deeper layers of trauma being accessed and addressed, a necessary part of the healing journey.

6. Introducing the Concept of Energy Wells

Drawing from somatic trauma modalities like Somatic Experiencing, Baldwin introduces the concept of Energy Wells. She visualizes capacity building in the nervous system: “It's like your nervous system is standing in front of you... there's an opening between my hands” (27:00). Energy Wells progress from small capacities (“thimble size”) to larger ones (“swimming pool”), representing an individual’s ability to hold and process trauma energy.

7. Building Capacity and Discharging Trauma Energy

Baldwin emphasizes the importance of expanding one’s capacity to hold traumatic energy safely. She explains, “We are building our capacity to hold more activation” (28:20). By regulating the nervous system, individuals can discharge ancient trauma energy, transitioning their Energy Wells from confined spaces to expansive ones, ultimately leading to greater freedom and aliveness.

8. Navigating Parts Work and Inner Child Healing

As capacity builds, dormant parts of oneself begin to surface, requiring attention and healing. Baldwin states, “You build your capacity not just to hold all of this energy, but also to hold aliveness in our bodies” (33:10). Addressing these inner parts facilitates the integration of past experiences, allowing individuals to move beyond their historical traumas.

9. The Importance of Skilled Clinicians in Healing

Baldwin underscores the necessity of working with skilled practitioners in somatic and trauma work. She warns, “If you're feeling panicked or dissociated after a session, that means they're overwhelming your nervous system” (40:30). Effective healing requires professionals who can guide individuals safely through challenging emotions without causing further dysregulation.

10. Metaphors and Visualizations for Understanding Progress

Throughout the episode, Baldwin uses vivid metaphors to illustrate the healing process:

• Digging Through a Tunnel: Healing is likened to excavating a tunnel, with breakthroughs resembling reaching light at the end (35:00).
• Autonomic Highway: Referring to the polyvagal theory, she describes the nervous system’s states as a highway with different lanes (dorsal vagal shutdown, sympathetic mobilization) (19:45).

These visualizations help listeners grasp the complexities of their healing journeys and reinforce that perceived setbacks are integral progress markers.

11. Listener Q&A: Addressing Common Healing Challenges

The episode concludes with a Q&A segment where Sarah addresses listener questions, providing practical insights and reinforcing the episode's key themes.

a. Overcoming the Difficulty of Receiving

Listener Question: "I have a huge receiving block and struggle to receive anything, leading to burnout from being an overgiver. How can I open my receiving portal?" (31:18)

Sarah’s Response: Baldwin explains that difficulties in receiving stem from past trauma where vulnerability was met with rejection. She emphasizes the importance of reparenting one's inner parts and building capacity for receiving. Practical steps include:

• Start Small: Receiving from nature, such as enjoying a hug or feeling the sun.
• Reparenting Parts: Addressing protective inner parts that have learned to deflect receiving to prevent pain.
• Gradual Expansion: Building nervous system capacity to hold and process new experiences of receiving without overwhelm.

b. Dysregulated Nervous Systems and Chronic Illness

Listener Question: "How does a dysregulated nervous system contribute to chronic illness, and why do symptoms seem worse when you start to feel better?" (32:08)

Sarah’s Response: Baldwin connects chronic dysregulation to unresolved trauma affecting organ systems through the vagus nerve. She explains how chronic fight or flight states can lead to conditions like IBS, autoimmune issues, and more. When individuals begin regulating, heightened awareness of bodily sensations can make symptoms feel more intense temporarily. This is not regression but increased embodiment and awareness, leading to genuine healing.

c. Sarah’s Personal Healing Journey and Inspirations

Listener Question: "Can you share more about your healing journey and who inspires you?" (42:44)

Sarah’s Response: Baldwin shares her challenging upbringing, marked by poverty, a narcissistic mother, and childhood abuse. She details her transition from dissociation to healing through various somatic modalities. Her inspirations include mentors like Deb Dana, Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, and personal influences like nature and Mr. Rogers. Baldwin highlights the importance of mentorship and continuous personal growth in her journey.

12. Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Sarah Baldwin reinforces that feeling like one is moving backward in healing is a natural and necessary part of the journey. She encourages listeners to:

• Recognize Progress: Understand that emotional setbacks signify deeper healing.
• Build Capacity: Gradually expand the nervous system’s ability to hold and process trauma.
• Seek Support: Work with skilled practitioners to navigate complex emotions safely.
• Celebrate Achievements: Keep an evidence journal to acknowledge growth and progress.

Baldwin concludes with a hopeful message: "The only way out is through" (30:50), assuring listeners that perseverance in their healing journey will lead to profound transformation and liberation.

Notable Quotes:

• “You make sense all parts always.” – Sarah Baldwin (00:00)
• “The only way out is through.” – Sarah Baldwin (30:50)
• “We are building our capacity to hold more activation” – Sarah Baldwin (28:20)

Resources Mentioned:

• Somatic Experiencing: A trauma resolution method developed by Peter Levine.
• Polyvagal Theory: A theory by Stephen Porges explaining the role of the vagus nerve in emotional regulation.
• Energy Wells Concept: A visualization tool for understanding trauma energy storage and discharge.

For further insights and practical tools, listeners are encouraged to subscribe to Sarah Baldwin’s programs, courses, and mailing list as mentioned in the episode.