Wound vs. Intuition

This begins a series of content blog posts which can be found under the hashtag #AoHVersusSeries . It is important to note that there are Architecture of Humanity axioms that will weave themselves through all our content and teachings. These axioms will assist our readers and participants in understanding and becoming more efficient in learning the AoH content as we absorb it through a similar lens. In this case, the lens is via equanimity. That is to say the word versus does not denote that one construct, idea, emotion, etc., is better than the other. On the contrary, seen through the lens of equanimity, there is an evenness in how we are processing arising phenomena. To read about equanimity from a psychobiological approach and in more detail, please use this link.

With that said, let’s get to the content at hand: Wound versus Intuition. A client recently asked me, “How do I discern the difference between a wound and intuition? There seems to be so much overlap that I’m unable to tell them apart.” This overlap she spoke of is a physiological phenomenon that has been labeled as “over-coupling” by experts in the field, as it appears so often in the nervous system when clients initially start somatic trauma resolution work.

I find it interesting that the word wound not only has two different meanings but also two different pronunciations. It’s paradoxical that a duplicitous space in the worlds of linguistics and trauma resolution exists. Linguistically, wound can be defined as an injury, and also as the past form of wind, as in, “He is wound tightly.” In trauma resolution work, because of wounding, the body typically becomes tightly wound. As new traumas tend to organize around old traumas, the “winding” frequently manifests somatically as pain, a syndrome, injury and disease.

 Disclaimer: What I am about to explain in comparing wound with intuition is highly generalized and oversimplified. Unfortunately, the healing world has grossly generalized and oversimplified the extraordinary complex and nuanced space of trauma resolution. I will often guide participants in feeling these states in their bodies -like the ones listed below - during a one-day event. In no way, however, would I lead them to believe they are resolving, or worse, releasing their traumas. One cannot resolve or “release” a trauma by attending a weekend event or even using one modality enlisted by a third party practitioner. The human nervous system is the most complex system in the entire known universe, please treat it slowly and with great care.

Wound state – I am referring to an emotional (internal) wound that most often occurs within a relationship, as opposed to a broken, fractured (external) body part that typically occurs because of an accident.  The technical term for the latter is called a “shock trauma.” An event that causes a wound, left unresolved, is a trauma. So while the terms wound and trauma will be used somewhat interchangeably here, I will be leaning more towards the definition of trauma. When a wound is left unresolved, it will leave the residual pain, emotions, and sometimes, the entire experience locked in the body. When I say to clients, “it hurts like brand-new shoes,” this seems to resonate deeply. An individual who has done little to no somatic work, might feel this long afterwards: days, weeks, months, and as we know with complex PTSD, even years or decades.  As trauma can be defined as “too much, too soon, too fast,” it will leave a long-lasting residual feeling of confusion, chaos, disorganization and a feeling of smallness/being young. The unprocessed experiences are often attempting to recreate in order to come to a completion state, so we’ll see these residual feelings being played out in day-to-day life, especially relationally. Furthermore, in a physical sense, posture may also reflect a shame posture: tailbone tucked, shoulders hunched forward and chin towards the chest and general protection manifestations.

Intuition – Our intuitive state (from an AoH) perspective, stems from a deeply primal place within the autonomic nervous system, namely the Subcortical (reptilian) part of the human brain. The subcortical region of our brain/nervous system contains - very simply - the architecture to stay alive. Unlike the Limbic System, it lacks emotions and the ability to bond. Additionally, as differentiated from the cortex (the thinking mind), it does not have logic or reason. The subcortical brain is our detection center, ascertaining safety or threat. Because it is so simple, it is very efficient and clean; there is no residual left behind when the energy of the survival responses are resolved. When I use the word resolved, I am referring to the process of the body allowing the built up kinetic energy to come to surface (to consciousness), be re-absorbed into the body where it ascertains nourishment or waste, then the body naturally begins to integrate as the organism finds safety, then returns to a parasympathetic state.

 Clear examples of this can be found in animals in the wild and children. A prey animal can be chased at wildly fast speeds, get away from the predator, move to safety, shake off the survival responses and, in an instant, be able to transition to feeding or breeding. A child (before ego-identity is formed) may exhibit similar behavior with a temper tantrum: we can literally watch the transition from subcortical, fight or flight – in this case, fight – to somewhat suddenly playing with his or her toys. In both of these cases, the intuitive sense was activated and meted out somatically.

 The need to survive is so inherently interwoven into our being that, if we do not clear the stuck energy from trauma, sadly, our intuition will be overshadowed by these wound states. Our bodies simply desire completeness. When the nervous system detects an unresolved wound, it will make it the modus operandi of the organism to find resolution. And, as we all know, if they are not tended to, this need for resolution can lead us down a highly unhealthy avenue.

Join us this Saturday, May 21, as we explore wound versus state somatically in our next Sisters of the Forest event.