I've been thinking about my "arc" of healing and wondering if it's similar to others' or not?
Here's mine: I read The Body Keeps the Score about four years ago. That's when I learned I had complex trauma. I learned that many things that I thought were my "personality" (hello anxiety and perfectionism and related friends!) were actually my trauma survival behavior patterns I'd adopted as a kid to try and be safe in a chaotic, often violent home.
Next, I read Radical Acceptance by Dr. Tara Brach and started working on self-acceptance and self-compassion. It helped me see what had been revolutionary concept to me: that I was worthy of love just as I was. No performance needed!
Then, I focused on reconnecting with my body using tools from Radical Acceptance and Eckhart Tolle's books. Tools for calming myself down (Vagus nerve) and emotional regulation were next. These were the very first steps in finding some peace. This was like turning down the flame that has kept a pot boiling for decades--with frequent overflows!
EMDR therapy gave me one of my first massive cathartic releases. Others followed from various exercises. Each one of those permanently dialed down my nervous system afterwards. Calmer and calmer I became. A word I'd never even dreamt of entered my life: ease.
I found IFS (Internal Family Systems) from folks on here and have been that for over a year now. It's been incredible. I feel it has been progressively helping me become more whole, more integrated--as I talk with and offer compassion and love to my "parts" inside.
Also, about a year ago I started meditating. Most everyday, I do so for 30 minutes. Sometimes I'll do IFS work, but mostly it's 100% focused on simply feeling my body, which I can do at will now. Sometimes, I 'drift' into bliss. Frequently, I have body jerks and shakes as energy moves around.
Most recently, in the last few months I've been working on simply accepting my emotions. Letting them be felt. Welcoming them. Offering them compassion. If I had to boil it down, it's been like this: awareness/knowledge-->physical calming/connection-->integration/wholeness.
At the root of it all is acceptance and compassion. I know I'm not done. Almost excited about what might be next! How does this compare to your experience/arc of healing?
(Update: An important note here, is that my arc hasn't been as clearly separated out as I say above, there's been overlap between the phases, definitely times of going back and forth, and some side journeys too! As I was going through it, it was all somewhat haphazard, but mostly resources/tools did come to me when it felt like I needed them/at the right time.)