Issue #7  Interview with Sandy Wood on Trauma and Hands on Healing.

“The whole world is traumatized filled with needy, wounded, abandoned children walking around looking for a hug (Love). And so reluctant to either give it or accept it.” –Sandy Wood
 
Hugo: How would you define trauma?

Sandy: It’s relative.  It has something to do with a person having an overwhelming experience and having a very difficult time processing this experience or taking it in. 

Hugo: What role has trauma played in your life?

Sandy: It’s taught me transformation. Trauma forces you to either sit in the trauma or you can use it as a stepping-stone to something greater.

Hugo: What did you learn?

Sandy: The more we heal ourselves the more we can heal others.

Hugo: How would you describe the work you do?

Sandy: I believe in the healing power of the person’s own body, spirit and mind.  I believe in empowering that person to get in touch with these resources inside of them. I try to help a person find themselves and touch their own heart. Maybe make something clear that they can’t quite understand or feel.

Hugo: The importance of the hands/touch?

Sandy: Trauma is going to be registered in the brain and then work its way into the body. When people are traumatized, their electrical system shuts down or becomes out of balance. If you can ground the person with the trauma that is hitting their nervous system, they can deal with it much better.  The way to ground them is physical touch.  Hands-on has a very docile effect on the nervous system. The first thing I want to do is embrace that person. I want to hold them in the hands-on work I do. I am going to reach for their feet to help bring them into their body and settle them down. Into their hands. Into their head. Then I work with the back, spine, which gives the emotional support.  I think with people in traumatized states you have to reach them on the wordless level first. They are too disoriented to really think clearly. I think people try to deal with them on a mental level, but they need to be dealt with on a wordless level f irst. If a child is screaming you pick them up first, then you start talking with the child. They are in a reaction to an event. They need to settle down, so they can accept the event. Then, they can evaluate it more accurately and then they can take the right action.

Hugo: What have you found to be the keys for helping traumatized people heal and transform?  (Skills? Tools?)

Sandy: Acceptance of what happened and acceptance of how they feel about it.  When I work with people in shock often they will not acknowledge how they feel about it.  They are afraid to really face it, to really look at it. And they can’t heal until they do that.  If they are able to fully accept it, then the answer will come and tell them what they need to do to heal.

Hugo: Have you discovered anything that saves time in this process?

Sandy: Massage on the hands, feet, and head.

Hugo: Would meditation and praying help heal trauma?

Sandy: Yes and no. People fool themselves; you can pray without being connected to yourself and have no heartfelt presence. There are plenty of people that pray every day and there is no heartfelt experience. There are people who meditate every day and are never really getting in touch with the deeper aspects of themselves or their heart. This kind of praying and meditating won’t help.  The important thing when meditating or praying is to feel and experience the connection to the divine presence within yourself. Now if the person really has this sort of experiencing going on, this is going to help. This connection gives you the sense of the divine presence in your life. Then they can really go to town with their healing and life.

Hugo: How do you know when a person has healed and transformed?

Sandy: They feel good, they feel balanced, their feet are on the ground, they have crossed over the bridge--to me, I judge it by whether they “just feel good.”

Sandy Wood uses a combination of spiritual counseling, Shamaniac massage and Espira, hands on healing with clients.  She has been working with clients and teaching groups for over 20 years. She has worked with many difficult cases of trauma over the years. One of her main focuses has been empowering women who are in physically and emotionally abusive situations to access their power and transform their lives. To schedule an appointment please call her at 540-778-1516 or email: sandiwood@hotmail.com

Thank you for reading my newsletter!

For more information on my work (Hugo Elfinstone) please visit:
www.accesswisdom.com

To order my book Transformative Love: www.accesswisdom.com/book.htm

 Book Review
 by John Newcomb
Transformative Love is one of the most helpful books on relationships I have ever read. It really spoke to me. It gives great advise on how to choose a partner, create intimacy, work through anger, and heal wounds between partners. A great part of the book is that it gives exercises that you can do with a partner to build trust and intimacy. To anyone who is looking to heal the separation they feel from a partner or who would like to become closer, I would highly recommend this book.
 
To order my new book Compassionate Honesty:
http://www.accesswisdom.com/compassionate-honesty.htm

Book Review
by Swami Suddhananda

This journey begins with simple yet profound definitions of compassion and honesty.
Continuing in a compassionate voice, offering the same simple and profound teachings, there are exercises and stories leading us through the most thorny of human landscapes - dealing with anger, judgements, guilt, shame and intimate and professional relationship issues.
A final section on personal awareness and personal transformation brings us to a peaceful close of this beautiful book - and a beginning point to simply and compassionately examine deeply held beliefs that may keep us from experiencing life's gifts - and a powerful way to let go of deeply held beliefs.
Because of the way complex concepts are presented - with simple clarity of purpose - both the old timer and the newcommer to the inner working of the human heart - can use this book as a tool for self-transformation.
I have taught communication and worked with my own internal process for decades. I am using this book - and getting powerful results - deepening my everyday experience of love, compassion and peace.

Next Newsletter May 15/07: Transforming Trauma Interview with Jane Mullen.

Final Note: Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who may be interested in it or benefit from it. If someone wants to sign up to receive my newsletter, they can email me at hugo@accesswisdom.com.  
 
With Love, 
Hugo Elfinstone