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Calling all fellow bookworms, library nerds, and general lovers of literature — it’s time for another book club episode of the podcast!
Whenever there are five Fridays in a month, we devote the extra Friday to a book that we can’t get enough of. In this episode, we’re diving into the #1 New York Times bestseller The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
This is by far the densest, most intense book we’ve ever shared on the podcast. In fact, we broke it down into two episodes so that we could do the content justice!
The Body Keeps the Score is about trauma and all of the ways it manifests in the mind and body. If you think that subject doesn’t apply to you, think again. Given that all humans experience trauma at some point in their life — and live with, work with, and love people who’ve been through trauma, too — this book is relevant to you no matter your background.
We got into…
- What trauma is, who experiences it, and why it’s often unconsciously running your life.
- The quick quiz that helps you define where you fall on the trauma spectrum.
- Ways trauma manifests in the mind and body — from mental health conditions to chronic physical illnesses and much more.
- The pros of cons of traditional treatments like prescription drugs and psychiatry.
- The best ways to reset your nervous system and heal yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Again, we broke this episode down into two 50-minute episodes! After you’ve listened to part one, you’ll want to move on to part two.
After you’ve listened, leave us a comment below to let us know which of the many insights from this book resonated with you most.
LINKS
Take the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) quiz
Your book club segment is my favourite part of the podcast and usually I play it as soon as I see it and whiz right through it – this time though, wow I’m having to really process this and take my time! I tried listening to the first part casually, but found I had to repeat and listen to it slowly to take it all in – and will now take a little brain break before part 2 😉 So thank you for all the research you’ve done with this!
It’s really interesting to listen to and I’ll be sharing it with some friends who I know had traumatic childhoods – I even scored a 3 or 2 – depending on how I’m interpreting one of the questions.
While this sounds so interesting, I’m glad to have this podcast because I don’t think I could read it myself – so thank you for reading it for me 😀
You’re welcome, Samantha! I’m really glad you’re taking the time to absorb this one. And having 2 or 3 on the ACE test might explain a lot about issues you struggle with! I’ll be very curious to hear your take once you get to part 2 and hear more about ways to heal. 🙂