EMDR and The Mind Body Connection
A JOURNEY THAT BEGAN WITH THE MARTIAL ARTS
Over 45 years ago, I began training in martial arts, unknowingly starting my journey into the mind-body connection. It has shaped my life and guided me to my current path as an EMDR therapist and facilitator.
In my early 20s, I took a friend with me to try out a Tae Kwon Do class. The instructor was a Korean lightweight champion and hardly spoke any English. I fell in love with this Korean martial art, but my friend dropped out only after two months. I knew early on that this was going to help me both physically and mentally. That intuition proved true over time.
Little did I know that I was struggling with ADD and only discovered it when my own daughter went in for testing. All her symptoms were what I struggled with throughout my life – the feeling of being unfocused, lacking self-discipline and struggling with confidence – all issues that martial arts helped me overcome. I discovered that the practice of martial arts helps me with emotional regulation, reducing stress, and improving my memory.
One reason I became so passionate about Tae Kwon Do is that it enhanced my performance in other sports. It improved my hand-eye coordination for tennis and built endurance for running. Tae Kwon Do consists of approximately 75% kicking and 25% punching. I found this particularly beneficial for me as a woman, as our lower bodies tend to be stronger than our upper bodies. I trained diligently, practicing three to four times a week for many years, eventually reaching the black belt level and becoming an instructor.
PROGRESSING THROUGH THE “BELT SYSTEM”
The concentration and discipline required in martial arts facilitated for me a healing in both the mind and the body. As I continued to go through the belt system over time, my confidence and focus grew.
Martial arts belt systems use colored belts that you wear on your waist that signify a student’s level of knowledge and experience. As students’ progress in their martial art journey, their belt color becomes darker. Each belt color also has its own special meaning, and they represent a martial artist’s journey, progress and achievements. When I achieved my black belt after 4 years, my instructor said, “Ok, you are now just beginning.” To grow in this art I needed to teach, practice and meditate to get to a place where I no longer had to “think.” The mind-body connection would create a “flow” where I became focused and completely in the moment.
There are nine degrees of Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and the 5th degree is considered a Master Instructor. I was preparing for my test for 5th degree about 20 years ago when I unfortunately tore my ACL during a Tae Kwon Do demonstration. The second time that I began training, I had an Achilles tendon tear from playing tennis. Not to be deterred, I achieved my 5th degree in 2024!
THE MIND BODY CONNECTION AND TRAUMA
The connection of positive mind-body experiences in martial arts are similar to the mind-body connection in EMDR therapy. I began my training in 2006 with Deany Laliotis and Dan Merlis, now co-directors of training for The Center for Excellence in EMDR Therapy. I knew that this was where I needed to be, not only to further my own growth as a person, but also as a psychotherapist.
I discovered that in EMDR, healing does not just happen in the mind, it also occurs in the body.
EMDR therapy addresses the mind-body connection by engaging both the brain’s information-processing system and the body’s response to traumatic memories. EMDR activates the brain’s natural healing processes and allows for the reprocessing of traumatic memories. This not only helps with the psychological distress associated with the memory, but also alleviates the somatic symptoms that are entwined with the trauma.
When there is a disconnect between the mind and body, it can sometimes feel like a random shock brought on by a physical experience, such as hearing or smelling something that triggers a painful memory. It can also feel as if you are
watching yourself from someone else’s point of view. This could be a possible reaction to something the subconscious has deemed overwhelming or too painful.
As a result, the body’s fight to fight response is triggered, creating a rush of stress hormones that produce physiological changes to fight off the perceived threat to one’s safety. Muscles tense, and the heart and respiratory rate increases.
Over time, repeated activation of this stress response takes a toll.
When a child or young adult has experienced trauma, they may try to forget what occurred, but their bodies will remember.
These memories can lead to headaches, backaches, clenched jaws, flashbacks, nightmares, anxious thoughts, and many other symptoms. Treating past trauma with the awareness of how powerful the mind-body connection is critical.
WHAT ROLE DOES THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION AND EMDR PLAY IN PROMOTING HEALING?
The good news is that our bodies have an instinct to heal both emotionally and physically. Because EMDR therapy is a “bottom up” approach, it can change how unprocessed memories are stored in your brain and body. The trauma will no longer “hijack” your system and will not have the emotional or visceral effects it once had.
EMDR and the mind-body connection facilitates several positive outcomes. It can help desensitize the negative emotions and associated physical sensations linked to a traumatic experience. When processing the memory with dual awareness (a state in which one foot is in the present and one in the past) the client can release the emotional charge and physical discomfort from the memory.
The journey towards healing requires attention to both the mind and the body. EMDR relies on some of these psychological concepts:
- Somatic Awareness of Emotional Experience: the somatic aspects of trauma; encouraging individuals to notice physical sensations and movements during the processing of memories. The body holds crucial information about one’s emotional state. Many times, throughout a therapy session, I will ask my clients, “So what are you noticing now in your body as you tell me about…”.
- Reduction of Autonomic Arousal: EMDR has been associated with a decrease in physiological arousal, including heart rate and skin conductance. The bilateral stimulation can contribute to down regulating the sympathetic nervous system which can promote relaxation and safety.
- Mindfulness and Body Awareness: EMDR integrates mindfulness and body awareness. Clients are encouraged to stay present and track various components of their experience to include thoughts, emotions and body sensations. This moment-to-moment awareness supports the processing and integration of traumatic memories. Additionally, I will encourage my clients to practice some type of mindfulness or yoga outside the therapy session. I have also used neurofeedback with my clients to help clients with neuroplasticity (the ability to shift in and out of different emotional states).
- Promotion of Self-Regulation: EMDR enhances self-regulation skills. The therapeutic process encourages clients to develop a sense of mastery over their internal experiences.
HOW CAN WE, AS THERAPISTS, HELP OUR CLIENTS BECOME MORE ATTUNED TO THEIR BODIES?
In addition to encouraging clients to notice physical sensations and movements in their bodies during memory processing, we can also use our own attunement and pay attention to what is coming up for us as we work with our clients.
Attunement (Siegel, 2020) is how we focus our attention on others and take their internal world into our own. It is noticing not only the words, but also the nonverbal patterns of energy and information flow. It comes from right hemisphere activity that tracks eye contact, facial expression, voice tone, posture, gestures, and includes timing and intensity. The signals we perceive from our bodies give us access to what we “know” about the other’s internal world.
The “Self of the EMDR therapist,” a term that is used in Relational EMDR Therapy℠, is about paying attention to how we are responding to our clients and how we use that experience to better understand themselves. Sometimes, however, our clients trigger us. It allows us a view of what still needs to be healed in us as well as with our clients. Part of the benefit of having a relational approach to EMDR is that it offers us an ongoing opportunity for personal as well as professional growth.
Some examples of how this works:
A client I have worked with for several years had visual blackouts and panic attacks whenever she experienced feelings of loneliness or being invisible. Her father was very dismissive of her and only paid attention to her if she was sick. She also learned from him that she was not worthy unless she was married. (She has been a widow for the past 8 years, which is when her symptoms increased). Through EMDR and paying attention to her body, we were able to link her symptoms to unprocessed memories of being alone, feeling invisible as a child, and unworthy without a partner. The panic attacks were the first to go and she was able to notice in her body when she was being triggered, understanding it, and linking it to the past. The blackouts were the last to go and she knew that when they stopped, she would no longer be hijacked by her past. It has been well over a year now that she has been symptom free of these blackouts.
I have also worked with first responders whose bodies are triggered by certain sounds and smells related to the trauma they experienced. One police officer I worked with would drop to the ground whenever he heard fireworks. He had been in many gun exchanges with criminals and a few of them he had shot and killed. I was able to reproduce some of the sounds in the office on my laptop to help desensitize to the sound as well. The last piece of work was dealing with the guilt he experienced. By using EMDR and helping him connect with his body, he was able to move through the trauma and begin to heal.
Another police officer I worked with was traumatized by pulling a burning body from a car and he would get triggered whenever he smelled something burning. I found that working with the memory of smell and EMDR was challenging, but he was eventually able to move through the trauma memory of that experience and was no longer triggered by that smell.
When I first began practicing martial arts 45 years ago, I had no idea it would become the foundation of my personal journey. It taught me that reconnecting mind and body can lead to positive changes in mental and physical functioning. EMDR brings about mind-body healing.
Please contact me at jamartin989@gmail.com if you would like to learn more about EMDR and the mind-body connection with martial arts. If you find this blog helpful, please share it with your network.
References:
Laliotis, D. (2010-2025) The Dance of Attachment: An Introduction to Relational EMDR Therapy℠. A Master course for EMDR-trained therapists offered through The Center for Excellence in EMDR Therapy.
Siegel, D. (2020). The Developing Mind. 3rd Edition. New York : The Guilford Press.
https://recovery.com/resources/healing-trauma-brain-body=with bessel-van-der-kolk/
https://martial profile.com/blog/mental-health-benefits-of traini…%20martial%arts%20emphasize%20emotional%20regulation