TOOLS
Tools used in Somatic Experiencing®
Dr Levine uses several tools in his Somatic Experiencing practice and trainings for regulation, mobilization, social engagement, healthy aggression, and more. They include Smovey Rings, the Bellicon Rebounder, Tuning Boards, and Body Blades. Below you will find general information, how-to-videos, and more. Links on where to order these helpful tools are included in each section - some distributors offer discount codes.
Disclaimer: Proper training, supervision, and support during use is strongly advised at all times. Dr Levine and the Ergos Institute do not profit off the sale or use of these tools and are not liable for any incidents in connection to these products.
Smovey Rings (Smovey VIBROSWING - System)
Smoveys
Dr. Levine introduced the Smovey Rings to Somatic Experiencing® Practitioners as a tool in trauma healing work. The vibrations created by swinging the rings have been shown to be effective in identifying and regulating activated and dissociative states in the nervous system. The vibrations appear to synchronize with the natural vibrational frequencies in the human body, and as such they are experienced for most people as pleasant and calming body sensations. However for some nervous systems, the vibrations may bring about increased activation. The “felt” experience of the vibrations and the timely incorporation of core Somatic Experiencing principles (e.g. titration, pendulation, healthy aggression, etc.) demonstrates to clients a poignant way to regulate and stabilize their nervous system.
Smovey Ring licensed Seller: http://smoveynorthamerica.com/
Discount Code: IleneSE (the first letter is a capital “i”)
Bellicon Rebounder
Image: Dr Levine working with Monique on the Bellicon during an SE Case Consultation and Demonstration
The Bellicon
Bellicons are great for regulation and pendulation
They are used for grounding and bringing aliveness and energy up through the legs, into the pelvis, and connecting the lower and the upper body
In SE, the Bellicon is not used as a trampoline
Dr Levine’s Recommendation
- 49" Bellicon Classic
- Fold up legs (to be able to store quickly)
- Medium strength (blue clasps)
Medium is preferred because the client has to work harder to stay stable. For children under 8, consider purchasing the light elastics.
10% off coupon code: LEVINE10
Tuning Boards
The Tuning Board™ is a psychokinesthetic tool that promotes healing through increased embodiment.
It stimulates the postural reflex system of the body, increasing confidence and grounding;
It improves body awareness and resourcing, by evoking curiosity, exploration and play;
It reveals emergent body/mind patterns related to trauma, so that they can be transformed.
10% off coupon code: LEVINE2023
For orders within the European Union, please contact info@tuningboard.org
Click here for Training Events (Training June 24th, 2022)
Webpage geared especially to somatic therapy practitioners
How to introduce the Tuning Board to one's client
How it may bring up sensation awareness that then leads to insight
Instagram / Linked In / Youtube
Learn more in this article: Somatic Psychotherapy Today: Using the Original Tuning Board in Somatic Experiencing®
Bodyblade®
The Bodyblade® is a physical therapy tool and physical training device that SE Practitioners have found very useful for working with vitality, or what Dr Levine calls healthy aggression.
Oftentimes in trauma, the human organism will have impulses of self-protection and boundary setting that are overwhelmed. Levine's prescription, in fact, is that trauma arises out of the experience of helplessness in the face of threat, and trauma healing often entails recovering a sense of mastery through the restoration of life force. As clients move through their trauma narratives, they may encounter pockets of anger, potent energies that may be difficult to contain. We have found that having access to Bodyblade® can be useful for these moments. Because the Bodyblade® requires the contraction of core muscles, clients are often able to both access deeper and more potent affective experience while also having a sense of holding in the body. Shaking the Bodyblade®, which requires an engagement of our central structure rather than just exercising peripheral tissues, requires a quality of organization and coherence in the body, and this can facilitate being with big energies and staying present to the impulse as it completes instead of just throwing off the energy. In other words, rather than a cathartic blowing out of intensity this tool can facilitate the full experiencing and integration of emotions, allowing the resultant heat to release blockages and facilitate the safe discharge of bound energies in the nervous system.
In a typical session, we may use dialogue, touch, or work with other tools to facilitate pendulation, encouraging the organism to move back into healthy oscillation between expansion and contraction. As this occurs, cycles of activation and deactivation will emerge, and in this a person may discover a sense of frustration as this cycling deepens. A sense of needing to assert oneself may emerge, which can sometimes be overcoupled (too tightly bound up) with a sense of fear at allowing our feeling states to move freely. As our life force arises, giving birth to healthy aggression, there may be habits of body and mind that try to inhibit the experiencing and expression of this core part of ourselves. Of course, however, we need access to our life force. It allows us to set and maintain boundaries, speak our truth (and thus create deeper and healthier connections), and find those individuals who will truly have our best interests at heart. Also, accessing and completing sensorimotor impulses related to aggression is also often a missing piece in trauma healing. For all these reasons, it becomes important in our sessions to work with anger where it has been blocked, and facilitate the safe experience and containment of this force so it can be integrated. A tool like the Bodyblade® can be invaluable at certain times for this particular purpose.
Joshua Sylvae, PhD
Legacy Faculty, Ergos Institute