In 1925, neurologist Ivan Pavlov conducted a famous yet cruel experiment, using inescapable shock to prove the concept of learned helplessness.
He gave a group of dogs in cages a mild, electric shock. The dogs were startled enough to associate being locked in a cage with annoyance. The control group of dogs was only shocked once in the cage, so if they were shocked again, it would frighten them as much as the first time.
Another group of dogs, the variable group, were shocked multiple times until they either stopped flinching or became used to it.
Later, scientists opened the cage door and shocked both dogs again. Once the cage was opened, the control group that had been stunned once yelped and ran out to avoid being shocked again.
Despite having the option to escape the cage and avoid further shocks, the variable group of dogs was stunned when the door opened. Given their familiarity with the shocks, they felt trapped and chose to remain in the cage.
Once upon a time, I was like one of those caged dogs, in a studio apartment in San Francisco, where I was kept on a steady dose of GHB and methamphetamines to keep me unaware as a teenager.
Thankfully I was able to leave and find my way to a safe house for women who were sex trafficked. But even then I wasn't free.
I got stuck in a cycle of choosing abusive situations. My traumatic event reverberated through my life for over a decade.
I was a programmed commodity. Like so many women today who find themselves in the same harmful situation they were exposed to at a young age.
Having practiced trauma-informed somatic experiencing for years now, I see that subconscious pieces of my psyche were recreating similar situations because they were stuck in a loop that was created the moment I was captured.
When I gained enough clarity to realize I could choose freedom, I did.
Conscious beliefs inform our reality and give us the power to create the life we want. Embodiment practices helped me remember how to choose to feel joy and freedom.
Negative beliefs and unconscious behaviors that do harm keep us stuck. Until we remember who we are underneath the layers of junk our experiences taught us.
The relief I felt at remembering my power to create safety in my life inspired me to help walk other women home out of their cages.
That's why I teach women how to love themselves.
I’d love to hear about the life you’re creating, book a call and tell me what brought you here.
