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Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences [Paperback]

Peter A. Levine (Author), Ann Frederick (Contributor)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every life contains difficulties we are not prepared for. Read, learn, and be prepared for life and healing."
—Bernard S. Siegal, M.D., Author of Love, Medicine & Miracles and Peace, Love, and Healing

"Fascinating! Amazing! A revolutionary exploration of the effects and causes of trauma."
—Mira Rothenberg, Director Emeritus of Blueberry Treatment Centers for Disturbed Children, Author of Children With Emerald Eyes

"It is a most important book. Quite possibly a work of genius."
—Ron Kurtz, Author of Body Reveals and Body-Centered Psychotherapy

"Levine effectively argues that the body is healer and that psychological scars of trauma are reversible -- but only if we listen to the voices of our body." 
—Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D., Professor of Human Development and Psychology, University of Maryland

 "A vital contribution to the exciting emerging science of mind/body interaction in the treatment of disease."
—Robert C. Scaer, M.D., Neurology, Medical Director, Rehabilitation Services, Boulder Community Hospital

 "Peter Levine’s work is visionary common sense, pure and simple."
—Laura Huxley, lifetime partner and collaborator of Aldous Huxley

Product Description

Nature's Lessons in Healing Trauma...

Waking the Tiger offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed.

Waking the Tiger normalizes the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them. People are often traumatized by seemingly ordinary experiences. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the subtle, yet powerful impulses that govern our responses to overwhelming life events. To do this, it employs a series of exercises that help us focus on bodily sensations. Through heightened awareness of these sensations trauma can be healed.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: North Atlantic Books (July 7, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 155643233X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1556432330
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    #6 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Death & Grief
    #8 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Mental & Spiritual Healing
    #2 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

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More About the Author

Peter A. Levine
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
A herd of impala grazes peacefully in a lush wadi. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
somatic experiencing, trauma vortex, healing vortex, immobility response, reptilian core, immobility state, undischarged energy, trauma sufferers, freezing response, traumatic aftereffects, traumatic play, arousal cycle, traumatic symptoms, internal arousal, traumatic reaction, survival energy, traumatized person, traumatic anxiety, energy mobilized, traumatized people
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pooh Bear, Bob Barklay, Los Angeles, Viet Cong, The High Seas, Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma
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Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences
91% buy the item featured on this page:
Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences by Peter A. Levine Paperback 4.4 out of 5 stars (60)
$12.21
Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body
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Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body by Peter A. Levine Paperback 4.2 out of 5 stars (17)
$10.17
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
2% buy
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter A. Levine Ph.D. Paperback
$14.81
The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment
2% buy
The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment by Babette Rothschild Hardcover 4.8 out of 5 stars (26)
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4.4 out of 5 stars (60 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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291 of 309 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, October 7, 2000
This review is from: Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences (Paperback)
This exciting, insightful book reinforces the wholeness of the human vehicle, that our body and triune brain of instinct, emotion and rationality are totally connected to the human experience and to our connection with all of life. The book explains why humans are often frozen in trauma, unlike animals who daily cope with the unpredictability of nature and man. For humans, as is true for animals, the potential for trauma exists from birth through death, with at least one major difference - that humans have a harder time releasing trauma and many carry it all of their lives, which causes major interference with health, peace of mind and the ability to live joyfully and creatively. When human trauma remains unhealed, the energy of the trauma and accompanying emotions will remain locked within the brain and held within the body's musculature, tissues and organs awaiting discharge. Like Sleeping Beauty awaiting her restoration to life once the poisoned apple is dislodged, those with deep psychological scars have disassociated the memory from their minds and are living in a numbed, tensed body awaiting its release so the body can return to wholeness and optimum mental and physical health. The author persuasively asserts that psychological wounds are reversible and that healing comes when the physical and mental letting go occurs, similar to the way the tiger experiences the coming and going of threat, tensing in response to danger, and as the threat passes, the tiger's muscles shake, twitch and let go right then and there the fear related energy which now is forever out of mind and body. So, too, Peter Levine states, can humans learn to release long-held and/or current trauma without return. The book is well-written, peppered with healing stories, and details step-by-step instructions on how to listen to the wisdom of the body to release trauma and heal. Consider this book as one great step forward to expanding the frontier of body/mind energy work that is emerging as the most comprehensive and effective wellness paradigm of the future.
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177 of 188 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book about dealing with trauma, April 20, 2003
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This review is from: Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences (Paperback)
Peter Levine in "Waking the Tiger," postulates that trauma exists not in the event or in the story of the event, but is stored within the nervous system. Many common physical ailments are actually residues of thwarted trauma reactions incurred during such events as surgical procedures, falls, pre or perinatal stress and/or childhood accidents and traumas. The body has a natural, innate, and miraculous capacity to heal once these reactions are understood and guided.

Levine reinforces the holistic nature of the human being. Our bodies and brains connect instinct, emotion and rationality to our experience. Trauma may create damaging and often enduring symptoms. Human beings have a harder time than do animals in releasing trauma and may carry it throughout our lives. We often become frozen in trauma, unlike animals that can cope with the unpredictability of nature. This may provide a major interference with our health, peace of mind and the ability to live joyfully and creatively. When human trauma remains unhealed, the energy of the trauma and accompanying emotions remain locked within the brain and held within the body's musculature, tissues and organs, awaiting discharge.

The author writes about an oft-forgotten aspect of trauma, freezing or immobilization during a traumatic experience. Modern medicine/psychiatry emphasize the "flight or fight" response while often neglecting the freeze response. The concept of the freeze response in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain. Immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. This provides redeeming message to trauma survivors.

Levine points out that our memories are not literal recordings of events, but rather, a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

Those with deep psychological scars may have dissociated the memory from their minds and are living in a numbed, tensed body awaiting its release so the body can return to wholeness and optimum mental and physical health. The author asserts that psychological wounds are reversible and that healing comes when the physical and mental letting go occurs, similar to the way the tiger experiences the coming and going of threat, tensing in response to danger, and as the threat passes, the tiger's muscles shake, twitch and let go right then and there the fear related energy which now is forever out of mind and body. Trauma is stored energy that must be released.
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72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and Promising Material for Trauma Healing, May 25, 2001
This review is from: Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences (Paperback)
I just logged on to order yet another copy of "Waking the Tiger", a thoroughly invaluable book which I am constantly recommending to friends, colleagues and clients. This groundbreaking book that has permanently altered the way I approach therapy, trauma, and the body. "Waking the Tiger" completes an essential piece that has been missing in therapeutic and medical practices, namely that trauma is not in the event or the story, but in the nervous system. Dr Levine, through his research and vast clinical experience, has discovered how so many common physical ailments and so-called medically untreatable syndromes are actually residues of thwarted trauma reactions incurred during routine surgical procedures, falls, perinatal stress and other childhood accidents and traumas. He shows us how the body has a natural and innate, and seemingly miraculous, capacity to heal once these reactions are understood and guided. It is a very exciting and empowering book, and offers new hope and common sense explanations to people who have up to this time been unable to understand their symptoms or to find relief.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Grateful
I am very pleased with the dateline being met for delivery of the second hand book, and the good condition it is in. A great idea to purchase used books.
Published 3 months ago by M. Bartley

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
This book is great. It has practical things that you can do right away, and it has a lot of great information.
Published 5 months ago by Shell

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable handbook on stress management
This is a very comprehensive review of stress management techniques for healing trauma. When combined with an active program of mindfulness meditation, then you will certainly... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Peter Strong

5.0 out of 5 stars Waking the Tiger
This is groundbreaking research into the science of trauma. For anyone who has ever experienced this painful reality, this book offers an understanding that is not yet available... Read more
Published 7 months ago by K. Johns

5.0 out of 5 stars A Profound Work
I cannot praise Peter's work enough; it is absolutely brilliant and in my personal opinion, Peter Levine, for his initial insight into the fight/flight response of animals and how... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jason Calleja

5.0 out of 5 stars A book you need to read

Very few people know what happens to our bodies in the "fight or flight response". Understanding the survival response may change your life.
Dr. Read more
Published 15 months ago

5.0 out of 5 stars I could hardly put it down!
This is a fantastic resource for anyone dealing with real trauma, or helping others who are dealing with trauma. It's well written and down to earth.
Published 16 months ago by A. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars Walking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
Profound and moving description of effects of trauma. Clear explanation of guided somatic experiencing.
Published 20 months ago by seeker

3.0 out of 5 stars review
If you have, or want to understand P.T.S.D.,
this book is right-on. The animal world understands better than we do
how to deal with the aftermath of extreme stress;... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Dogen

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for trauma victims
This is a very informative and important book that explains the very core of what trauma is, how it affects us, and what we can do to overcome our suffering.
Published on July 1, 2008 by Onyx

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