Regulating the Nervous System with the Lemniscate
Cornelia Elbrecht AThR, SEP, ANZACATA, IEATA, IACAET
The Lemniscate, or horizontal Figure Eight, is one of the core intervention tools in Guided Drawing. It can be introduced by the therapist as a shape to stimulate nervous system regulation. In this case clients draw bilaterally on large sheets of paper; adults, if possible, with their eyes closed. They draw in a rhythmic rising and falling flow, moving from one circle into the next, crossing over the midline from one side to the other.
For most clients this is deeply harmonizing. The rising and falling motion is simultaneously settling and uplifting. The motor impulse can connect the left and right side of the body, as well as the left and right brain hemispheres and synchronize the flow between these opposites.
Children can experience safe flow with this shape. They can move in a structured way without getting overwhelmed if their nervous system tends to get easily disorganized. Some may trace this shape with a finger on a sheet of paper. Others maybe after the therapist has drawn this shape as a racing track, and they can now drive a toy car in the loops. Or they can ‘dance’ the shape with the assistance of gymnast’s sticks.
Figure 1: The Lemniscate
Clients who as children suffered from an imbalance between their parents (such as divorce, quarrelling, or death) will experience this tension between their caregivers as an implicit, unquestioned split in their body. (Elbrecht, Trauma healing at the clay field, a sensorimotor art therapy approach 2013) Others who have suffered through an abusive relationship may experience a similar disconnection between their left and right side. Initially many of these clients feel dizzy, nauseous or unable to coordinate this flowing motion.
I recall a client who was intrigued that he could not draw the lemniscate without getting highly anxious. Gradually and after several sessions of experimenting with this shape, he realized that as a child his parents could never agree on anything. If he pleased his mother, his father got angry. If he fulfilled his father’s aspirations, his mother was disappointed in her son. To survive he had developed a split persona where his left side and his right side did not communicate with each other. As he learnt to listen to his own rhythms and needs, he discovered knitting as a hobby, much to his daughters’ embarrassment. However, the knitting became his reminder of connecting both his sides.
It is possible to link this motor impulse to EMDR, Shapiro’s Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. (Shapiro 2001) It is the same movement Shapiro suggests to her patients through the motion of the therapist’s finger. In Guided Drawing clients will find this rhythm within themselves. It is certainly the most effective shape for a trauma intervention to assist clients settling sympathetic arousal states or finding a way out of metabolic shut-down in a gentle and safe way.
Figure 2: Pendulation
The lemniscate is the movement of Pendulation which Peter Levine introduces for trauma integration; he teaches clients to oscillate between a trauma vortex and a healing vortex. (Levine 2010) Whenever a traumatic boundary breach has occurred it creates a rush of overwhelming arousal that cannot be contained within. Part of the life force is split off into a trauma vortex containing all the out-of-control energy of the traumatic experience. We have survived, however as we keep going, part of the self has gone missing and is split off.
Peter Levine’s research has proven that nature always provides a counter vortex as an inbuilt ability of the nervous system. Initially this counter vortex is small and needs strengthening. It can then be used to deactivate the trauma vortex. This is why stabilizing exercises are so important, they strengthen the counter vortex – and only then safe trauma exploration is possible.
Once a counter vortex has been established, pendulation between the counter vortex and the trauma vortex can begin. (Figure 2) Being sufficiently safe, clients can come back to their senses and find their inner responses. The rhythm of life can recommence to pulse through pendulating between the two vortexes. This pendulation will gradually pull the trauma vortex back into the boundary and reintegrate it into the flow of life.
In Guided Drawing the internal “massage therapist” becomes the healing agent who applies pendulation and knows what is needed to bring relief. This is utterly empowering for clients and moves them out of helplessness. Clients move between the two vortexes, between pain and contraction, between activation and settling, and they can apply their own healing strategies accordingly. (Elbrecht, Healing trauma with guided drawing; a sensorimotor art therapy approach to bilateral body mapping 2018)
Figure 3:
Drawing of a client integrating her left and right side of the body with bilateral circles and the lemniscate up and down her spine.
Throughout medieval Europe, the lemniscate or figure eight was known for representing ‘white magic’, as opposed to the circle, which symbolised ‘black magic’. White magic, associated with all healing arts, respects another person or entity. It does not manipulate the other or impose its will.
Figure 4: Aesculapius Wand
Communication flows between two circles. In black magic, the individual must conform and stay within the one circle, the matriarchal ouroboros, and is exposed there to the pressure of group demands, and the fascinating splendour and terror of the unconscious. At the core black magic works with fear. The lemniscate or figure eight is based on a relationship of equals, the flow is fuelled by respect and the need to connect. (Neumann 1955; 1963; seventh paperback printing 1991)
The shape of the lemniscate can be a valuable intervention tool. It can assist fearful, dissociated clients to gently find a rhythm they are comfortable with. The rising and settling motion teaches their nervous system that it can do the same. The rhythmic repetition heals fragmentation, melts freeze states and brings gentle motion into blockages. The swinging motion from left to right and back is almost always joyful, has lightness and evokes healing.
Figure 5: Flow of rhythmically rising and settling lemniscates
The lemniscate can also teach highly activated clients how they can calm down. It is an excellent trust-related exercise. The descending motor impulse of ‘falling down’ is always caught and lifted again. The rising and falling of the movement soothes, comforts and vitalises. Drawing it can communicate deep understanding for effortless flow and unconditional support.
In Guided Drawing, each circle can remain distinct and communicate in flowing exchange with the other. While drawing one can emphasise either of the two poles; or the crossing of the lines in the centre; or - and this happens most of the time - the rhythmic flow of the whole movement. Clients can move up and down inside their body in a rhythmically rising and settling motion.
It is important to find a rhythm that is pleasurable and matches the felt sense. If drawn too fast some clients end up feeling dizzy. If drawn too slowly the rhythm gets lost. This is a very organic flowing movement without any of the dangers that arise with the rotation of the circle.
Bibliography
Elbrecht, Cornelia. 2018. Healing trauma with guided drawing; a sensorimotor art therapy approach to bilateral body mapping. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
—. 2013. Trauma healing at the clay field, a sensorimotor art therapy approach. London/Philadelphia: jessica Kingsley.
Levine, Peter. 2010. In an unspoken voice; how the body releases trauma and restores goodness. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.
Shapiro, Francine. 2001. Eye movement desensitation and reprocessing (EMDR); basic principles, protocols and procedures. New York: Guilford.
AThR, SEP, ANZACATA, IEATA, IACAET
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