Elizabeth Burke is a gifted therapist who offers counseling in OPEN EXCHANGE's Counseling category.

The tragedy on 9/11 is still with us and is compounded each day with news from Iraq. In the wake of so much pain, anger and hopelessness one might ask why is it important to heal the origins of the shock that resonates within our minds and bodies. Why not just get back to our daily lives and leave it all in the past. Accepting this later directive only washes the surface of the wound, but to clear away shock and trauma we must go to the root. This is vital because it diminishes the fear imprinted in our bodies and mind. And what the recent election shows us is that many Americans are still in a state of fear and reaction.

When we experience traumatic events our minds reel as do our bodies and the residual shock impacts us deeply. Each of us remembers how struck we felt by what we saw on September 11th or by any of the more recent shocking world events. The reactions, fears, shocks, and traumas which the mind cannot comprehend and that overwhelm us fall into our bodies. The impact of traumatic events, shock and overwhelming emotions embed themselves within our cells and muscles. It is the mind's only alternative. What remains within us becomes unconscious and we are ruled by these unconscious emotions— especially when circumstances that evoke similar reactions or responses confront us. The war in Iraq with all the violence and death keeps the old fear and trauma in place. Many can't get away from it. So what can we do? How do we hold this and not shut down? How can we release the fear?

Breath is our natural ally and can help us stay open even when we are experiencing intense emotional pain. We can also work directly with the fear by finding out how and where the fear resides within our bodies. To do this we use our intuition and imagination to guide us and show us how our powerful emotions and memories are held within our very cells, bones and tissues. By working directly with the imprints within us we can discern and unravel the powerful emotions, reactions, memories and beliefs surrounding the events in our lives and within our society.

We may find that our fear is a body tension and that within that tension are colors, animals and imagery and by using this imagery we can remove, and release our fear. By working with these imprints and their metaphors we can transform them and heal ourselves. You can learn how to navigate this world within and discover techniques to resolve the confusion. Clarity naturally follows when these memories are brought into consciousness and released from our psyche and soma. A luminous mind, unclouded by fear, terror, panic, hypervigilence confusion and anxiety, can emerge and this mind can remember how to radiate peace as we free our minds and bodies of these overwhelming emotions. We can cease the instant replay of events that have shocked frightened or angered us and with this comes the opportunity to investigate and change our reflexive and automatic responses. Complex interrelationships exist between our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, events, and actions but our bodies are the key. Our body of experience allows us to look deeper into our individual and collective past to understand our present. Like a lighthouse, brilliant peace and an arising wisdom can blaze through the dense fog to free us when we engage in healing our innermost self.