What My Bones Know: Book Review

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

A personal exploration of C-PTSD: Complex Trauma.

This book came highly recommended by colleagues, so I decided to check it out.

I love the accessible, conversational tone of the writer’s personal exploration.

From personal experience, she illuminates what can be a nuanced and multifaceted healing journey.

This book talks about Stephanie’s journey to learn the language of her psyche and how she brought holistic change into her whole being. I love how she finds tools that work for her and how she dives deeper into her internal spelunking. *GET TO THE ROOT*

We find within a conversation with the overactive Default Mode Network (DMN): that busy body of mental chatter is basically the “default state of human consciousness”. Stephanie shares with us, people with C-PTSD have an overactive DMN.

Healing comes when we learn how to slow down and resource the DMN. The somatic wisdom of the body is a wonderful way to bring calming and presence to a very weary part of the human experience. One of the unique experiences of uterus-owning bodies…

I love how Stephanie talks about how the menstrual cycle can impact our trauma experience.

“Women are more vulnerable to trauma during certain parts of our cycles. Then that trauma makes women more vulnerable to unhealthy sex hormone changes. The facts hear it out. Children who experience trauma are more likely to hit puberty earlier. Again, women who experienced childhood trauma are 80 percent more likely to experience painful endometriosis. They are much more likely to develop premenstrual dysphoric disorder. More likely to postpartum depression, and depression in menopause.” (pg. 246)

As the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) study has told us, inflammation in the body impacts physical health outcomes.

Stephanie walks us through her multiyear journey to attune her nervous system to the possibility of the new.

She finds wisdom in the words: “Curiosity NOT Self-Blame!”

How many times have you beaten yourself up over the pain of the past?

How many critical voices have taken up residence in your mind?

This book is a soothing balm of lived experience that allows us to follow along and build HOPE for our own Journey.

I hope you check it out! It might be a valuable resource along your own path of exploration.

Warmly,

Kris