Dr. Peter Levine, originator of Somatic Experiencing, describes pendulation as our natural tendency to alternate between polarities of being: inner and outer, pleasure and pain, expansion and contraction, yin and yang. Pendulation helps us stay in balance. Unfortunately, trauma interrupts the body's natural flow between polarities. When trauma occurs, we stay overly fixated on trauma-energy; we stay in a restricted "energy vortex." Without the pendulation between a calm, relaxed energy vortex and the trauma vortex, the trauma energy stays frozen. Healing from trauma occurs when pendulation is resumed. As I mentioned in the last post, we need a connection to our Real Self to be able to tolerate the process.