When there's no place to call home

The earliest sense of being at home, or not, is when we're in our mother's womb. A home is where we feel safe, loved and comforted. It's not a place (though having shelter helps), it's an experience.

When we've experienced early trauma at the hands of our caregivers, we lose our sense of home. If the very people that are supposed to protect us, are instead the perpetrators of abuse, we won't feel safe. And if our body is where we feel the pain of not being loved or wanted, we won't inhabit it very often, if at all. We'll dissociate from our emotions and feelings (and therefore our body and its sensations) as often as we need to. This is why it is imperative to include the body in any serious form of healing. Our body is where we get in touch with, and heal, our pain. Can we truly feel anything without being embodied? When we can fully inhabit our bodies, we'll feel at home, safe in our own home.

There's no place like home ~ Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz