Summary of Resmaa Menakem's My Grandmother's Hands

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Our bodies are different from our cognitive brains, and they contain a form of knowledge that is different from our reasoning. This knowledge is typically experienced as a felt sense of constriction or expansion, pain or ease, energy or numbness. #2 The brain is where we live, fear, hope, and react. It is where we constrict and relax. And what the body most cares about are safety and survival. When something happens to the body that is too much, too fast, or too soon, it overwhelms the body and can create trauma. #3 Trauma is not a weakness, but a highly effective tool of safety and survival. It is a protective response to a perceived threat that may be accurate or entirely imaginary. It can cause us to react to present events in ways that seem wildly inappropriate, overly charged, or out of proportion. #4 Overreactions are the body’s attempt to complete a protective action that was thwarted or overridden during a traumatic situation. These can become embedded in the body as standard ways of surviving and protecting themselves.