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A healthy nervous system regularly changes between expansion and contraction; this is called pendulation. We want our clients to have this kind of flexibility and fluidity. One of the tools SE practitioners use is looping between "resources" or "conflict free states" and small titrations of traumatic material. This process of looping restarts the natural self-regulation of the nervous system and a natural rhythm of pendulation. Traumatized people often don't trust the pendulation when it begins to happen. When the energy starts to release or change they often go into increased arousal (or fear) over the process. By assisting the client to understand the natural physiological processes of the body and to observe these processes with
curiosity rather than fear, the nervous system is able to begin self-regulation and digesting and discharging traumatic energy from the body. Once the client begins to gently touch into difficult events or feelings the practitioner makes sure that he/she only takes small "bites" of this material that the nervous system can handle. SE practitioners watch for physical signs indicating the release which may come in various forms such as small shivers, deep breaths, hot or cold flashes. Then, it is important to allow sufficient time for the client to reorient to the present, the here and now, and to re-establish a positive connection with resources or conflict free states, before the next cycle of release begins.