Unshaking Shakira, the Pygmy Sloth
A story to help somatically process trauma, fear and anxiety before sleep
This story is about a little sloth who had a fall. Shakira had a good fall and though she was ok - no bruises even - she was still pretty rattled and shaken up. Well - her mother - who has fallen a few times herself - knows exactly what to do - to unshake her! This story might be handy for anyone—adult or child—who has an accident and continues to feel shaken - long after the accident was over.
I also believe that this story can be helpful right now as we hear about violence in the Middle East and how our bodies want to brace for what is coming. For now, nothing is coming. There is only what is happening right now, and this story might help you process the trauma, anxiety and fear somatically. Through your body. I am not a somatic therapist so I can’t make promises or give academic context to what is here. I did, however, work on this story with my somatic therapist friend Margery Segal of the Whole Movement Center.
There is a wonderful audio version on Sparkle Stories
Once upon a time there was a young pygmy sloth named Shakira who lived with her mother at the top of a tall red mangrove tree.
There were several pygmy sloths in that area, and two other sloths in the same tree – but she seldom saw anyone other than her mother. This was not because she was particularly shy or her mother was particularly careful—no—it was because Shakira, her mother and all the other pygmy sloths moved so … very … slowly.
This is something that all sloths have in common – they move slowly – so slowly that you might not even notice them moving. Pygmy sloths are likely the slowest of them all—due to their small size and because of where they live. These pygmy sloths lived on a tiny island where there are no animals that might hunt them for dinner. There are no big cats or coyotes or hawks or anything that would want a sloth to eat – so there is no hurry. Nothing to run from. No need to get from one tree to the next. So pygmy sloths like Shakira and her mother … take their time.
Since the sloths are small and move so very slowly, you would probably never spot one. You would easily mistake them for a part of the tree or maybe a clump of dried moss because they spend long hours hanging upside down moving slower than a snail out to the end of a high branch to eat some fresh mangrove leaves – and then slowly moving back toward the trunk. That is about all a pygmy sloth would do in an entire day. And then they would sleep the rest of the time. Pygmy sloths love to sleep.
So as you might expect, nothing very exciting happens for the pygmy sloths – and they like it that way. They like doing the same things every day – they do not want adventures or change or surprises, no – steady, consistent and always the same – that is what they all prefer.
But we all know the natural world never stays the same – no matter where you are. There is always change – wind blows, the sky fills with clouds, the ground might dry and a plant might get old and die. Every little change in the natural world ripples out and eventually everything is affected by it -- even pygmy sloths. Usually the changes that take place on the island are slow. The tide comes in and out. Rain clouds roll in and out. Wind increases for a while and then decreases – but every now and then, something big happens on the island – and the pygmy sloths, as well as all the other animals – need to recover, adapt and eventually continue on. There might be a storm. There might be a fire. There might be a surprise visit from people sailing by – or it might be as isolated as an old tree falling down. And this is a story about one of those big events – and how Shakira, the young pygmy sloth, handled it.
It happened during a bright and beautiful midday. It was neither too hot nor too cold. The sky was empty of clouds and there was a gentle breeze that moved easily through the forest. Shakira had spent all morning moving out further and further to the tip of a mangrove branch, licking her lips at the idea of tasting the new leaves at the end. Only recently had Shakira started climbing on her own. In the past she had always clung to her mother’s back and watched as her mother moved inch by inch out to harvest the leaves. She liked listening to her mother’s deep breathing as she slowly reached out and then clamped her three toes around the branch – then started on the next leg and the next and the next. This was how she learned - by watching every move. And then, she tried it herself. She was nervous to be sure, but also excited. She hung upside down under a strong branch and her mother encouraged her.
“You are strong Shakira – you can hold like that all day if you wanted to”
This made Shakira smile – and when a sloth smiles – it is truly ear to ear. So with her wide arching happy smile – she hung and hung and hung – and then, after an hour or maybe two, she tried her first step out. When her three toes closed around the branch – she slowwwwwly turned her head to see her mother smiling too. She felt so proud.
Well, this continued every day – a little further – a little further until about two weeks later, when she felt ready to go all the way out to the end and taste those sweet new mangrove leaves herself. It was a big day – and though she was excited, she was still a pygmy sloth – and she took … her … time.
It took her several minutes to take her first reach out. She closed her three toes and then reached out again. Over and over – very very slowly – until a few hours later, she was half way out the branch. Another hour she was four feet further. Another hour and she was nearly to the end – and that was when it happened.
The branch cracked. She heard the sound come from the branch’s base close to her mother. Though she was a sloth and always moved very very slowly, she turned her head rather quickly toward her mother for just enough in time to hear her mother nervously call,
“Just relax Shakira – relax and fall!”
And then the branch broke. It broke and fell down – down down down to the ground. And Shakira went with it. The branch was slowed as it hit a few other branches on the way down – and though Shakira was slowed as well – it was still much much much faster than anything she had ever experienced. Falling down with the branch was a blur – so fast she couldn’t see anything – hear anything – even feel anything – until boom. She landed on the ground with a thump.
Now, understand that this kind of thing happens all the time in the jungle. Branches break and sloths fall. Luckily there is often a thick layer of mangrove leaves below to soften the landing – and pygmy sloth bodies naturally land well. All this was the case with Shakira – she landed on a soft pile of leaves and her body naturally rolled once it hit the ground – she was fine – but it was still quite a shock. Once her body stopped rolling, she lay on her back, feeling herself on the ground -- and then she realized what had happened. She realized the branch broke and she fell – and that her mother was still up in the tree. And this was when she started to cry.
Shakira cried out of fright and surprise and also some pain.
Her back was sore and her front legs were sore. Nothing was broken or badly bruised but she was still sore and shocked and more than anything – she wanted her mother close.
Well, her mother didn’t take long to join her. Her mother had fallen a few times and knew that the ground was soft – so once she climbed down far enough, her mother jumped to the ground, rolled and then ambled over to Shakira.
“Tell me what you feel” her mother quickly said looking at Shakira, “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know” said Shakira as she cried, “I fell down - it was so fast”
“Yes you did” said her mother who then looked over Shakira’s legs and back and neck and saw that they were all OK, “And you were shaken weren’t you?”
“The branch shook me” said Shakira nodding her head, “And the ground shook me – it shook me so hard, Momma, and so fast - it happened so fast”
Then she started to cry even more. Her mother held her for a long time – tight and strong – and when Shakira’s crying slowed and finally stopped, her mother said,
“You were shaken Shakira – you were shaken hard and fast, and when that happens, we sometimes get some of the hard and some of the fast stuck in our bodies. We sloths are light and slow creatures and our bodies don’t like it when hard and fast gets stuck in us. So Shakira, we need to unshake you – we need to unshake from the fall - that hard, fast fall.”
“Unshake?” asked Shakira, “What is unshaking?”
“I’ll show you” she said as she let go of her daughter, “Feel your legs, Shakira, can you close your eyes and feel them?”
Shakira closed her eyes and tried to feel her arms and legs but instead she only felt the woosh of the fall - she felt the thump of landing on the ground - and she didn’t like it”
“I can’t” she said, “I keep thinking…” Then she looked up at the tree.
“Yes” said her mother who gently glided the three toes of her front foot along Shakira’s leg . “That is what I mean - the fall is stuck in you. You were shaken hard and fast and now we will unshake you”
Shakira’s mother continued to glide her three toes up and down Shakira’s leg. And as she did this she quietly sang a song to her,
“Smooth smooth
Smooth and slow
The fast that stayed
And the hard that holds
slide out our legs
and out our toes…”
Shakira’s mother gently glided her toes along her daughters back and along her belly and neck and then her four legs - and finally her little toes. Shakira felt a warm, humming sort of vibration as her mother touched her and there were times when her legs or the skin on her back and neck would quiver and even slightly … shake. She was … unshaking.
She listened to the song and actually felt the fast woosh of the fall … slow down .. she felt the hard thump … soften - until all that was left in her body was the same slowness she had always had. The same softness - if fact, she felt extra soft and extra slow.
At first this made her feel curious but it also felt … good. It felt … freeing.
Shakira looked up and saw the trees overhead and the sky peeking through the leaves. She took deep breaths and felt her legs and back buzz with tiredness and something else – calm, maybe. Peace maybe. But whatever it was, it felt … good.
“There” said her mother as her face appeared looking down at her, “Very good Shakira – you are unshaken. Now you can rest.”
Shakira’s mother helped her daughter onto her back. The young pygmy sloth clung on as her mother walked slowly over to a soft spot where Shakira could rest. She eased her daughter into a little shady spot under a bush. Some of the leaves hung low and Shakira could smell them – they were mangrove leaves! She opened her eyes widely – what were mangrove leaves doing so close to the ground? She blinked and looked around and saw that her mother was nestling her into a spot … next to the fallen branch. The branch that broke from up high. The branch that caused her fall.
Shakira frowned and looked at her mother – wondering why she took her here.
“You are on the ground now, Shakira” her mother said, “You are on the ground and the branch is on the ground. You and the branch fell together and now you will both rest together. You shared something big – and now you are both very tired. Rest, Shakira, rest with your branch”
Shakira looked at the branch right next to her – at its smooth bark – all the way to the end where it broke. Yes, she thought to herself, this branch has had quite a shaking. Yes, it needs to rest – just like me. And then Shakira realized that some of those fresh new magrove leaves that she was so looking forward to tasting - were now right next to her. She barely had to lean over to take a little bite - a sweet little bite - and as she chewed on the leaf, she slowly blinked her eyes. She was very very tired. She had been shaken – just like the branch with these sweet new leaves.
So the young pygmy sloth finished chewing and then slowly – very very slowly moved off her mother’s back and slowly – very very slowly – moved up to the branch. She tucked herself against its smooth bark – nestled herself into the soft mangrove leaves on the ground – and then felt her mother glide her long strong toes along her back – patting her gently – soothing her to sleep.
Shakira sighed – and as she smelled the sweet layers of mangrove leaves all around her, she imagined the branch that had shared her fall. It was a big day for the two of them – a big day indeed. And then, with another sigh, Shakira let her smile return. Her long arching, happy smile stretched from ear to ear as as the young pygmy sloth fell gently and peacefully asleep.