Psychologytoday.com explains “The word “trauma” literally means wound, shock, or injury. Psychological trauma is a person’s experience of emotional distress resulting from an event that overwhelms the capacity to emotionally digest it.
The thing is, that we are all so different, we have different families, beliefs, values, and memories. So how each person defines what trauma is, is unique to them.
According to Mind Body Green ‘We will all experience something traumatic in our lives. ‘’And while trauma is a word we often associate with war, a violent attack, rape, abuse, or near-death experiences, the reality is there are a range of other less obvious experiences that can be traumatic and that have the potential to seriously disrupt our lives.’ These are sometimes called microtraumas.
Dr Bessel van der Kolk explains in his book ‘The Body Keeps a Score’ how trauma affects our primitive brain and how that area of the brain is focused on our survival. This affects how well the cognitive brain works. In other words, it affects our ability to learn, feel pleasure/joy, and understand others’ points of view. In turn, it affects our careers, relationships, and even our mindsets.
The effect of these stress hormones can affect our physical health negatively
But they are here to help us. When these hormones but are activated too often or for too long the body ends up paying the price. Unfortunately, our society believes that if we have negative emotions, we will find relief by removing these emotions often by disassociation, drugs, alcohol or avoidance tactics. What we need, is to feel these emotions. ‘Sit in the suck ‘as Bri from the Body Grievers Podcast explains.
Talking or talk therapy is the first thing a lot of us think of, in the journey of healing trauma but van Kolk explains how trauma is stored in our brains and bodies and therefore cannot always work as a stand-alone practice.
What can we do? How do we get out of freeze and into our bodies?
- Writing or journaling, especially when we share our thoughts without judgment. Liz Gilbert of Eat, Pray Love Fame has a unique practice that she says became her lifeline during painful times (Good Life podcast)
- Mindfulness. Monica LeSage explains how Somatic Experiencing helped her connect with her body in her Ted talk.
- Using animals and therapy also have a huge positive response for people struggling with PTSD. Pennmedicine.org
- Dance/movement therapy is a valuable modality for anyone looking to unpack, release, or get more in touch with their body and all it holds.’ Trauma Research Foundation
- Van der Kolk’s interest in Yoga came from a study of heart rate variability. And the way it can be used to measure how our primitive brains deal with arousal. (Your heart rate depends on what you’re doing at the time. So, if you’re resting or relaxed, your heart beats slower, and if you’re moving or stressed, your heart beats faster. -Webmd.)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. EMDR therapy helps the brain to work through trauma memories allowing it to then proceed with its normal healing process. The memories are not forgotten, but the stress response from the traumatic event is gone.
- Another modality of somatic therapy is Myofascial release, which can help release tension and stored trauma from the body’s connective tissue.
Our brain uses stories to transform memories to make sense. That doesn’t happen with trauma. In the end, it Comes back to feeling safe in our bodies and we all deserve that.
Healing our trauma can help us regulate our bodies. Dissociation can show up differently in each of us. Sometimes perfectionism, guilt when resting, hypervigilance, self-criticism, or chronic pain.
We deserve to live happy, regulated lives, and perhaps healing trauma is the first step.
Check out my podcast. We dive deep into topics like healing trauma and regulation.
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M x