Moving Away From The Trauma Response
- Oct 13, 2020
- 4 min read
Written by: Susan Watson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise
Let us start by looking at what exactly is trauma. Trauma is when our mind and nervous system experience such an overwhelming amount of stress that is just too much, too soon, too quickly for us to process the emotions linked to it correctly. It is just beyond our individual ability to cope. This is particularly important as each of us has a different ability to cope. Therefore, trauma is not the situation or experience; trauma impacts us and everyone is different.
Therefore, two people can experience the same situation in every way. One person walks away with no lasting impact, and another may feel coping with life is unbearable. Now that we have identified what exactly trauma is, how does it impact us?
In the early days after a traumatic event, there may be overwhelming emotions such as fear, grief, anger, guilt, shame etc. What then happens is a time for processing and making sense of what has happened. At this time, many of those feelings start to lessen and fade. For some people, this isn’t the case, and living with trauma can strain mental well-being. Some may experience depression, anxiety, PTSD and some may start to avoid the pain and experience by using adaptive behaviors such as alcohol or drugs. There may be difficulties with trust and maintain relationships such as work, family, or friends. In many ways, life can be a struggle.
It is important to remember here that after a trauma, the autonomic nervous system, which is the body´s control system, will be stuck in the trauma response (fight-flight). The sympathetic nervous system is activated and running, flooding the body with adrenalin and cortisol. More hormones to be ready for survival measures are in self-preservation and defense mode. Therefore, all the emotions we mentioned earlier are fully normal. Anger gives you a burst of energy and all the other emotions such as fear and anxiety; depression is a clear sign of this.
It is important for everyone living like this to know this is exactly what is causing the emotions and reactions, which can help greatly by reregulating the nervous system. I love the work of Eric Gentry, the wonderful Trauma Expert and author for Forward Facing Trauma Therapy and Healing the Moral Wound. Eric's work has been an enormous influence in my approach to trauma, and I am so grateful for all he shares with the world.
My greatest lightbulb moment seems so simple, and it is. One of the key tasks in releasing past trauma and living your best life is to learn to relax your body fully and completely.
No one has experienced anxiety, fear, or anger with a full and completed relaxed body. It is impossible. Practicing both developing an awareness of thoughts and tensions in the body and then relaxing fully and completely resets your nervous system and brings your parasympathetic nervous system back into action – this is your resting part of your system.
If you are going into a situation that is stressful for you, do this with a relaxed body, practice many times each day just to fully and completely relax, it is simple but takes a lot of practice to get this right so you can do this in the most anxious moments.
Use the following exercises daily.
Complete a body scan working from your toes to your head, squeeze each muscle for 5 seconds and relax and then work all the way down from your head to your toes. Now flop, fully flop like a bowl of wet spaghetti. Every part of your body is relaxed, which helps you feel safe, think clearer, digest your food better, and switch back on your ability to learn.
You could sit with your hand on your heart and another on your tummy and just look about you. Notice that at this very second, you are 100% safe. We often get told to breathe, belly breaths when anxious or in this heightened state, but that can be difficult.
So, sit up straight, hands behind your head, push your elbow back. Do you see what happens? You open your rib cage, and every breath becomes a belly breath. It just happens naturally.
Take the time to practice this, becoming aware of tensions in the body, relax fully and completely, do it 100 times a day, no 200 times a day. I can hear you all gasp. Remember, 200 times a day is less than 10 – 15 minutes a day in total and will empower you and help you munch on your journey to a calmer, more peaceful life.
Now, this is just one part of moving on, but it is a major part, and for many it is all they need to move on with the life they wish for. If you wish to know more about other exercises or methods available, please know you can contact me directly. My purpose in life is to help others live the very best life they can.
Susan Watson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Susan Watson specializes in working worldwide with all ages experiencing Anxiety, Emotions, and Trauma, in a content freestyle, so that no talking really needs to take place unless wanted. Working with feelings and emotions within the body, Susan releases the emotional connection of past experiences. She teaches self-help tools to help others live their best life, the life that is deserved. Susan supports individuals, groups and the workplace with her Be Your Own Empowered Hero workshops, which were introduced as a measure to reduce the risk of future issues with mental and emotional health.
