Healing Trauma

WHAT IS TRAUMA?

Let's start by first discussing trauma. It is very misunderstood therefor rarely healed correctly. Most have the perception that trauma is only causes by a major event or huge automobile accident. These are in fact traumatic events. But what gets overlooked are the less noticeable events, such as a divorce, mean siblings, falling off a bike, getting a cut etc. These "smaller" trauma's have the same effect on the nervous system and emotions. You may have feelings of anxiety, fear, depression, grief, sadness and/or anger. They may come up at times that there is nothing going on at all. There may be certain events that make you panic. Certain things may trigger you into feelings such as social situations, places in your home, leaving the house or going in the car. This is not because there is something wrong or harmful in the present. This is because your nervous system is still living in the past when the trauma happened. Trauma is stored in the body and nervous system, which you feel strongly at certain times. You have not fully processed it and allowed it to disperse. So it will continually resurface and cycle in an effort to complete the process and heal itself. But until you gain tools to do so you cannot.

HOW IS TRAUMA SUPPOSED TO BE?
This may sound funny, but there is actually a healthy process that is a natural response to traumatic events. Trauma is only bad when not fully processed and stuck in the body. Let's take a look at how nature intended the response to go. Animals in the wild are in balance and intact with their natural rhythms and responses. They react to trauma in a way that re-teaches us how to heal. Say a lion is chasing a zebra. The zebra sees the lion it's body automatically knows it must fight or flight to survive. This is the built in response all animals have including us. The zebra's adrenals produce a lot of energy and he takes off like a bolt of lightening. Luckily he escapes, all the energy has been releases in the run. He gasps for air, calms himself and breathes normally after a little while. He is back to normal he is not traumatized, nor does he have post traumatic stress. His instincts are still there and he knows that he must run from lions but does not live in a panic state. This is a good example of the process. He used the energy and released it.

There is also a freeze response that we use when we cannot fight/flight for whatever reason. Say a rabbit is being chased, he knows he is too slow to outrun the fox. So he freezes and plays dead, and the fox turns and runs the other direction. When the threat is gone, the rabbit shakes and moves out of the frozen state. He comes back to himself then runs around bounding for the success of survival. He produced the energy he needed, used it then expelled all the frozen fear and adrenaline after coming back. He was clear then ran around again full of happiness. We do not often heal like this, but it is in each one of us to heal and is our natural process. We have just forgotten it. We must learn to re-regulate our nervous systems which are out of whack. When we gather the tools we need by looking inside, we no longer need all the stimulants and depressants needed to try and regulate ourselves. Because we heal what is wrong. The rule in the somatic program I took was that if you have a nervous system today in our society, you have trauma. We often deny it until it becomes so bad that we can no longer ignore it. However thank yourself for a least realizing it and taking the fist step to heal.

HEALING TRAUMA
The main principles in healing trauma effectively and fully are to regulate the nervous system. This means going very slowly in your process. It means taking very small pieces at a time. You want to become more calm and relaxed. Whatever that takes. You develop resources which are things that are comforting to you soothing and are non-activating. Things like taking a bath, walking on the beach, riding your bike, being with your dogs, sewing. Whatever it is each person has their own things that are their resources. Working on a physical level is very important too. Making sure your body is imbalance is important for balancing the nervous system. Eating healthier, reducing the number and amount of drugs, stimulants, and caffeine. Getting enough exercise reduces the amount of charge or nervous energy in your body. Once you are more in your body and you do not have the false cloud of drugs and stimulants in the way you can clearly see yourself, your problems and what you need to heal. Your body will amaze you when you give it the space and time to heal. You will know what you need and be able to give it to yourself. You will also feel better and need less and less things in your body to relieve you, because you have healed. You may think you will never feel good without taking a certain drug. But believe me, you will never feel better than living on your own healthy REAL energy! You owe it to yourself! Let me direct you to your path of healing!