Being traumatized makes it hard to create. Here’s help.

   Trauma can seem like a stain that can’t be removed. Plus it’s debilitating, and can be so paralyzing that it’s near impossible to experience gratitude, to think of a positive affirmation, or to think of an intention you’d like created in your life. Ultimately, trauma and re-traumas when triggered can wreck havoc on your life. I know.

   I know because I’ve had to recover from a drowning attempt by my birthmother and then the subsequent thirteen-year sexual abuse by my (adoptive) father. It took me at least twenty years, but I still have to protect myself from being re-traumatized.  I cover my eyes a lot at

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the movies. I watch the weather like a hawk when I go to sea with my husband because, as you might imagine, I’m scared to pieces by the ocean.  

   To heal, I used a lot of different therapies: psychotherapy, body work, meditation, journaling, you name it. They all had a helping hand. One, however, that stands out for me to this day is one described by Marcus Sorensen.   In his statement of personal experience, he describes exactly what I too experienced when I gave my body permission to use Peter Levine’s trauma release techniques.

Here is what Sorensen wrote:

   I have benefited in particular from using the trauma release techniques described by Levine (1997) in “Waking the Tiger” to start working on the trauma stored in my own body from medical experiences.

   I usually do this when I am feeling comfortable I my bed at night: I allow myself to become aware of the movements and positions that my body wants to go into, a bit like the “open awareness” phase of Continuum sessions.

   The positions are sometimes quite strange and contorted, but like twisting a dishcloth to squeeze water drops out of it, the positions trigger somatic memories in my body – movements I wanted to make, but was too frozen to do at the time, or movements I did make, with traumatic consequences. I start to shake, my body temperature changes, my jaw chatters, and I start to feel waves of emotion moving through me.

   This is the most difficult part of the experience for me, as my mind kicks in and wants to analyse the experience so it feels less out-of-control – I fear the emotions will devastate me and never end if I let them run freely.

    However, if I stay with my body instead and trust that the emotions are just part of its “felt sense”, nothing that can harm me in the present, the experience of release runs through to completion.

   My body then slowly starts to untwist again and it feels heavy in the bed. I then feel very tired but peaceful inside, recognising I just did something life-affirming for myself, choosing movement and release over frozen death.

   Before discovering this form of trauma release, my coping mechanism had been to talk or write about it, and while that helped my conscious mind make more sense of the experiences, it is only when I also allow my body to “talk” that the trauma can truly move through me, instead of becoming a part of my nervous system’s underpinnings. I am learning to trust the great wisdom of my body in healing itself.

   I share this with you because it has done a world of good for me. I use it for all sorts of things: when I’ve been in crowds, or experienced an argument, or saw a horrifying sight or movies, or had a nightmare, or myriad other minor and major events.

   It doesn’t take the place of good old Happiness Path processing. But it makes it so I can at least calm down so that I can think straight in order to process. Give it a try. Let me know what you think. If it’s helpful, pass it on to others.  

   Other things you might find helpful in your efforts to overcome a trauma and re-trauma:

   HelpGuide’s “How to Recover From Disasters and Other Traumatic Events.” It thoughtfully discusses trauma symptoms, the need to accept feelings, stress reduction, and other sources for help.

   Moodjuice’s Self-Help Guide for Post-Traumatic Stress.

   Thich Nhat Hanh’s video of Ten Mindful Movements (Mindfulness) to help relieve trauma stress.

   AnxietyBC’s Self-Help Strategies for PTSD. Topics include:  building an anxiety toolbox, grounding and calming techniques, getting back into life, and facing your fears.

   Sunrise Physical Therapy’s article, Shake It Off!

   I hope these are helpful to you. And I hold the intention that all you need to help you heal shows up in your life in a way easy for you to recognize and use. Blessings to you.

Thank you for reading! Please share with your friends. You never know who it'll help or delight.

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