Body Centred Approach, rather than focusing only on thoughts or emotions associated with a traumatic event, this expands to include the natural bodily (somatic) responses.
Trauma is not just a cognitive experience everything we have learnt about trauma from the most recent advances in neuroscience, from research on the relationship to trauma and so many different bodily disorders, auto immune disorders, IBS, digestive disorders, and other aliments, all of these things, impacts on our levels of bodily distress.
Trauma does not just involve a thinking response at the moment of the experience, When we experience trauma, the brain shuts down all nonessential systems and activates the sympathetic nervous system and the mammalian brain. To help us survive the trauma, the brain releases stress hormones and activates the flight or fight response. If we are not able to escape the experience the brain and body may go into a freeze response. It can not be solved by simply using cognitive (thinking) re framing. Trauma is embedded into our system, trauma is a bodily experience not just a cognitive one.
Because trauma is somatic experience, something that impacts our amygdala and our heart rate and our nervous system, we cannot just simply solve people's trauma issues through cognitive (thinking experience) we have to address the body. We have to try and help the body recalibrate its way through trauma. There seems be a lack of the body perspective when dealing with Trauma, What it means to actually feel into the area of the body, that is holding the trauma. The place that has no words, listening to what the client is observing within their body, where is the client holding the trauma in their body.
Uncomfortable Feelings are about something that has come to the surface for us to examine for us to heal and resolve. Why do I feel this way and what is it try to say to me. They become a problem when we ignore them and they become unresolved. When feelings become unresolved and when we bury them or mask our hurt, anger, sadness, our jealousy, we continue to do this month after month , year after year, this feeling that is buried inside of us that is looking for an expression, that is where it begins to become a problem.
What is really important is that we do not judge or criticise them, it is important to just observe them, check in and ask:
What is it trying to tell me?
What does this mean?
When else in my life have I felt this way?
What has created this feeling/
What is it telling me about my personal beliefs and my personal experiences?
In that way our uncomfortable feelings/responses become our best friends they actually are serving us.
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3 Top Tips to Help the Body Heal the Trauma
Remember to breathe. Practice breathing deeply for approximately 2-10 minutes periodically, lengthen your inhales and exhales. This simple practice can help regulate emotional stress very effectively.
If you find yourself shaking, let your body shake. This is a natural mechanism of our animal selves to release stress. Humans are often scared, uncomfortable or embarrassed by the shaking that may occur in stress so we shut it down. Try to just let it happen. If this process can unfold naturally, you'll feel relief. This allows the body to release the trapped feelings and you will feel a great release by just letting it happen.
Energy or tension in your shoulders/fists/hands/arms or legs can be trapped from the "fight" response. Energy or tension in your legs/feet can be from the stalled "flight" response. Don't be scared by this energy. Try to let it out. Punch a pillow or run it out/kick a punching bag, until you get to emotion or exhaustion. If you start crying, keep crying and moving the body until you feel the release within the body.
Find a practitioner who works with the body, and uses modalities that focus on helping the body release the trauma. It is important that the body is facilitated in helping the fight/flight/freeze response to release. Hypnotherapy can be a powerful way of helping people deal and release trauma.
For further information or to book an appointment contact us at www.nu-vera.com .