We’ve all experienced trauma. It’s part of our human condition and it's impossible to escape it, large or small. We shouldn’t compare traumas, either with ourselves or others. We should simply try to be nice our self and one another in the process of alleviating or removing them!
What exactly is trauma?
Trauma is the emotional response we experience when we suffer a dramatic event. Perhaps a broken arm, a car accident or the loss of a loved one. Symptoms of trauma fluctuate: from nightmares to flashbacks, feeling constantly in danger, stuck or on the edge. In some cases it can be so extreme that it can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disease - PTSD – for longer or shorter periods of time.
During a traumatic event our amygdala – part of our limbic system and responsible for emotional processing - sends a signal of alert to the hypothalamus: get ready for ‘Fight or Flight’.
The primal function of the brain is to react and make you safe. Not storing memories. As a matter of fact, people going through a stressful, traumatic or emergency event can often have problems recollecting the episode. In order to overcome the traumatic event, the body is given a beautiful dose of adrenaline which causes the heartbeat to speed up and sometimes our glands to sweat. Most other impulses are shut down during the emergency.
Trauma can become a serious issue when we are unable to escape our Fight or Flight mechanism, staying on alert and risking, among other things, adrenal fatigue. In some instances, this occurs because the fearful memory isn’t fully processed and it leaves an imprint in your brain. Or, more likely, in the body
Our body though cannot discern between emotional or physical danger and so the limbic system registers your memory and fear as a real and concrete danger.
Is it now obvious?
To truly get rid of trauma we need to heal the body.
Energy, Body & Breath Work become then extremely important in this therapeutic process.
Let’s examine some techniques that can be used for trauma release:
1. Reiki
Reiki practitioners typically use hands-on healing to channel the universal energy, pranayama or chi to heal energetically. The healing occurs through the hands of the practitioner, who becomes a healing tool.
Recent studies demonstrate the therapeutic powers of reiki and healing touch on trauma and PTSD (Ford, 2017).
2. Cranio-Sacral Therapy - CST
Cranio-Sacral Therapy uses gentle touch of the head to “release restrictions in the brain to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.” The practitioner’s touch affects the pressure and flow of cerebrospinal fluid, that supports the brain and spinal cord.
Research shows the positive effects of CST on traumatised subjects and their quicker recovery (Stub et al., 2020).
3. Acupuncture
Acupuncture works on specific spots in our meridian body where the qi of the organs and meridians is blocked or unbalanced, thus creating illness and affliction.
Swathes of research have validated the efficacy of acupuncture – in particularly ear acupuncture – on trauma-related disorders (Kwon et al., 2019).
4. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing - EMDR
EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that asks the patient to recall the details of painful and traumatic events, often visually. The therapist then guides the patient through sensory responses - such as side-to-side eye movements – that disrupt the memory imprint, allowing the patient to process the disturbing memory and let go of it.
Since the 1990s this technique has been proven extremely successful in treating traumatized patients, psychosis and PTSD (Miller, 2016)
You’ve now had a look at the tools, liberate your body from trauma and rise from the darkness!
Wishing you a trauma-free day,
Andrew
