# Embody Your Power Podcast - Episode 15 Trauma Is In The Nervous System
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[00:00:02] hi I'm Danielle Karen and in this podcast I'm going to share with you knowledge and tools that I believe should be accessible to everyone they're fundamental and essential to Being Human embody your power is an integrative model that Bridges science spirituality and ancient wisdom to give you the resources needed to live your fullest potential as a psychotherapist for over 16 years and now as a coach I help people know reclaim and embody their power on all levels it's my mission to help you connect to your unshakable resilience to know true power and freedom to be Sovereign and to remember your divine nature if you're wanting to learn tools to release layers of conditioning heal from trauma feel at home in your body have inner peace expand your capacity for Joy connect spiritually and take a

[00:01:06] journey with me to embody your power then this podcast is for you thank you for joining me together let's raise our Consciousness to help evolve [Music] humanity is your body still reliving past trauma do you suffer from trauma symptoms or PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder often we know in our minds that the trauma is over but our body can be stuck in time reliving the past in this episode I'll cover what trauma is what causes it the symptoms of trauma how it impacts our nervous system and what's needed to heal ourselves so that our body is no longer reliving the past one of the leading experts in the field of trauma is Dr Peter

[00:02:10] LaVine he developed a method of healing called somatic experiencing or SE for short somatic experiencing is a three-year training that teaches practitioners to help people heal from all types of trauma Peter has made major contributions to helping people heal from trauma by incorporating the body and nervous system in the healing process Peter lavine's work evolved from a question he had which was why don't prey animals in the wild exhibit signs of trauma when their lives are routinely threatened that's interesting right animals lives in the wild are routinely threatened yet we don't see them overcome by fear helplessness lack of energy or anxiety what Peter found from studying wild animals that have a similar nervous system to ours is that they rarely disconnect their awareness from their

[00:03:13] body why is that relevant well when our awareness is connected to our body our body moves things through to completion it's the body's inherent wisdom to move toward Health when our awareness is disconnected from our body for example when we're thinking and rationalizing or when we're distracted or avoiding our body then the bodies innate wisdom to move things through to completion gets thwarted as a result the original feelings and impulses can get stuck and cause a variety of symptoms I learned about somatic experiencing after my first month-long Meditation Retreat which was a part of my master's degree in contemplative psychotherapy by immersing myself in meditating 8 hours a day my way of coping with past trauma crumbled taking a break from my daily life and sitting in silence broke down my coping mechanisms I didn't realize I had

[00:04:15] unresolved trauma until then I thought well I survived a 40ft fall my body recovered from the injuries I didn't notice any signs of trauma so I went about my life as usual then years later I'm sitting in silence for eight hours a day for a month all the holding patterns I developed to get me through life disintegrated I realized that I had thought I was fine because I was numb and disconnected from my body it's actually common I see this all the time that people are able to hold it together for years and then some type of incident unearths their past trauma to a point where they can't avoid the symptoms sys their body's experiencing I left that Meditation Retreat with trauma symptoms that I didn't have previously I felt more sensitive and raw as I was flooded with uncomfortable Sensations in my body I experienced a lot of cold sweats I couldn't regulate my nervous system I

[00:05:19] was easily startled and hypervigilant and I had horrible insomnia so I found a sematic experiencing practitioner to work with through my own atic experiencing work I learned how to bring my awareness to my body to be in my body regulate my nervous system move past experiences through to completion and finally feel at home in my body and that was the first time really that I felt fully at home in my body wow that was a major transformation from how I was living for anyone who hasn't had their nervous system impacted by trauma it's painful and disruptive to feel so out of control in your own body being able to regain control of my nervous system and be friend and feel at home in my body felt absolutely empowering I was so excited and inspired that I enrolled in the sematic experiencing

[00:06:21] training I'm grateful to have started my career with one of the best trainings in trauma while I was at neuropa University getting my m M's degree in contemplative Psychotherapy I was also getting trained in somatic experiencing and completed both in 2008 somatic experiencing changed how I look at the world meaning I began to see the world through this new understanding I became more sensitive and attune to what can contribute to someone experiencing trauma I could see so many places where people didn't understand what causes trauma and therefore were actually contributing to others being traumatized with a much greater understanding of the body's physiology and nervous system I'm aware of the signs of unresolved trauma and what the body needs in order to experience resolution watching Peter LaVine work was always incredible and inspiring because he is a master at reading the body in all its micro movements he is seeing things that most

[00:07:23] people don't detect he's acutely attuned and tremendously sensitive to what the body is communicating and needing at any moment his offering to the world has had a tremendous impact on many people healing from trauma trauma has a significant impact on the nervous system so let's break it down in a simple way and hopefully I don't lose you here there's the central nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord and there's the peripheral nervous system which connects the central nervous system to the limbs and organs essentially serving as a communication relay going back and forth between the brain and the extremities the peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic or voluntary and the autonomic or involuntary nervous system the somatic processes information from our senses and controls movement and

[00:08:25] reflexes the autonomic nervous system is also divided into two branches called the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system the sympathetic nervous system mobilizes energy and the fight and flight responses it's like stepping on the gas in your car and the parasympathetic nervous system conserves energy and supports resting and digesting it's like stepping on the brakes in your car the parasympathetic is divided as well into two branches of the vag nerve vent ventral vagel and dorsal vagel the ventral branch is active when we feel safe and allows us to use the expressions in our face and the intonation in our voice to relate to others this is our most evolved response to threat when we're able to stay socially engaged and talk our way to safety someone I know was recently able to talk a potentially dangerous Thief out of her building by remaining calm

[00:09:28] engaged and assertive the dorsal branch is active when we're in danger and shuts us down where we could feel Frozen numb dissociated out of our body and disconnected from the world this is the freeze response and it's preparing to numb us as much as possible to the pain we're about to endure and leaves us immobilized think of an animal playing dead while there's nothing playful about playing dead there's actually a lot of activ ation in the nervous system in the freeze response think about it like pressing on the gas and brake on your car at the same time the engine's going to rev but the car is not going to move when faced with a threat the number one imperative is to survive the physiological response that we have is often automatic we don't have time to think about it or choose our response our nervous system kicks in and reacts quickly in the best way to survive for the best response we want to be able

[00:10:31] to have all of our defensive responses available to us meaning whatever scenario presents itself we want to be able to utilize the best defense whether it's to socially engage with the threat fight fly or freeze however we can lose access to some of our defensive responses from past trauma let's look at an example let's say a child grew up in a home where they were being abused they probably had many impulses to fight back or run away but they weren't able to act on them and move these impulses through to completion so their nervous system decided freezing was the best option now when this child grows up and is an adult they may default on a freeze response no matter what the situation is they're stuck with freezing being the only option in order to regain access to the other defensive responses they need to help the original impulses of their defensive responses move through to

[00:11:34] completion even the freeze response may need to move through to completion in order for us to have access to the other defensive responses Peter LaVine says trauma is not in the event itself rather trauma resides in the nervous system when we perceive threat the body produces a tremendous amount of adrenaline to survive ultimately the body wants to feel a sense of completion with using up this energy to protect itself when we have an Impulse to fight flight or freeze that doesn't get to move through us to completion then we can experience trauma symptoms let's look at some definitions of trauma trauma is any real or perceived threat to our well-being that we don't have control over trauma can be defined as a breach in our boundaries and we have many boundaries including physical sexual sensorial spatial psychological

[00:12:39] emotional relational energetic and spiritual trauma is anything that we experience as too much too fast as it overwhelms our ability to orient to the situation and elicit preferred defensive responses to protect ourselves we can even have too much and too fast of a good thing in my experience meditating 8 hours a day for a month was too much too fast for my body to integrate that kind of expansion without backlash Peter elaborates trauma happens when the organism is strained Beyond its adaptational capacity to regulate states of arousal the traumatized nervous system disorganizes breaks down and cannot reset itself Peter also helps us understand traumatic symptoms in his quote traumatic symptoms are not caused by the

[00:13:41] event itself they arise when residual energy is not discharged from the body this energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreck havoc on our bodies and Minds trauma can often be a loss of connection with others are ourselves and our bodies therefore it can contribute to feeling isolated and alone in addition trauma can cause us to hate our body because of how much disregulation we're experiencing which can lead to feeling out of control with the pain and discomfort in our body the term complex trauma is defined as severe pervasive and prolonged exposure to traumatic events as well as the wide- ranging impact of this exposure for example prolonged exposure to abuse versus a one-time incident complex trauma disrupts many aspects of the child's development and the Very formation of a self as the

[00:14:44] child is constantly in survival mode since complex trauma often occurs in the context of the child's relationship with a caregiver it interferes with the child's ability to form a secure attachment bond in addition to ongoing childhood exposure to boundary ruptures abuse violence lack of safety lack of essential emotional needs being met or any type of threat to our well-being trauma can also result from the following experiences any type of abuse difficult birth bullying assault natural disaster Falls accidents head injuries or concussions medical or dental procedures loss or abandonment and military or War experiences we can also experience secondary trauma when we see or hear

[00:15:47] about a traumatic event that someone else experienced next I'm going to list many types of symptoms we can experience as a result of trauma contraction or constriction physically mentally emotionally relationally or spiritually in any of these areas we can experience pain shutdown rigidity or lack of flexibility hypervigilance limitation denial or avoidance behaviors we can become hypervigilant about our body safety boundaries and others we care about trauma can cause impaired boundaries where we either have very rigid boundaries or a lack of boundaries this can lead to an attraction to dangerous situations seeking extreme stimulation to feel alive as well as exaggerated or

[00:16:49] diminished sexual activity we can experience intrusions such as intrusive imagery feelings thoughts or flashbacks nightmares and night terrors are intrusive we can experience sensory sensitivities some people can experience exaggerated emotional and startle reactions to sounds or quick movements mentally we can feel depressed feelings of impending doom anxious Panic phobias manic overwhelm racing thoughts amnesia or forgetfulness emotionally we can experience feeling anger rage helpless hopeless powerless alone wanting to hide or be small overall we can have diminished emotional responses trauma can lead to all types of addictions as well as eating

[00:17:53] disorders relationally we may experience an inability to trust others we can feel detached disconnected alienated or isolated physically we can suffer from increased or decreased heart rate increased or decreased blood pressure sweating cold sweats difficulty breathing restlessness immune system problems chronic fatigue or very low energy headaches digestive distress nausea or upset stomach and muscle tension when we completely shut down we can experience freezing dissociation or immobility spiritually when we've experienced freezing dissociating and numbing due to trauma we can feel a certain degree of elation or ecstasy which can be confused for an embodied spiritual connection when we dissociate from our

[00:18:56] body and self then we can also feel disconnected from source and our spiritual nature can you relate to any of these symptoms most of these symptoms are directly related to a disregulated nervous system likewise many mental health conditions can be understood through the lens of the nervous system and our inability to regulate it when there's activation in our nervous system that's stuck and hasn't been able to release it has a hard time coming back into a regulated state where we feel comfortable in our body and life feels manageable this is why Peter lavine's somatic experiencing work has been so important and influential in healing trauma another way to understand trauma is by looking at What's called the trauma Vortex and counter Vortex whenever there's trauma a trauma Vortex and counter Vortex are present for

[00:19:59] example let's say I cut myself by accident there's the pain and injury to my body which is the trauma Vortex and at the same time there's a response in the body to go heal the cut which is the counter Vortex if the body stopped putting energy into healing the injury and just focused on the injury then we would be in trouble the trauma Vortex can be described as contraction it's when we're in fear survival pain tension flashbacks overwhelm helplessness shutdown or disconnection the counter Vortex can be described as expansion examples are when we're feeling open supported peaceful relaxed joyful ecstatic and connected to ourselves our body others and Source by Nature the trauma Vortex has a a much stronger pull on us than the healing Vortex have you noticed that

[00:21:03] it's easier to focus on your pain discomfort and what's not working well in your life then it is to focus on the joy pleasure and what things are working well I believe this is because we are wired for survival so we prioritize bringing our attention to the things that can threaten our survival and well-being feeling happy and relaxed isn't a priority to staying alive to our nervous system it can be much harder and often takes more effort to focus our Awareness on the counter Vortex yet it's important to do so the trauma Vortex has a very strong magnetic pull to where our most intense experiences reside many people can feel the magnetic pull to the center of the trauma Vortex when they're seeking support and healing meaning they can feel compelled to jump into telling their story while they're disregulated and disconnected from their body thus causing more contraction and suffering there can also be a tendency

[00:22:06] to want to work through it in a fast sometimes rushed manner when healing from trauma we are weaving or pendula back and forth between the two vortices we can't heal trauma by just operating from the trauma Vortex or counter Vortex we need both just like breathing requires expansion and contraction we can't heal trauma just by staying in a contracted State we start at the edges of the contraction which would be the edges of the trauma and we integrate expansion we start at the edges to release a lot of the activation before getting to the most intense or painful part of the trauma in this process we build confidence in our ability to work with our trauma and we release activation along the way when we we get to the center of the trauma Vortex it's manageable to be with and our nervous system can integrate the experiences and heal ultimately we will access the greatest degree of

[00:23:08] contraction from the trauma and simultaneously we experience the greatest degree of expansion that we can integrate at that time healing from trauma in this way means that we will have greater access to expansive feelings and States as a result let me repeat that there's a way to heal from trauma that not only alleviates our suffering it also increases our joy and expansion so when you're feeling a positive and expansive state in your body we're not going to skip over it we're going to slow down bring awareness to it and give the body time to integrate it you may notice that this sensation starts to expand and spread in your body as you stay with it remember when you keep your awareness connected to your body things move healing from trauma doesn't need to be painful it can be energizing and empowering likewise we can't heal from trauma by just experiencing the expansion and avoiding the contraction if we're avoiding something we've

[00:24:13] elicited aart to manage the pain and vulnerability and so we're not truly accessing the expansion of our core self it also takes a lot of energy to push something down to avoid it this is called spiritual bypassing someone wants to believe that they aren't impacted by their pain as they're feeling Bliss and peace we need to access the contraction to help the feelings that reside there release and experience completion we always do this in a manageable way so it can be integrated anytime we feel overwhelmed we aren't actually able to integrate the experience our body is our window into the nervous system if we want to know what's happening in our nervous system then we need to be aware of the feelings and Sensations in our body when we access Sensations we're able to access the activation in the nervous system by slowing down and being mindful of bringing our awareness to our body we can help our nervous system experience

[00:25:15] resolution with the past this will allow the nervous system to move back into health and regulation however we can see if someone is struggling with disregulation in their nervous system why they would want to disconnect from their body let's look at what role talking about our trauma has it can be helpful to tell others what happened so it doesn't feel like we have to keep it a secret or feel alone with the trauma it's important to feel heard and understood by others we can receive an external perspective from those we trust this can help us know that it was not our fault and that we did the best we could to survive the situation it can be very reparative to have someone validate our experience and feelings and why is it not helpful to just talk about our trauma talking about a traumatic event over and over can actually Groove

[00:26:19] painful memories even deeper into the brain for some people causing retraumatization and stuckness only talking about our trauma can likewise strengthen our protective parts and move us further away from accessing our core self many people know that the trauma is over but their body is still reliving it in some way talking about the traumatic event without bringing awareness to the body doesn't address the impact on our body and nervous system it doesn't help incomplete experiences move through to completion our nervous system isn't able to release the activation stored in it that's causing trauma symptoms so just talking about our trauma doesn't help us regulate our nervous system and feel at home in our body why is it important to integrate the body and nervous system into the healing

[00:27:21] process the body can tell us what is manageable and what is overwhelming it's important for us to always work within a range of what's manageable so that experiences can be integrated as we do this we'll learn to regulate our nervous system from within rather than from external sources which is essential for embodying our power when our awareness is connected to our body we can assist the body in its inate movement toward health and healing the body is wired to survive and wants to experience the ability to protect itself with successful defensive responses as we become aware and listen to what the body is wanting or needing it will guide us in releasing the activation from the trauma it most likely has tried to feel a sense of completion with the trauma in the past but was

[00:28:23] unsuccessful we have to slow down and bring presence and awareness Wess to our body to help it experience resolution what we know from Neuroscience is that the brain doesn't distinguish between real and imagined experiences we can create new experiences for ourselves by bringing our awareness to our body while we're visualizing a new outcome if we can engage our senses in a mindful way the brain will perceive this as if it were actually happening what's great is that the body will always give us the feedback on whether or not it is integrating the new experience this is how we can rewire the brain and heal from trauma bringing our awareness to our body when it's experiencing positive and pleasurable Sensations is also important as it helps us access our counter Vortex and integrate expansive States in my work I'm not interested in

[00:29:26] rehashing the past I'm looking for what is needed in order to release activation in the nervous system and move things through to completion the story of what happened is mostly used to track the activation in the nervous system and find where people need to experience new corrective experiences in order to feel resolution with the past I'm looking for what needed to happen that didn't get to happen the brain and body respond favorably to experiencing a more empowered outcome we're not meant to feel defeated we're here to embody our power at the end of this episode I'd like to offer a summary trauma is not in the event it's in the nervous system traumatic symptoms are not caused by the event itself they arise when residual energy is not discharged from the body this energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreck havoc on our bodies and

[00:30:30] Minds our body is our window into the nervous system when we know how to regulate our nervous system we embody our power in order to heal from the contraction of trauma we need to access and experience our expansion we don't need to dread the process of healing from trauma it can be a transformative experience where we reclaim our energy our power a positive connection to our body and the ability to feel at home in our body the vehicle for our Consciousness thanks for listening to this podcast if you found this episode helpful please consider assisting me in reaching more people by sharing it with others or writing a review together let's raise our Consciousness to help evolve human for more information please visit my website Daniel karen.com that's d i e l

[00:31:36] l e c a r r o [Music] n.com
