What happens when we experience trauma?
When we go through some kind of shock or trauma, our bodies go into the foetal position, literally.
We close down to protect ourselves so as to keep the blood pumping to our heart – and the blood drains from our frontal lobes in order to keep our basic survival system – which is controlled by the amygdala part of our brain – in place.
We find we forget easily – as we are no longer able to store memories in our hippocampus. That’s why sometimes people say they can’t remember certain parts of our lives.
How can we find a way out of trauma?
Instead of focusing on suffering, we can empower ourselves in this situation, however slowly and however difficult that may be. Ultimately it’s only by sharing our story – first with ourselves and then with others – that we can really own the experience and make it serve us instead of us serving it.
We can all be bigger than our traumas. We need to channel that pain into something productive or creative so we can name it and own it.
What did I do?
I experienced a traumatic event while I was looking after my mother when my Dad died. It took me years to be able to process that trauma, partly because I just wanted to forget about the experience and partly because I felt embarrassed.
But despite my attempts to drive it down, it would reappear at moments of stress: it left traces on my body such as in the form of heightened levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) as well as abnormal levels of anxiety – for instance, I would find myself breathless and constricted in my throat area.
How can you care for yourself?
It’s really important if something like that happens that you find the space and time to care for yourself properly.
You need to open up a space for yourself to acknowledge that something has happened, rather than simply pushing it away. Because trauma is simply trapped energy – and as such it will find a route out of that trap at some point, whether now or in the future.
In my newsletter which is available to subscribers only I share some top tips for things that you can do to start to overcome trauma.
