Traumatic Effects

 By Don Shetterly

The book by Peter Levine, Ph.D. called Waking The Tiger has so much to share on how trauma affects us.  All too often we go through life oblivious to it.  All too often we think trauma is some horrific one-time incident, failing to see how the little moments can be just as traumatic as one big moment.

In the following quote, he sums up so much of what happens in traumatic effects.

Traumatic effects are not always apparent immediately following the incidents that caused them.  Symptoms remain dormant, accumulating over years or even decades.  Then, during a stressful period, or as the result of another incident, they can show up without warning.  There may also be no indication of the original cause.  Thus, a seemingly minor event can give rise to a sudden breakdown, similar to the one that might be caused by a single catastrophic event."  (Waking The Tiger by Dr. Peter Levine)

In my own life, I've had those moments that connected from the current moment I'm living into something that happened in my past.  I was not aware of it. It led me to the Conversion Disorder.  It took me years to put those pieces together to understand what happened.

The series of events didn't affect most people.  They didn't end up with back and neck pain.  They didn't end up being paralyzed and almost dying.  But, I did...  See my book for more about what I went through.

The thing is, we all have those connections, and they impact us differently.  They can add to anxiety, depression, back pain, neck pain and other physical issues in our body.

What happens to us does impact our body, and so often we don't stop to look at that connection.  Even if we do, we barely open the closet door to see what is inside.  We do everything we can to avoid it and delay it and act as if it doesn't exist.

You might not be able to put one thing with the other in a connection, but it doesn't mean that it is not there.  Sometimes we just cannot see the connection.  Our brain is protecting us from things that are just too difficult to deal with in our life.

However, you can be sure that if something physical is showing up in the body, that you need to look beyond your usual paradigms and beliefs.  There is more to it.  There is a mind body connection that means so much more than the buzzword we use every day.

Just the awareness that there can be the connection present may help you heal and move through what is showing up.  Sometimes, that is the hardest part of the journey, but it is often the most important part.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Where Does Your Stress Show Up

We all have stress.  Unless you're superman or Jesus or someone that is no longer alive, we all have stress.  Yes, there can be good and bad stress, but I'm talking about some of the normal stress we experience in our life.

For each of us, stress shows up differently and in different parts of our body.  No two people are alike, although there are similarities between one human to another.

Here's a little secret that you might not be aware of while we're talking about stress showing up in the body.  If you get real busy and have yourself burning the candle at both ends, there's a good chance you won't feel the stress in your body.  Your body just automatically numbs and disconnects from the stress.

As humans, we are good at numbing and disconnecting.  Imagine if a doctor had to work a 48 hour shift in an emergency room, but could not do it because he was feeling stressed out in his body.  In that case, numbing and disconnecting would be a good thing.  Yet, like the doctor, we all do this and when our 48 hours shift is over (if it ever is), we forget that it is time to feel.

Or what if you had to get to your job, take care of your kids and care for someone that is elderly.  Most likely, you wouldn't have time to feel pains and illness in your own body.  You would numb and disconnect from it in order to function.  Yet, when we need to do this we forget to stop and reconnect with the stress in our body to let it go.

When stress in my body kicks up....

For me, I feel stress in a couple of places, but sometimes it shifts to other places in my body.  I'll really feel it in my neck and shoulders at times.  Boy, when that kicks up, I feel like punching things and some days that really gets painful.

I've also had times where it shows up in my low back or comes on as a headache.  There are many different ways it shows up including sometimes causing digestive issues and stomach pain.

Yes, there are some that say if this part of our body hurts, it means x, y, and z.  While it may be connected to that and I don't discount that it is, you have to be careful that as the observer, you don't impact the observation.  Sometimes simplifying life down to these little "facts" becomes more detrimental than helpful.

There are a couple of very good books on the subject.  One is by Dr. John Sarno, The Mind Body Prescription.  The other book is by Dr. Peter Levine, Freedom From Pain.

I remember doing chair massage in an office one time and one of the people would complain of constant low back pain.  Sure, I could have applied the simple truth to why she had backpain because it was something in her life causing it.  However, I would just observe her at her desk.

I noticed that she had the computer monitor to the right on her L-shaped desk and her keyboard to the left.  She was constantly twisting her body all day long, but was not aware of it.  Once I pointed it out, she relocated stuff on her desk.  He body physically changed as a result. Before this, you could physically tell the spine was twisted and after it, the spine straightened out more.

Sometimes we have feet issues and there are many times that when you see feet pain come up, the individual is struggling with where to go in life.  They are having difficulty finding the right steps in their life.  Now, it may not have to mean something as simplified as what I just made it, but I've seen this show up many times.

For me, when frustration hits me and I'm struggling to figure out what is going on, I feel it in my body as if someone was punching me.  Often I've been told that I beat myself up seeking perfection in what I do.  Many times I have to stop and realize that if I just give myself a break and quit beating myself up, my body feels better.

There is a word for converting stress into physical symptoms and that is called somatization.  Yes, you can literally create pain and illness in your body by allowing the stress to continue. We do this to ourselves while hardly recognizing that we are doing it.

So instead of trying to apply facts that other people come up with to explain pain, go in and become acquainted with who you truly are and observe what is going on.  When you feel the pain in your own body and connect to it, you're really given yourself some good information that is very useful in life.

The next blog post on March 16, 2017 will tell you more about how to deal with stress showing up in the body. Make sure you read Dealing With Stress Showing Up In Your Body.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Trauma Keeps Peace Away

I know other people have written much more in-depth about this subject and one of them that comes to my mind is Peter Levine in his book, "Waking The Tiger".  One of the most horrible things that trauma does long term to a person is it keeps the peace away.

Yes, we can begin to find peace, but trauma keeps the body revved up.  It keeps the moments of when the trauma happened in the forefront of our brain as if they are still happening.  Because of the impact of these moments, it keeps our nervous system on edge and our brain from slowing down.

If you read the book, "Waking The Tiger", you'll see a very good and healthy explanation of what trauma does to the body and the mind.  It is the basis for much of what I have learned along with what has physically been demonstrated to me in my own body through healing with Dr. Paul Canali of Unified Therapy.

You can compare trauma to walking through the jungle.  There are predators out there and if you don't watch out, you'll become lunch for an animal in the jungle.  Let's use being hunted by a Tiger as Dr. Peter Levine discusses.

Your body is revved up...

In trauma, the Tiger pounces and attacks just like walking through the jungle.  Even if you somehow escape the Tiger or the trauma, your body is still revved up like the event is happening.  We've all had those moments that shocks or frightens us and it takes a while to come down.  Trauma does the same thing, but to a much greater degree.  Trauma keeps us in that revved up state.  The long term impacts of it can be felt and see in the mind and body for years after it stopped. 

Even long after the trauma has passed, it is as if we are still experiencing it.  This is why reaching out to support groups, therapists and other body-centered trauma healing is essential.  It isn't about being weak, but learning and discovering how to let go of the residual impacts from the trauma.  It is about finding ways to heal from our inner core.  It is about reclaiming all that we are and learning how to show trauma the door.

As if things never ended...

I went through intense torture and childhood sexual abuse.  It shaped me in so many ways.  While I've done extensive deep body healing from the trauma with Dr. Paul Canali, there are moments that the triggers act as if the Tiger is still chasing me.  Of course, I know that the events have stopped, but in my mind and neural pathways, they are still acting as if things never ended.  Trauma keeps us in that state.

The body needs to be a central part of continued healing because even though we try to disconnect, forget and numb, the cells, muscles, nervous system and the brain still remember.  They don't forget.  Unless these parts of our bodies are healed deeply, they will continue to rev up the nervous system from the trauma and keep peace away.

Deep peace is difficult after Trauma...

If your body is on full alert because it believes there is a Tiger waiting to pounce, most likely you are not going to be able to lay down and take a nice restful nap.  It is the same with trauma.  As long as the trauma remains within us, true and deep peace will be difficult to grasp.

One of the things that I so love about Unified Therapy with Dr. Paul Canali is that after you've gone through a moment of deep release, the peace that ensues is unlike anything we have ever felt.  It is such a deep peace that you beg him to just leave you in that place, not wanting to come out from it.  It is hard to describe it, but in the process of healing through this work, when you do feel what I'm talking about, it will blow your mind!

In healing, we have to learn how to understand that the Tiger is no longer chasing us.  Our minds will make us believe that it is while keeping it from our conscious thought.  Our minds try so hard to protect us that we often stay in numbing and disconnectedness.  It is in reconciling these things that we will find further healing into a life that is truly ours.  It is in these moments of healing that we will discover more of who we are and that is a beautiful thing.  It is a place of peace.

Trauma may try to keep the peace away, but the more we work to heal, the more we will discover it.  Healing is about taking our life back from those things that stole it.  It is about finding that awareness which leads us to a greater peace than we've ever known. 

#HealTrauma

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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