Trauma Stored in the Body and How to Release It
What is Considered Trauma?
When we hear the word trauma, we may automatically think about abusive relationships, addiction, death, or any other extreme trauma experienced by people in society. While these forms of trauma are extremely heavy and can have a lasting impact on our bodies and well-being, other types of trauma also build up in our lives. These events are stored in our bodies and can eventually make us sick. Sometimes they are referred to as micro-traumas. Micro-traumas are smaller, seemingly less significant events. For instance, maybe we had an emotional need not being met by a parent when we were young. Maybe a teacher was always shaming us for our inability to focus, or we experienced a particularly hard break up, leaving us abandoned. {This article on micro-traumas is more than worth the read} It can also include things like worrying that we might lose our jobs, money stress, and family issues. Data estimates that 70% of adults have experienced a major traumatic event in their life. Still, even more people will experience micro-traumas that impede their daily mental well-being, happiness, and fulfillment.
How is Trauma is Stored in the Body?
Our body does not distinguish between physical and emotional trauma. The sympathetic nervous system is activated and prepares the body for ‘fight to flight’ in any situation that it perceives as a threat. The sympathetic system responds by speeding up the heart, tensing the muscles, and pumping the body full of adrenaline and cortisol. Since humans have evolved as social beings, threats can also include a fear of not being accepted by the tribe or a need to protect our self-worth. The very primal part of our brain that operates the fight or flight response cannot differentiate between physical and emotional danger – and will treat both threats the same. So whether humans are fleeing from animals or protecting their personal sense of worth, the emotions experienced will elicit the same physical sensations in the body. These physical sensations occur because of the release of chemicals from our stress response. We might experience sweaty palms, rapid heart rate, or tense muscles. If your body is experiencing chronic trauma without a release and a way of reducing stress hormones circulating through your body, then you are far more likely to experience obesity, depression, hormone imbalances, diabetes, and skin conditions – to name a few.
How to Release Trauma
We may hear that exercise and eating healthy are important for our health, but that is the bare minimum. And the lackluster information we receive doesn’t even scratch the surface. The truth is that how we move our body and what we use to fuel our body are the most critical factors in regulating our parasympathetic nervous system – sometimes referred to as the rest and digest system. The parasympathetic nervous system is the regulator that helps calm the body to the resting state it was in before it experienced the trauma or stress. Depending on the degree of trauma or the build-up of chronic events, some bodies will need more time to heal and repair. Our memories are stored in our muscles. That is why it is so important to get out of our heads and move into our bodies to release built-up emotions. The best way to achieve this release is in a daily practice. Over time, you will strengthen the parasympathetic response, and you can significantly reduce the wear-and-tear your body created by the sympathetic responses.
Practices for Aiding Trauma and Stress Releases
Meditation + Breathwork
One of the harms of the stress response, when activated too frequently without rest, is that it impairs regular body functions such as digestion, reproduction, and nurturing the immune system. These other vital functions of the body get put to the wayside when the sympathetic system (stress response) is activated because your body is preparing for a fight. Of course, our fight mode is essential to our survival, but as a species, we have evolved quicker than our stress response, and it can be triggered more frequently than it needs to and in everyday life. Over time, this can leave the rest of the body’s systems at risk. Studies have shown that the inflammation caused by stress can be reduced with a regular meditation practice. That is honestly just ONE of the amazing benefits of a mediation or breathwork practice. Deep breathing is another practice similar to mediation that achieves excellent results in activating the restorative parasympathetic system. You can read more about deep diaphragmatic breathing here.
Acupuncture or Massage
Many acupuncturists and masseuses report having clients randomly burst into tears during sessions without being able to explain why they are sobbing. Ancient medicine theorizes that the acupuncture needles (or the hands of the masseuse) clear stagnant energy or hit a meridian in the body that could provide a release of emotions. Acupuncture has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries, and current forms of acupuncture have been in practice for hundreds of years. Acupuncture aids in your body’s natural healing functions by stimulating the nervous system to release chemicals in the brain, the muscles, and the spinal cord. It is used and proven to help a wide array of ailments, from mental issues like addiction and depression to fibromyalgia, headaches, and back pain.
High Vibration Foods
Eating foods grown from sunshine and healthy soil is undoubtedly the most potent form of medicine. What we are consuming is so essential to our health, yet it is one thing that is neglected by most people (at least here in America). Your body can interpret certain foods as stress. Eating foods like sugar, processed grains, dairy, and alcohol is connected to elevated cortisol levels in the body and other hormonal imbalances. When the body has an abundance of micronutrients, minerals, and phytonutrients – from whole, fresh, plant foods – it has an easier time regulating stress and preventing inflammation.
Tai Chi + Yoga (Movement-Based Relaxation)
These two practices fall under the category of mindful movement. Exercise has many benefits, but there is something more powerful about understanding the breath-body connection. One study noted that the movement-based relaxation practice of Tai Chi significantly decreased sympathetic activity in elderly subjects, and the results were not determined by the physical movement alone. Studies of yoga are showing promising results as an effective treatment for people who experience PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders.
Adaptogenic Herbs
Adaptogenic herbs are just that – they help your body adapt to stressors it is exposed to. They have a stress-protective effect in the body. Some of the most common, most powerful adaptogens are ashwagandha, Schisandra, and Siberian ginseng. Studies to date have proven them to have neuroprotective, anti-fatigue, and anti-depressive properties, as well as being brain boosters and working to combat mental exhaustion.
Conclusion
Stress, anxiety, trauma, and micro-traumas are going to happen. Yet, if we give our body time each day to release the tension and damage caused to our physical body, we can prevent the harmful effects of excessive stress responses from compounding and causing illness and dis-ease in our bodies.
It seems as though many of these practices, like yoga, Tai Chi, herbalism, and meditation, have been used in different cultures across the world for centuries as preventative medicine and for improving quality of life. There is a lot of history and wisdom held in these practices, and they deserve to be shared. It really is time to integrate and utilize alternative healing modalities in all areas of the world.