A common result of trauma is being out of touch with your own needs. Putting others first might have been safer in order to survive and so, as a result of that trauma, having had to ignore your own needs, you have become what’s labeled a people-pleaser. Going along to get along, but internally, struggling. How can you break the cycle?
The answer is simple, but not easy. It begins with this: Normalize having needs.
If you choose to turn to a yoga practice on your healing journey, there are a couple of elements that can contribute to a soothing, grounding, healing experience and prevent you from experiencing triggers during your practice. They are all part of what is called trauma-sensitive yoga.
Read MoreThere are many beautiful foods support trauma healing, but today I want to focus three of my favorites with you. The cool thing about incorporating nutrition as a healing tool on your healing journey from trauma back to yourself is that it is one of the most accessible ways and one of the habits that is a bit easier to tweak, because you do not necessarily begin something completely new, you can easily start by only adding one good thing to your plate. One ingredient at a time, one meal at a time, you can achieve big changes for your health and trauma recovery.
Read MoreNature is a potent healer. Turning to nature for healing is a free way to pour into yourself daily. As humans, we need to be in nature to be balanced. And when you’re recovering from trauma, being out in nature during the day is even more important.
What’s behind the healing benefits of being outdoors in nature for your trauma recovery? It’s the circadian rhythm.
Read MoreWhen you start your healing journey of recovering from trauma, you will need to begin with self-regulation and stimulating your vagus nerve in order to support your nervous system and calm down. A first step on the way towards such practices is the creation of a safe space that you can retreat to whenever you want to practice grounding and do healing work like meditation, yoga, writing, breathwork or bodywork. I’ll show you how!
Read MoreRecently, while discussing our dinner plans, a friend of mine offered me various options and then asked me what would make me feel safe. And I realized how incredibly important this underestimated love language is. So, I wanted to dedicate today’s blog to this topic and provide you with some useful tips on how you can make a loved person feel safe as your support them on their healing journey towards the Self.
Read MoreCoffee is a modern-day socially accepted drug. That is, it’s an herbal medicinal drug. As an herbal stimulant, coffee has a direct stimulating action on the central nervous system resulting in mental alertness. It potentiates the effect of pain medication like aspirin and, since it can also increase the transmission of dopamine and serotonin, coffee can enhance your mood while increasing both mental and physical performance. - It’s for these exact reasons that many of us rely on coffee to get through the day.
But, if you heal from trauma, the nervous system stimulation caused by coffee can be very triggering. What does this mean for a body recovering from trauma? It can lead to either anxiety and panic attacks or worsen depressive episodes. Let’s explore!
Read MoreWhen healing from trauma, grounding and reconnecting with your center is not the only thing that matters in order to move forward. If you can’t move, or release the stress from a perceived or existing threat and the resulting trauma, that energy and stress is stored in your body. This is why moving the energy is an essential part of healing and trauma recovery.
Read MoreWe live in a time that triggers deep childhood wounds and trauma on a daily basis. Every day is bathed in uncertainty and you are challenged to ground yourself within.
Not only do you need to find ways to self-regulate and step out of fear to think clearly, sleep well, or connect with others. Finding ways to calm the nervous system down is probably the best thing you can do for your own health today, because fear weakens the immune system.
Read MoreFrom the time you grow in your mother’s womb, you develop a physical synchrony with other human beings; your mother’s rhythmical heartbeat becoming the first rhythm you are in sync with. You are wired for connection. One of the lasting effects of trauma is disruption, because trauma breaks this synchrony down. This loss of trust makes it incredibly difficult to allow intimate relationships and let anyone in. But healing requires human connection. Healing requires reconnecting to ourselves and reconnecting to another.
Read MoreAs 2021 is coming to a close with policy makers worldwide urging for the individual to take responsibility for the health of others as a sign of solidarity, the question that echoes is: Is health a personal responsibility or can we expect others to endeavor healing for us and make us healthy?
Let me be so bold: The healing journey is a personal endeavor. Health is a personal responsibility. Here’s why.
The world can be a triggering place and for the past two years our collective is going through a potentially deeply traumatizing time. One organ that is involved in navigating your response to the world is the polyvagal nerve (or vagus nerve). While your polyvagal nerve influences your nervous system response and in turn, your body’s response to what is happening to or around you, there is way to integrate your body in your healing work and work the opposite way around: Various bodywork techniques allow you to stimulate and influence your vagus nerve and consequently can help you calm down whenever you are triggered or experiencing episodes of anxiety and panic attacks. A brilliant, free and accessible way to do this is humming.
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