trauma + the nervous system

i was inspired to write this post based on countless 1:1 sessions. i find so many beings who are interested in energetic work, who are intuitive and who have been through trauma as children lack a basic understanding of the SCIENCE behind how trauma impacts the nervous system.

what i see so often with clients is a level of self-judgment and shame. when you are spiritually awake and understand that you are creating your reality, it can be really hard to have compassion for the ways your nervous system is still frozen in the past - reliving the traumatic experience.

i felt compelled to write this to break down the physiological, survival-based dynamics in the body that prevent us from being able to fully integrate energetic healing or other spiritual shifts we may experience. for example: receiving a deeply impactful Akashic records or karma-healing session, only to find yourself cast back into the same unhealthy dynamic with a partner, parent or loved one.

i can’t tell you how often i’ve had clients say to me, i don’t understand, i already completed that. i understand why i created it and i already learned what i needed to! why is it still showing up? when your body or mind responds in a way that defies logic it can feel humiliating, disempowering and downright scary. so why is it happening?

my clients are usually familiar with the concept of spiritual bypassing and are committed to sitting with the aspects of self they might, in the past, have been tempted to avoid. but the reality is that without an understanding of how trauma impacts the nervous system all the good intentions in the world cannot give these beings what they need to truly resolve these dynamics.

okay, so this might feel…depressing? you might be thinking ummm fuck you spirit, are you just sitting there telling me i’m screwed? no - i’m not. ;) because the truth is that armed with a basic education of the science behind trauma’s impact on the nervous system you will suddenly have so much PEACE and self-compassion. and that in and of itself is usually enough to turn the tides. yay!

so let’s get into the main learnings/FACTS about trauma i find myself explaining to clients the most.

your body holds what your ‘self’ is not yet ready to feel or process.

when your body has a physiological response that defies logic (strong emotion, fear, sweating, increased heart rate, numbness/emotional shut-down, doing things that please others at the expense of yourself - seemingly on autopilot, without the involvement of your conscious mind)… IT IS DOING THIS TO PROTECT YOU.

please understand, even if your body’s physiological response feels annoying - counterproductive - illogical - frustrating - disempowering…

it’s actually a survival mechanism.

when emotional stimuli or environmental stressors become too much for our system to fully process, the body’s (old, outdated, reptilian-brain) basic survival instincts are activated.

whether accurate or not, when our system perceives something as a threat to our survival a part of our brain takes over that ensures we don’t die. this process prevents the integration of our thoughts, emotions and experiences as it’s purely visceral and unconscious.

this means that later when a similar stimuli is experienced we automatically go into the same survival response. in addition to denying us access to our conscious (read: logical) mind, it also floods us with all the unprocessed emotions, thoughts etc from the original event.

when your body has been wired this way judging yourself, trying to be logical or ‘talk yourself out of’ your emotional, physiological response is pointless. step one is to get okay with the response your autonomic nervous system is having and to allow it to run its course, so that it can begin resolving.

it’s not just fight/flight, it’s also FREEZE.

did you know that a far more common response to a traumatic event, especially in complex trauma, is a FREEZE response?

complex trauma is when the perpetrator of trauma against you is also your primary attachment figure. this means the person hurting you / threatening your survival, is also the person upon whom you depend for safety - survival - connection. ie: anyone abused by a parent in childhood.

when your survival depends upon preserving the relationship with the person who is also HARMING you, you don’t have the option to fight or to flee. luckily for you (it might not feel lucky right now but trust me - your psyche wouldn’t be intact otherwise!) your nervous system also possesses the option to FREEZE.

originally the freeze response occurred in animals who had tried to run, but failed to escape their predators. knowing death was inevitable their nervous system would take over and create a cascade of events that mimicked death. we think of it as ‘playing dead’ but here’s what actually occurs in these animals (and us) when their system believes death is inevitable:

-breathing slows

-they literally ‘freeze,’ with their muscles barely functioning and all nonessential body processes ie digestion, cognitive function etc halted

-they collapse on the ground

-their system is flooded with pleasure hormones so that they won’t be able to feel the pain of being eaten/torn to pieces

-internally it feels almost like they’re sleeping (in humans, this presents as dissociation)

why is this important? because 99% of trauma symptoms i witness in my clients can be tied back to the FREEZE response. and it’s the one there is the least education around. did you know that in humans, the freeze response often presents as doing whatever was required/expected of us by the caregiver who was abusing us? as in: whatever we’re trained/abused into doing as children as part of the complex trauma experience, our nervous system actually hardwires as a survival requirement.

this means that even once we grow up and are no longer technically ‘at risk’ in the way we were as children, our system is still hardwired to shut down and ‘do as expected’ (as we were trained in childhood) whenever the situation emerges. we automatically dissociate, try to meet the expectations of dangerous/threatening people, and even anticipate risks where there actually aren’t any…all because our nervous system continues to be frozen in the same pattern.

the symptoms of the freeze response also look like: dissociation/feeling spacey, unable to identify how you’re feeling on a regular basis, putting the needs of others before your own, poor digestion/IBS, SIBO (the contractions of the small intestine are intertwined with the same part of the nervous system that triggers ‘freeze’), sleep disruptions, numbing behaviors ie drug use, overeating, sexual addiciton, anything else that essentially overwhelms your nervous system with stimuli mimicking the flooding response of the body protecting itself from the sensation of being eaten alive.

your nervous system is designed to function like a figure-8: constantly flowing between activation and rest. anywhere in the cycle you experience trauma, the nervous system becomes stuck, with a ‘blip’ occurring on the figure-8 that prevents smooth flow.

anytime you lose access to conscious mind or logical thought, you’re in a blip.

anytime you feel stuck in your emotions or as if you’ve gone back in time, you’re in a blip.

anytime you feel like you can’t see clearly through what you’re feeling, you’re in a blip.

anytime you feel the need to isolate yourself and the idea of connection frightens you, you’re in a blip.

anytime you feel unable to differentiate between safe people/places/things and those that pose a threat to your safety, you’re in a blip.

anytime you re-create or re-experience (same difference) painful situations or dynamics that are reminiscent of past traumas, you’re in a blip.

please understand that as long as these blips (frozen spots) exist in your nervous system, all the subconscious reprogramming and energetic healing won’t do sh*t. like it or not we are here on Earth having a HUMAN EXPERIENCE. that means we’re in bodies. period.

in order to create the changes we desire we must address the needs of our bodies. our bodies aren’t merely responding to our current thoughts, frequency etc. they are carrying everything we have yet to feel. as soon as you begin viewing your current circumstances (desirable or not) as a reflection of what your body is carrying for you, you once again become SOVEREIGN.

because the autonomic nervous system is the main holding-place of trauma, resolving and releasing trauma from the body is often even smoother than rewiring our minds.

the autonomic nervous system has no thoughts, opinions or agenda. its only goal: survival. this is good news. it means that when we learn to simply witness and allow our nervous system to express what it’s been holding it can usually rediscover stasis quite easily.

while you might have to fight to create new thought patterns your nervous system just needs you to surrender and allow. the body knows what’s needed to shift things. all that’s required is for you to get out of the way.

for so many of my clients i know that healing these deeply ingrained, unconscious physiological responses can feel like the most mystifying and overwhelming aspect of their healing journeys. so i write this to assure you: there is even less to figure out, or solve, or ‘do’ than with almost any other aspect of your recovery. get out of the way and it will occur on its own.

okay, granted - you might need some help learning how to get out of the way. but rest assured that your body knows EXACTLY how to resolve this stuff. it knows exactly how to purify itself of these old dynamics. it’s just waiting on you.

hopefully this basic information has helped to demystify some of what you’re experiencing! hopefully where you used to feel shame or self-judgment, you can now see that your body is merely protecting you…doing what it needs to do, to keep you alive.

obviously working with trauma and the nervous system is one of my passions. i currently support clients to move through dynamics such as this in my 1:1 retainer contracts. learn more here.

thanks for reading! i am so excited to be here with you.

all my love,

xx spirit