A Quick Guide to Decrease Trauma on Your Nervous System
Intro:
Friday was all about how your past traumatic experiences can dampen your parasympathetic nervous system. It was a lot of information on how any traumatic event can cause a fight or flight response. If you’re like me though that’s a lot of information to take in at once so lets recap in a less overwhelming way.
The Recap:
“In most cases the traumas our brain reacts to were actually childhood trauma. Your brain determined it was a dangerous situation in the past, and now it will trigger either a physiological response or emotional response to the stimulus that you may not even realize is there.”
Stress Response
“Your brain will tie an object to an emotion… The stress response is meant to keep you alive, but when it sticks around well after the trauma is over, you can start to see the most innocent objects, sounds, smells as a perceived threat.”
All in all last week we saw that whether you go through an event that your brain may not even consider a trauma; Or we go through an incredibly traumatic experience that leads to PTSD our brain records each event to attempt to “save us” in the future. These traumas can lead to you not being able to achieve your goals.
What can I do on my own?
Lets face it! Majority of us will fight going to see any type of doctor, therapist, etc. We almost always wait until it’s well advanced and even too late before we reach out for help. If that’s you I get it I’ve been there but there are ways you can still address that limbic system (the system that records these traumas) at home.
FAST Technique
We talked about NET (Neuro Emotional Technique) and how a trained practitioner could help you release these past traumas. However, if you just want to start working on this at home you can do the FAST Technique (First Aid Stress Tool). In NET we call this the bandaid technique to NET, but this technique is an amazing tool you can do at home on your own! You can click here to go to the NET website and learn how to do the FAST technique.
At Home EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization is another great therapy, but again if you are just wanting at home techniques then this is an easy and effective tool you can add to your daily routine now! For this at home tool you will need to think of the trauma that is effecting you and get a good picture in your mind. Once you have a good lock on that event, feeling, etc you will then watch this video (click here).
Keep watching the little ball go across the screen until you feel slightly lighter, or a release. If after a minute you can’t feel anything take a break and then go to a new event. Sometimes it will take a few sessions of one event before your brain will allow you to let it go. Remember it takes consistency so don’t give up on it!
Conclusion
Sometimes the full articles we write can be overwhelming at first, so I hope this mini recap of our article helps you! If you want the more in depth article that covers the nervous system, and even more tools you can use at home, read our article Understanding How Trauma Effects the Autonomic Nervous System.
