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I think often of the physiological effects of trauma & how the doctors I've encountered prescribed medication & talk therapy. While I'm not opposed to either, I'm confused by how the body is excluded from treatment processes despite how mental illness physically manifests itself.
The imprints of trauma are stamped across our bodies in our genetic expression, our brain's alarm system, & hormone activity. Living with trauma can manifest as physical illness & dis-ease, e.g. hypertension, IBS, chronic fatigue & other "normalised" manifestations.
Previously, I've taken a variety of drugs intended to dampen my brain's alarm reactions & I talked about my traumas until I ran out of air. I didn't feel better; I felt worse. As if the loss of my Self to MI wasn't bad enough, the medication numbed me to everything around me.
Medication is useful for many people, as is talk therapy. In the latter, especially, there is something powerful about remembering & reconnecting with the past so you can successfully process it & heal. There's so much value in that, but I didn't get much. Instead I felt drained.
I gave myself permission to discontinue my medication. I stopped seeing a therapist. And I took up meditation & EFT (with a friend). The first few sessions focused on surfacing the emotions & traumas I had repressed in my body. It was deeply uncomfortable.
A mix of powerful emotions would arise without an attached memory. It was just there: loud, demanding, fiery. I allowed myself to feel it; I allowed it to 'take over' my body. It was a distressing time for someone obsessed with control.
Side note: it's interesting to me how difficult it is remember & piece together memories of traumatic experiences. Your brain is foggy & forgetful, but your body responds the same as if touched by trauma for the first time.
From here, yoga seemed the next logical step & I recommitted myself to the practice. As during meditation, there were instances when my body would glide into a posture & something inside me would crack & a flood of emotions would overcome me. Still I couldn't pin down a memory.
Research is showing that the body is constantly replaying what the mind has repressed- the memories & experiences the mind has 'forgotten' are stored and enacted in the body.
D/MT theory posits that we can calm the aroused alarm systems in our brain through increasing the range of movement patterns in our bodies (yoga & dance are only 2 ways to do this).
It is NB that trauma treatments engage the entire human- mind, body & spirit. Research increasingly proves that there is no separation between mind/ body/ spirit, but that they are interconnected and dependent on another to exist & flourish.
