While most people will experience challenges and hardship in their life, some people experience trauma. We’re beginning to understand trauma better now and have recognized that trauma is actually a physiological process that impacts our psychological and emotional wellbeing. When trauma is suppressed, it often leads to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and even PTSD.
While talk therapy can be effective at treating certain emotional and mental health issues, it can actually cause someone to re-experience their trauma. And when survivors don’t have the emotional resources yet to process the trauma, talking or focusing on the event(s) it can send them into a state of confusion and hyper-arousal.
Effect on the Nervous System
We have begun to understand that trauma exists in our body’s nervous system. When we experience acute or chronic challenges, our nervous system goes into “fight or flight” mode. To treat trauma, we must do so on a physical level by connecting with our bodies and allowing them to process and neutralize those unexpressed defensive fight or flight reactions.
If we do not allow our nervous systems to come back to a calm and neutral state, we are kept in a state of high arousal, and eventually, our nervous system becomes overwhelmed and shuts down. This is often when depression and PTSD symptoms present.
Somatic Meditation
Somatic Meditation and Mindfulness help people suffering from the effects of trauma by getting them to become aware of the feelings in their body, without the need to recall the traumatic event(s). Somatic meditation teaches individuals how to release tension from the body, and therefore helps the nervous system release the trapped defensive energy.
