Trauma: a part of the human experience that doesn’t have to limit You
Trauma is not just something that some people experienced, or even just one big terrible event. All of us have experienced something, or many things, that changed the way we respond to stress and how we approach life and relationships.
Whether a one time difficult event, several painful events or encounters over the course of our lives, or many years spent surviving in an extremely stressful and unpredictable environment that we couldn’t control and didn’t feel empowered to leave, trauma greatly impacts and changes the nervous system and how we anticipate, handle, and recover from stress.
In my professional experience, trauma is part of the human experience. While our nervous systems are designed to tolerate a fairly high amount of routine stress, some events and situations are so extreme and shocking, or their duration too long and constant, that they change our ‘factory settings’ and how we meet and prepare for new experiences.
Holding tension in the body: the footprint of trauma
When new clients come to my office, which they do for various reasons (for example: for help with physical aches and pains, chronic headaches, stomach or digestive complaints, general fatigue, feeling ‘stuck’, or to reduce the debilitating effects of long-term anxiety or depression), their complaints can almost always be related to the tension or stress they hold in their bodies.
We all hold tension in our bodies, unconsciously and usually head to toe, as part of the brain and body’s well-meaning attempt to help us manage stress and the effects of the traumas we experienced, and to lessen the expected impact of new experiences.
Thankfully, we have survived all of our experiences, but many people feel that they haven’t been able to relax, “launch” or thrive afterward, and that it seems to take everything they have (most of their available energy) just to exist—always armored up and expecting an attack— and to remain “high-functioning.”
Add to this that the culture tells us no one wants to be around ‘negative’ or low energy (emotionally and spiritually exhausted) people, and that there must be something wrong with us if we feel this way, which many people do no matter how ‘successful’ or ‘put together’ they may appear or try to appear.
It’s hard to say whether it’s more draining to drag yourself through life, the effects of your past experiences, and the fear of new experiences, or to hide this from the world.
What can be done about it.
There’s great news here. The habitual holding or tensing we do in our bodies, and which is often the source of chronic pain, discomfort, low energy, fatigue, emotional suffering, and feeling “stuck,” can be transformed quickly, gently, and painlessly. Relaxing and releasing old patterns of holding, and recovering more freedom, ease, and joy, are our birthright and how we can experience life again.
It’s like coming down from the roof of stress and worry (constant fight or flight) and living on the ground (of rest and relaxation) again.
When a person can actually feel where and how they hold tension in their body—not just in the obvious places that tend to get stiff and sore under stress (neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees, jaw), but head to toe, front to back, and side to side, deep within—the holding can then gently release and relax. Old patterned habits of survival are replaced with new, more natural ways of living and breathing (the breath flows more easily and deeply as well when our muscles aren’t squeezing and limiting the space inside us).
The somatic therapy work I do is gentle, safe, respectful, and relaxing, the ‘letting go’ of tension that happens is immediate and felt, and the results are lasting because we are re-educating and re-minding the brain and body how (and how not) to live.
Why continue to suffer and struggle?
See for yourself. Experience a session today. Or feel free to phone me at 303.704.8331 for more information and to learn how this work might help You.
Todd R. Schwartz is a somatic therapist and Certified Rosen Method Bodywork Practitioner with offices in Denver and Boulder, Colorado. My work is not a form of, or a substitute for, medical or mental health diagnosis, care and treatment. My work is, however, a fine complement to these and all other health and wellness approaches.
Copyright © Todd R. Schwartz, 2024.