Trauma Help | Finding Safety & Calm | Part 1

Learn how trauma can make it more difficult to be comfortable with positive emotions and feel safe. Begin the process of learning how to better access, and be comfortable with, feelings of calm, happiness, and safety. Take away an assignment for the upcoming week and several journal questions to reinforce this meditative technique.

Transcript

Welcome to Acorn Behavioral Health.

Today's premium track is Healing Trauma,

Increasing Positive Emotions,

Part 1 of 3.

With this premium track you will receive a brief educational discussion on the science behind this technique,

The meditative technique itself,

An assignment for the upcoming week and several journal questions.

The material in this meditation is designed to be used for educational and self-help purposes.

It is created with the understanding that it is not meant to be professional advice and should not be substituted for professional,

Psychological,

Or therapeutic services.

The purpose is to help educate,

Inform,

And enlighten.

It is not meant to treat or diagnose any mental health condition.

A major cause for overwhelming emotions is an overactive sympathetic nervous system.

This is the go part of our nervous system.

It motivates us to act and helps us to avoid danger.

Its job is to move us into action through a flood of various neurochemicals.

The counterpart to the sympathetic nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system.

This is the rest part of our nervous system.

Its job is to help us relax,

Recoup energy,

And even digest food.

Ideally this system works in unison to help us be active when we need to be and recharge when action is not called for.

When a person experiences trauma,

The go or danger detection part of their nervous system may become supercharged.

This happens because the brain wants to avoid danger now and in the future.

So to do this,

The brain can get stuck in a state of constantly searching for threats.

It can begin interpreting innocuous events as threatening.

When a threat is detected,

The go system turns on,

The heart starts beating faster,

Adrenaline is released,

Muscles tense,

All preparing the body for action.

This response can be incredibly uncomfortable and disrupting in day to day life.

It can make getting through the day very challenging.

Another way to think about what changes in the brain after one or more very stressful experiences is the saying,

Neurons that fire together,

Wire together.

Daniel Hebb was a neuropsychologist that first used this phrase in 1949 to describe how pathways are formed and reinforced in the brain through repetition.

In the same way that exercising a certain muscle group causes that muscle group to become stronger,

So does a neural pathway go stronger the more that it is used.

The good news is that the brain is very adaptable.

This strengthening of the fight or flight part of the nervous system is only half the story.

The other side of the story is the difficulty someone develops with experiencing a sense of calm,

Relaxation,

Or safety.

They can become so accustomed to being on alert that calm feelings can feel foreign or even uncomfortable.

If a person experiences highly stressful events,

But they can access feelings of calm,

Most often they can continue with little to no problems in their day to day life.

But if someone has great difficulty getting in touch with feelings of safety,

It can lead to a continuous cycle of overwhelming emotions.

Again,

The good news is that we all have a parasympathetic nervous system.

We are all wired with the ability to rest and relax.

Today,

You will begin the process of strengthening the restful part of your nervous system.

It is going to take consistent practice to achieve this.

Try to view this as a new habit you will start incorporating into your life each day.

There are many types of practices to activate this restful part of the nervous system.

Just about any meditation will do.

Whether you stick with this one or you choose another calming meditation,

It will be best to start by practicing at least four times a week.

This is all about practice,

Getting in touch with and knowing what it feels like to be in a relaxed state.

If this is difficult for you at first,

Stick with it and be patient with yourself.

To prepare for today's meditation,

You will first need to do some brief writing.

After the prompt,

Take a moment to pause this recording and write down your answers.

Write down three or more memories,

Activities,

People,

Or places that bring a feeling of happiness or calm.

Again,

Write down three memories,

Activities,

People,

Or places that bring a feeling of happiness or calm.

You can pause the recording to write your answers.

Take a moment to look at your list.

Reflect on what you've written down.

Notice any shifts in your body sensations as you reflect on your list.

Now select the experience that seems to elicit the strongest feelings of happiness or calm for you.

Give your selection a one or two word label,

Such as beach sunset or forest.

We will use this for today's meditation.

Take a second to write down this label.

An important note before today's meditation.

During today's meditation,

We will periodically focus on body sensations.

As you start to bring more awareness to certain areas of the body,

It's possible to have unexpected emotional reactions.

If this does happen,

Pause the recording and bring your focus to your environment.

You'll simply name five colors and five shapes and then engage in deep breathing.

Go ahead and practice this with me now.

Look around your environment.

Name five colors to yourself.

Now name five shapes.

Now breathe in deep as much as you can.

Now back out.

And now breathe in once more,

Deeply,

And back out.

Stop the recording to practice this brief grounding if you need it.

You may return to the meditation once grounded,

Or you can return another day if needed.

We are about to begin today's meditation.

Prepare yourself by finding a comfortable place to sit.

We will start with two breaths in through the nose before releasing with one long breath out through the mouth.

It will go like this.

Okay.

Now breathe in through your nose,

And again,

Filling the lungs entirely.

Now let it go.

Breathe out through your mouth,

Long and slow.

Okay,

Let's repeat this once more.

Breathe in through the nose,

Breathe in again,

And now breathe out through the mouth,

Long and slow.

Now just breathe normally.

Feel the air refreshing you.

Feel the air centering you.

Follow your breath and find your center.

Bring to mind your selection from the previous writing exercise.

Focus on what you can see when you think about this experience.

Focus on some of the images that come to your mind.

Take a moment with these positive images,

And notice any changes in your body sensations that come along with this picture.

Take one minute for yourself.

Now bring your mind to any sounds and smells that go with this experience.

Bring your awareness to your body sensations as you imagine these sounds and smells.

See if you can notice any emotions,

Such as joy,

Calm,

Or peace.

If you're finding it hard to connect with positive feelings,

That is okay.

It is normal.

Just practice patience with yourself.

If you don't actually feel any emotions,

Again,

That is okay.

Just name what your logic tells you are the emotions that go with this experience,

Such as,

I know the feeling of relaxation goes with this experience.

Now bring to mind the label you created for this experience.

Say those words to yourself as you return to the images of this experience.

Continue to stay with these words as you focus again on the sounds and smells.

Notice the body sensations as you continue to say these words to yourself.

Continue to link up positive images,

Sounds,

Smells,

Emotions,

And the label you created.

Now bring yourself back to your breath and take one minute just to focus on your breath.

Let your breath guide you.

Come back to that phrase you chose for this experience.

Say those words to yourself and notice any shifts in your internal state.

Notice your body sensations with those words and notice where you feel those sensations.

If you haven't noticed much,

That's okay.

Just say those words to remind you of the experience and repeat the emotions you logically know that fit.

Come back to your breath.

Notice the breath.

And now just gently rock yourself side to side for a moment.

Allow this rocking to bring you back into your space.

If you have closed your eyes,

You may now open them and find stillness as we end the meditation.

Before moving on to part two,

Spend a week or so practicing this technique.

You will practice this technique by taking a moment to pause for three to five minutes during the day.

Repeat the word or phrase you decided on to label this experience.

While the images,

Sounds,

And smells,

Be sure to really focus on the emotions and body sensations that come up with your selected phrase.

Your phrase is meant to trigger you back to these positive feelings,

To these positive body sensations.

Allow yourself to enjoy these emotions and enter a more relaxed state.

So be sure to practice at least four times per week.

Here are your journal questions for this week.

Goals are important for a sense of direction and movement.

List two to three goals you have related to today's focus of increasing positive emotions.

An example may be,

My goal is to be able to allow myself to feel more positive emotions.

Second journal question.

What are two to three barriers you'll need to overcome to achieve this goal?

How will you know that you've achieved your goal?

An example may be,

I'll know because I'll no longer feel uncomfortable experiencing positive emotions.

Again,

List two to three goals you have related to today's focus on increasing positive emotions.

What are two or three barriers you'll need to overcome to achieve this goal?

How will you know that you've achieved your goal?

That is all for now.

That is all for now.

Thank you for joining me today and I'll see you again soon.

Reviews

This was here when, completely out of the blue, the unintended but well-intentioned actions of others put me in a terrible and frightening situation last night. It was truly “nothing” in the grand scheme of things but took me back (triggered?) childhood trauma from six+ decades ago. I’ve done lots of therapy over the years and knew I just needed grounding and “something” to wrap myself in to deal with it. I’m a writer and your format, with education, prompts and meditation, has given me just that. I’ve just finished Lesson 1. About 12 hours past the <harmless> incident, I’m breathing normally again and see my path forward. It might even make a “story” but first, Parts 2 and 3. Deep, deep gratitude for this. Namaste.🙏🏼