Our bodies have an amazing capacity to withstand various degrees of stress in our day-to-day lives. This allows us to carry on with the tasks at hand and keep moving forward. What many of us may be less aware of, is that our bodies are able to retain and store information internally within our fascia, muscles, organs and connective tissues. An important factor in the healing process is to become aware of this trapped energy and find supportive ways to release them.
How are traumatic experiences stored in the body?
Whenever your brain perceives a threat, whether it is physical or emotional, an acute stress response is activated within your body and mind. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released in order to prepare the body for an emergency. Long-term body systems including digestion, reproduction, and cellular repair are all halted in the process. When the stressor goes away, the nervous system typically returns back to normal.
However, we each have our own personal limitations to how much stress we are able to endure before the natural recovery process is halted.
This stagnation of our nervous system occurs whenever a traumatic experience exceeds our abilities to cope and recover from the stressor, which can cause our bodies to store these memories within our tissues. These memories can lead to chronic pain, fatigue and the deterioration of our health.
When you experience multiple stressors without ample recovery time or experience intense traumatic events, such as a severe injury, accident or sudden loss, the nervous system can become overloaded and push that energy within the tissues to deal with at a later time. Whenever we store trauma in our physical bodies, it creates a disconnection from our body and mind, which can eventually cause degeneration and disease.
How do you become aware of where you are holding your stress?
Taking the time to become more aware of your own body is the key to beginning the process of release and repair. Many people do this through the practice of yoga, mindfulness meditation and various other forms of therapies to increase self-awareness. Receiving hands-on treatments such as Craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation and myofascial unwinding can be an excellent way to not only increase awareness of where your stress is being held, but also can facilitate the release of stored traumas.
When this happens, it is known as a SomatoEmotional Release.
Most people don’t go through their lives without experiencing some hardships and discomfort. Whether we experience a physical, emotional or psychological wound, these events can have a powerful impact on our bodies and minds. It is not always an easy process to go through the acknowledgment and release of our hidden pain and traumas, but it can have such a positive impact on the health of our body, mind and spirit moving forward. With summer coming to an end, the transition into the next season allows the pace of our lives to slow down, creating space for new awareness, reflection and release.
Autumn truly shows us the beauty of letting go of all that is no longer necessary for us to hold on to.
It is a cleansing time when we can honour the fruits we have been cultivating through the year and recognize which aspects we are ready to release in preparation for the restful and rejuvenating calm of winter.
— Marly Hill, RMT
To book in for a Craniosacral session with our RMT Marly Hill, visit www.theiv.ca or give us a call at 604-974-8999.
