The Top 3 Ways to respond to a "Trauma Release"

#Somatic #Anatomy #TraumaRelease

So you're in the middle of a deep sensory experience and an overwhelming involuntary sensation peaks.

Sometimes a spontaneous dispersal and other times waves which feel like hours.

This article outlines the primary mechanism of action behind these surprising responses, and the top 4 ways to respond when it's happening.

The Anatomy Behind the "Trauma Release"

A more correct terminology is "discharge". The traumatic memory remains but the physiological hold is reduced. This means triggers have a lower level effect, and physiology is more regulated.

The primary mechanism of action is the activation of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the part which responds to the amygdala's cues to "freeze", "flee", "fight" or "fawn" by shunting circulation away from your abdomen and into your limbs.

What are these random experiences actually?

1. Mobilisation....

   May appear as subtle tremor, shudder, spasm or rhythmic movement such as shaking

   This is the motor neurons finally able to un-freeze and complete the flee response.

2. Vocalisation - in the form of sound or words

   Actually a form of mobilisation.

3. Nausea, gag reflex, heart palpitation.

   This is the parasympathetic branches, including ventral vagal, finally activating.

4. Rush of heat, rising or dispersing

   This is vasodilation and the shunting of blood in preparation for mobilisation.

In essence, the response which was suppressed in favour or the "socialised" response, is completed.

When conditions are calm and contained, these 4 forms of co-regulation maintain the manage-ability of these short lived experiences. In 25years of working one-on-one with somatic approaches to the nervous system, I've not had a single patient-client that wasn't able to moderate their experience. These practices apply equally to companioning yourself through the discharge, or companioning someone gifted with your presence.

1. Offer the sound of your breath as an anchor (Ujayi breathing is best)

2. Offer the reminder that the sensations rarely last longer than 15 minutes and that you'll companion closely "I'm right here" normalising "This is your physiology completing the response it has needed"

3. Invite a hum to match the sensation. The hum opens the mobilisation pathway. You may offer a companion sound by raising or lowering the tone to help the person contact the intensity (raise) or reduce the intensity (lower).

You can support the whole group by observing signs of ease...such as relaxed facial muscles and rhythmic breathing....to amplify the overall feeling of safety through the experience.

It is ideal to let the discharge come to it's own resolution, however, if panic arises, the experience can be moderated, by lowering the hum, offering to hold the feet or lightly asking "what do you notice?"

Importantly...The Commonly Missed Step

There's a myth in some somatic communities that the bodily response is complete without words. I used to believe this myself, until I realised that the reflection, in words - or images drawn on a page - provide the validation necessary to bring the random experience in-line with the every day one. Some call this integration. I've now come to calling it internalising the post-traumatic-growth, that is, the internal resources that were activated become part of the whole.

When a discharge response happened to (Thanks Vish) would often put these responses down to a "vaso-vagal" reflex, in other words, you fainted. While vaso-dilation and the vagus nerve are both correct, it is not the complete picture.

How to know it's a discharge reflex and not an exacerbating one? When the body has discharged, and been given the opportunity to put language or imagery to the experience, they'll usually report feeling calmer, sometimes tired or fatigued, and they'll usually sleep very deeply afterward. These are all signs that the nervous system is more at ease and more smoothly functioning.

If you'd like to know more about how to apply Trauma-Informed approaches in your workplace or clinic, see www.SomaSutra.Co or contact Us@LexyBurns.Co