Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Recovery

 Learning to Stay in the Body

If you've ever experienced trauma, there is a chance you know what it feels like to have your mind leave your body. When the mind is confronted by a situation it does not have the coping skills to process at the time of the event, the time-keeper portion of the brain goes offline. Like we have been plucked by body snatchers and we have been suspended in some quantum space out in the universe somewhere, for a moment, we are NOT in our body BUT we have no idea where we went either.

Who is the 'we' I am speaking of anyway?

When I say 'we' I am referring to our consciousness and our awareness at the time. When we dissociate due to some traumatic event, our consciousness and level of self-awareness drop into a lower state of consciousness although our emotional brain may be in a hyper state of arousal. Imagine being in a small restaurant with a screaming toddler at the next table. You want to stay conscious and focused, so you can hear the person you are having dinner with but you can't because the screams of the child have hijacked your ability to maintain the needed level of awareness to do so. Your brain has been sucked into the 'OMG I can't believe this kid is screaming so loudly' zone and has made it almost impossible to stay focused on the conversation with your friend. Your point of focus or the 'we' I was referring to earlier has been derailed. 

Staying Focused 

Now imagine that today you are on the subway and the person who sits down next to you is on the phone and shouting loudly. Before they entered the subway car, your point of focus was awesome! You were in the Zen, focusing on the rhythm of your breathing and then BAM, all of a sudden your ability to HOLD ONTO your FOCUS was sucked into a black hole!

Lions and tigers and bears oh my!

If you're REALLY far along on the enlightenment path, you'd simply get up, move your seat and regain control over your 'we' or your ability to flow your point of focus. You would NOT waste too much time complaining, bitching, or moaning, although doing so would have been understandable, I mean, seriously, 😒 should anyone be shouting into their phone like no one else exists anyway? 

But I digressed...okay -- back on track now...

Trauma triggers impact our ability to stay PRESENT. When triggered, the brain becomes overwhelmed and goes offline.  When the brain goes offline, we lose consciousness. We might be breathing and seemingly awake, but to some degree, when triggered we become less conscious.

Grounding

One of the main goals of trauma therapy is to help trauma survivors process a painful past event while staying grounded to the here and the now so the BRAIN and the MIND can understand, "Oh, this painful thing that happened to me happened a long time ago.  I don't have to continue to relive this event like it is happening now." 

When triggered, the timekeeper of the brain loses control of the ship. It has no way of putting the traumatic event into sequential order. A traumatic event that took place when I was three years old that caused my hippocampus to go offline, perhaps due to bursts of cortisol, inhibits my brain's ability to keep my memories in the right order.

SO........

if this is true, then when I experience an emotional flashback and my brain floods with memories and sensations, because of the timekeeper of my brain being knocked off balance so long ago, in the NOW, my consciousness will be sucked into the screaming blackhole of my younger self's experience. In order to HEAL, I must do all I can to KEEP my BRAIN ONLINE when triggered and my body is being flooded by uncomfortable sensations and my brain has lost its ability to put the memory or feelings into proper context. 

Meditation, EMDR, Tapping, and Touch Therapy

Our goal as trauma survivors is to learn how to STAY CONSCIOUS and AWARE in the BODY while experiencing uncomfortable body sensations or when our mind is flooded with flashbacks of painful past events. Learning to stay grounded while processing traumatic events leads to integrating mind, body, and soul. It also helps us recondition our abused minds and allows us to more consciously organize information and events from our past. 

Meditation, EMDR, Tapping and Touch Therapy are modalities trauma survivors can use to help them stay grounded to PRESENT TIME while processing icky bodily sensations and experiencing emotional flashbacks. 

The 12 Week Breakthrough Coaching Program is also another resource you can use to help you process painful past emotions, sensations, and events. Learning to process emotions and feelings is crucial to longterm recovery.  What keeps us stuck is the inability to process and integrate our pasts. When we don't know what is keeping us stuck or how to rise above it, we simply can't. 

One of the most valuable aspects of The 12 Week Breakthrough Coaching Program, is learning how to stay in the body instead of defaulting to codependency, people-pleasing, fawning, dissociation, or reactivity when overwhelmed or triggered. Until we understand our brain, it is difficult to navigate the ship of life. We all know NOT to leave our cellphones out in the blazing sun because it will overheat and go offline. We know NOT to drive our cars without oil or gas. We know NOT to overflow our bathtubs with water, and we know these things because we UNDERSTAND how these material things work. 

When you understand the brain, you can work the brain and get the brain to work for YOU!

The early bird discount for the next 12 Week Breakthrough Coaching Program which relaunches August 15th, ends in 8 days.

To learn more or to register, 
https://www.lisaaromano.com/12wbcp

 

July 11th, 2019 is Almost Here 

In just a few short days we relaunch the Quantum Tools Master Your Reality Coaching Program. If you are a graduate of The 12 Week Breakthrough Coaching Program and you are ready to take your ability to stay more conscious IN your body to the quantum level, this class is for you.

To those of you who have already registered for the class, WHOO HOO, and NAMASTE DEAR ONES!!!!! I am PUMPED to begin working with you all again!!!!!!!!!

Registration ends soon.
https://www.lisaaromano.com/master-your-reality-coaching-program-join

 

Breakthrough Warrior Membership Site

If you would like to stay close to the healing path and gain access to a sea of healing resources that include programs, journaling prompts, podcasts, videos, meditations, workbooks, and Monthly Themed courses that include monthly live group calls, check out The Breakthrough Warrior Membership Site. Receive half off the membership price when you join for the annual membership. 

To become a Breakthrough Warrior,  
https://www.lisaaromano.com/store/SWd7Wy8Y