Transcript The Nervous System

The Nervous System:
Using Mindfulness to Heal Trauma
By Karin Wagner, Certified Rolfer™
www.portlandrolfer.com
What is Trauma?
• An experience that overwhelmed us at the time
• We believed we didn’t have enough resources to
survive – but we did
• The echo of trauma often intrudes on daily life
(Urge to retell the story, but with a better ending)
Ideal health is to be able to respond to danger
appropriately, yet be unguarded when we are safe,
so we can connect with others and have a full, rich
inner life.
Orienting: Am I Safe?
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Response to noise, scent, motion, or a hunch
Turn to face source
Ready to spring into action
Settle back down completely if safe
Head and eye motions help us feel safe
“Rest & Digest”
Parasympathetic Nervous System
“Rest & Digest”
Parasympathetic Nervous System
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Sleepy after a meal or at bedtime
Comfort and contentment
Blood flow to gut increases
Digestion: saliva, enzymes, peristalsis
Awareness of body sensations
“Dorsal” vagus nerve – pre-mammalian
“Tend & Befriend”
“Social Engagement System”
Parasympathetic Nervous System
“Tend & Befriend”
“Social Engagement System”
Parasympathetic Nervous System
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Communication and connection
Muscles for face, eyes, ears, voice
Peripheral vision – “soft focus”
Sophisticated heart rate control
Human connection with an attacker
“Ventral” vagus nerve – mammals
“Fight vs. Flight”
Sympathetic Nervous System
“Fight vs. Flight”
Sympathetic Nervous System
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Heart rate increases
Breathing rapid, shallow
Muscles tense
Digestion stops
Focal vision
After crisis, expect shaking, crying, muscle spasms
Longterm: anxiety, panic attacks, muscle tension,
aggression, heart problems, constipation, insomnia
“Freeze/Surrender”
Dorsal Vagal & Sympathetic Systems
“Freeze/Surrender”
Dorsal Vagus & Sympathetic Systems
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Overwhelmed by high sympathetic activation
Paralyzed, helpless, death seems imminent
Opiates released to anesthetize
Loss of bowel control
When freeze lifts, likely still in fight/flight mode
Chronic: depression, “foggy brain”, diarrhea,
dizziness, fatigue, low BP & heart rate,
flat affect, “passing through life like a ghost”
Trauma Changes the Brain
• Amygdala: Danger alert, fear, risk assessment.
• Medial Prefrontal Cortex: Inhibits amygdala and prevents
overgeneralization of fear. Time-stamp for memories (and
“timeless” nature of trauma). Mindfulness helps.
• Anterior Cingulate Gyrus: Controls complex emotional
responses. Prevents “freezing.” Adapts to constant threat.
Orient and focus attention. Movement helps.
• Hippocampus: Memories. Vivid recall of trauma. Amnesia.
Shrinks with trauma, reversible.
• Insula: Monitors distressing body sensations.
• Orbitofrontal Cortex: Relationship between external and
internal data. Self-regulation. Social engagement.
Eye contact and touch for infants necessary.
Just kidding. Tune in to your body
and notice how your nervous system reacted.
Riding the Wave
Riding the Wave
• Tune in to body sensations
• Instead of labeling an emotion, identify the
physical sensation and where you feel it
• Stay mindful: how does the sensation change?
Riding the Wave
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Be present with (uncomfortable) sensations
Know that your body is readying to protect you
Trust that all these sensations will pass in time
Minor irritations are a great way to practice
How to Get “Unstuck”
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Body awareness
Soften eyes (peripheral vision)
Notice your surroundings
Breathe softly but fully
Spine movement with breathing
Joint movements
Social connection
(current or a memory)
Put it into Practice
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Exercise
Meditation
Mindfulness during chores, eating, bathing, etc.
Workplace
Posture: What is the emotional tone?
Bedtime habits
Dreams: What was the final emotional tone?
Death and dying: acceptance vs. passive surrender
How Does this Relate to Rolfing®?
• Body pains can be from leftover “fight or flight”
• Emotions come up during bodywork
– Neuropeptides, the “molecules of emotions”
– Sensations can trigger emotional response
• Injuries can hold emotional content
from actual injury or from that time of life
• Postural habits can be connected to emotion
• Rolfing aims for truly optimal health, including
being present with sensation and emotion
Resources for More Learning
Peter Levine: Somatic Experiencing
www.traumahealing.com
Waking the Tiger
In an Unspoken Voice
Trauma-proofing Your Kids
Katie & Gay Hendricks
www.hendricks.com
Books such as “Conscious Loving”
Ki Aikido
www.oregonki.org
Dojos in Tigard and on NE Sandy Blvd.