Reclaiming Safety in Your Body after Trauma

Did you know that when you experience a trauma, in many cases, our minds teach us to dissociate from the experience, and therefore our bodies as well, as a result?

This occurs in order to protect ourselves from pain in the present moment, and potential future pain.

Through this protection mechanism, the trauma remains stored in the subconscious mind, unprocessed.

This leads to:

𝐃𝐲𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐚 and a lack of presence within our vessel

... which presents as shame and a lack of connection to the safety within our bodies.

Shame can be absorbed at any level.

Womxn carry shame with them for a multitude of reasons, from absorbing experiences of bullying, engaging in diet culture, engaging with toxic/unhealthy relationships, abuse, etc!

This can manifest in a myriad of ways (such as overeating/restricting, overexercising, impulsive behavior, drug abuse, shallow relationships, etc)

Self-care is no longer priority. We self-abadon.

The most pressing task at hand becomes 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥.

This can be effective for a SHORT duration of time, but when the response is prolonged, it becomes detrimental to our mental & physical health.

So, how do we heal it?

We need to process the pain, release it, and then create safety in the body.

Some ways we can find safety:

Feeding yourself enough food every few hours

Taking space for deep breathing before the day starts

Finding gratitude in your body for what it does for me

Getting fresh air & sunlight daily

Connecting with the Earth

Stretching and breathing through any tension

Experiencing emotion, and allowing it to be processed and expressed without judgement

Exercising to feel good > look a certain way

Aiming for an adequate balance of nutrient dense foods (80%)

Not keeping your diet strictly "clean" (20% fun foods)

Staying consistent and embracing imperfection

Drinking a gallon of water & staying hydrated

Cleaning up your space to make it feel tidy

Sitting up straight & keeping my head up

Limiting caffeine intake to <150mg/day to mitigate anxiety

Identifying emotional/physical boundaries with myself & others

Saying 'no' when I actually want to

Keeping your heart open, but guarding it

Limiting social media use & screen time

Dancing until you stop caring how it looks

Having designated work hours and sticking to them

Not responding to everything ASAP

Letting myself FEEL gratitude in my heart, every day

Affirmations to use:

I am worthy of feeling safe in my body.

My body is my temple.

I honor and cherish my body for all that it does for me.

I am safe.

Let’s heal, friends <3