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

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?

• Response to noise, scent, motion, or a hunch• Quickly assess potential danger• Turn to face source• “Alert immobility”• Ready to spring into action• Settle back down completely if safe

“Rest & Digest”Parasympathetic Nervous System

“Rest & Digest”Parasympathetic Nervous System

• 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

• 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

• Heart rate increases • Breathing rapid, shallow• Muscles tense • Digestion stops• Focal vision• When it lifts, expect shaking, crying, muscle spasms• Chronic: anxiety, panic attacks, muscle tension,

aggression, heart problems, constipation, insomnia

“Freeze/Surrender”Dorsal Vagal & Sympathetic Systems

“Freeze/Surrender”Dorsal Vagus & Sympathetic Systems• Belief that death is imminent• Overwhelmed by high sympathetic activation• Paralyzed, helpless• Sudden loss of bowel control• Opiates released to anesthetize• 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 bodyand notice how your nervous system reacted.

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

Riding the Wave

• 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”• Body awareness• Stop staring! 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• 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”• Postural habits can be connected to emotion• Emotions come up during bodywork– Neuropeptides, the “molecules of emotions”– Sensations can trigger emotional response

• Injuries can hold emotional contentfrom actual injury or from that phase of life

• Rolfing aims for truly optimal health, including being present with sensation and emotion

Resources for More LearningPeter Levine: Somatic Experiencing

www.traumahealing.comWaking the Tiger

In an Unspoken VoiceTrauma-proofing Your Kids

Ki Aikidowww.oregonki.org

Dojos in Tigard and SE Portland

Katie & Gay Hendrickswww.hendricks.com

Books such as “Conscious Loving”