Download 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
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
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
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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
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
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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 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
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
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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”
• 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 content
from actual injury or from that phase of life
• 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 SE Portland