Letting go of shit I didn’t know I was holding onto
Do you ever discover something new and wonder how you got to be your age with absolutely no clue previously of its existence.
I read a lot, and learning and exploring new things is my superpower and yet here I am just past middle age and still discovering new things which blow my mind.
I feel like I’ve been living in a bubble to not know this stuff.
And if you’ve been living with chronic aches and pains yourself, then despite my lengthy post, my words might be worth reading.
So I started seeing a cranio sacral physiotherapist a few months back. I’d never heard of one before but it was suggested to me by someone who works with medical intuition and energy healing. She said it might help me ease some of the tension she was picking up in my body.
I have always experienced a great deal of headaches, migraines and neck problems, so it seemed like a good idea to explore.
Image credit: Chris Charles on Unsplash
Most recently, this specialist physio has been a strong contributor to my fairly speedy recovery from Bell’s Palsy, and the session yesterday totally blew my mind. And although my face is 95% back to normal, I’ve still been experiencing some fairly significant neck and jaw pain, and subsequent headaches.
The work she did, and most of it I don’t understand, released the pressure around my jaw and ears and then the tears flowed and with it waves of anxiety flooded my body. She talked me through this process and asked when I’d last experienced that level of anxiety and that it was related to my pelvis which is where my body was holding the tension which was transferring into my neck and jaw.
She showed me pictures of how our fascia (the connective tissues in our body) can become blocked from traumatic events and trapped emotions, and how they link our whole body and show up as aches and pains, specifically in my case pelvis into neck and jaw connections.
I came home sat with all of this to process what she’d said and the whole experience and it occurred to me that the last time I experienced that level of anxiety, was in my early 20’s. I’m talking several years of extreme anxiety and panic attacks which was the result of some big emotional events in my life coupled with complications from an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy that I thought at the time I was going to die from.
Thirty years later it seems I’ve been carrying that trauma trapped within my body for that entire time.
Google or search ‘releasing trauma from your body’ there’s so much to discover, and so much to explore.
A quick overview from my searching…
Trauma is an emotional reaction to a stressful, frightening, or disturbing incident or series of events. And nearly everyone has faced some form of trauma in their lives, most of us have lived through many traumas.
When we don’t thoroughly process the emotions of that trauma is when it gets trapped within our body and plays out in the aches and pains many of us experience.
Some examples of traumatic experiences include:
🔥 War
🔥 Natural disasters
🔥 Sexual or physical assault
🔥 Death of a loved one
🔥 Witnessing death or severe injury
🔥 Serious illness
🔥 Severe automobile accident
🔥 Domestic abuse
These are often referred to as ‘Big T’ traumas and are the ones most linked to PTSD
But trauma can also come from other distressing events that affect your ability to cope, such as:
💥 Breakups
💥 Divorce
💥 Long-term emotional abuse
💥 Bullying
💥 Losing a job
💥 Injuries
💥 Financial worries
These are often called ‘little t’ traumas. These ones may not contribute to a PTSD diagnosis, but that doesn’t take away from the emotional damage they can cause.
In fact, enough “little t” traumas can harm you just as much, if not more than one “Big T” event.
Turns out that myofascial release, deep tissue massage and cranio fascial therapy all potentially help release trapped emotions and trauma.
Today it was time for me to start the process of letting my trauma and trapped emotions go. And it was a release like nothing I have previously experienced.
How have I lived for 50+ years and had no real understanding of any of this, or had knowledge of how to release the trapped trauma from my body.
Heck I didn’t even know I was holding onto this shit, let alone how to release it.
As a result, I’m in the early pages of reading ‘The Emotion Code’ by Bradley Nelson to teach me how to do this work for myself.
According to the overview - Dr. Nelson's method gives you the tools to identify and release the trapped emotions in your life, eliminating your 'emotional baggage', and opening your heart and body to the positive energies of the world.
If me sharing this knowledge helps just one person help themself to live a happier, healthier life then I’ll be happy. It’s been mind blowing for me - the experience and the knowledge.
Keep smiling, Fi 🌻
Wow! Amazing breakthroughs...I have to read this book.