The body remembers

There is a general misconception that trauma can only be the “big” or “really bad” things that happens to us. Her definition, says physical therapist Sybille Lindner, would be that trauma is anything that happens to us creating an emotional reaction that, for whatever reason, the body cannot finish processing fully at that time, and therefore we carry the consequences of this event in our nervous system for many years after it happened.

These consequences says Sybille who emphasizes she is by no means an expert in the field of trauma, includes being emotionally triggered, our nervous system becoming dysregulated, or our behaviour changing to avoid similar circumstances.

“It is important for us to identify behaviours and reactions in us that may be due to old traumas so that we can free ourselves from their control on our current lives.”

Unfortunately, modern life is over stimulating and dysregulating to most of us, and because emotional self-regulation isn’t taught very well, most of us carry some kind of trauma that affects our lives in negative ways.

In her practice Sybille tends to focus on the physical consequences of trauma in our bodies, rather than the complex ways it affects our minds and hearts.

“I help my patients find ways to release old protection patterns from their bodies and reconnect to their sensory selves using physical interventions like manual therapy and movement therapy.”

Any challenging event will cause a stress response in our bodies and because the nervous system is the bridge between the mind and body, these responses don’t just happen in our minds, she explains.

Stress responses cause protective reactions in our bodies, specifically as contraction patterns in our fascia. The fascia, or connective tissue, lives between and around all other structures in the body like protective sheaths, and whenever there is stress, contracting this tissue and our muscles results in a bracing effect that protects our bodies from potential harm. This effect is most pronounced around our most vulnerable areas like the front and deep core of the body, and especially around our inner organs.

“Trauma creates continuous long-term stress responses, meaning this protective contraction happens again and again, every time the trauma is triggered. Repetitive contraction thickens fascial tissue, creating stiffness long-term, and this severely impacts the mechanics of the body during posture and movement.”

Stiffer fascia also reduces the muscles’ capacity to communicate with each other and coordinate their function, resulting in imbalanced muscle activation patterns, which can cause spasm and pain. Stiffness of fascia around organs reduces their function over time, because it limits internal blood supply and lymph fluid circulation.

According to Sybille the nervous system regulates all internal functions in the body, and chronically dysregulated responses result in dysregulated internal systems on all levels – the immune system, the hormonal systems, the digestive system, and the musculoskeletal system.

“In essence, it becomes much harder for the entire body to maintain its health, and we will be physically uncomfortable and restricted by these effects.”

Each person’s unique patterns of responding to stress will become imprinted in the body, says Sybille. Considering that all humans are born with entirely unique nervous systems and minds and bodies, each of our responses to trauma will be different.

One of the main functions of our nervous system is to protect us from harm, and it will do everything it can to prevent a potentially life-threatening situation from happening again.

“It becomes more sensitized to similar situations in the future, meaning that its response to a second event that feels similar to the first will be bigger and more urgent. Over time, this builds and builds until we can have huge internal reactions to seemingly minor external events, simply because they trigger in us the same feelings we had during the first traumatizing event.”

Sybille explains the body’s physical responses to trauma triggers follow a similar pattern – they become more and more ingrained in our systems which solidifies them into our physical bodies. She illustrates with us contracting our bellies because we feel stressed, and feeling our belly contracting causes us more stress because it confirms to us that we are in a stress response.

For the body to release trauma, our trauma needs to be triggered.

“This does not mean we have to throw ourselves in the deep end of the traumatic memory, but we have to find a way to feel what our bodies have been holding for us in order to release it. We have to start bridging the gap of sensory disconnection between ourselves and what is happening in our bodies, especially during a trigger.”

Movement is a wonderful way to help the body open up and soften its protective patterns, says Sybille and for our bodies to let go of trauma, we have to feel safe on all levels.

“No therapy should cause you physical pain or make you feel completely out of control.”

Our deepest core muscles and fascia are the first to protect, and one of the biggest core muscles – the psoas muscle – lies around the lower back and deep pelvis. Tension held here, as well as in the pelvic floor, abdomen and inner thighs – very common protective areas – will affect the mobility and muscle balance around the hip joints.

One of the easiest ways to recognize whether you are still holding old trauma around a particular situation is to feel how much emotional load is behind the memory, says Sybille. If you get an emotional and/or physical response every time you think about it, there is still something that needs to be processed there.

“Reactions in our bodies are often easier to monitor than our thoughts or emotions. If you feel an intense body reaction during a trigger that feels like it’s a bit of an overreaction, that could be a

sign of unresolved trauma.”

There are many therapies that use physical interventions like movement to help release trauma from the body, but says Sybille, it is important to first learn how to regulate your own nervous system before attempting these therapies, and it is always advised to do them while guided by a professional.

“The very first thing to learn is self-regulation – how to bring ourselves back to balance when we are triggered. It is also necessary to find or create a safe environment in which you can feel your trauma. It’s always easiest to do this with a professional who can guide you through it, but you can also participate in group activities and practices that are designed to do this safely.”

In essence, a good way to release trauma from the body is to gently feel difficult emotions within a safe environment and get the body moving in new patterns that teach it over time that there is no more need for self-protection.

While the process feels uncomfortable, and very exhausting at times, the strength and confidence you build over time is definitely worth the effort, explains Sybille.

“Unravelling all the ways in which trauma has changed your relationship to life is a continuous journey, and you keep learning more all the time.”

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