Overcoming Stress & How Your Body Stores Trauma

by | Oct 26, 2024 | Uncategorized

This topic is full of nuance and depth and I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on tv.

Just sharing what works for me – someone who has struggled with general anxiety. So please take from this what helps and kindly leave what doesn’t.

I recently shared on social media about how I had to cancel a trip to NYC for a work event, because I had a stomach flare up. I’ve been dealing with a gut auto-immune disease for 24 years, so it’s nothing new, but I’ve also..

  • Been single parenting four kids for 6 years.
  • Running a business, and re-branding a second. 
  • Struggling to find more hours in the day or clone myself.
  • Oh, and we recently got a puppy!

And my body feels those events as well.

Emotional trauma can be stored in various areas of the body and present themselves physically:

  • Headaches
  • Tension
  • Lethargy
  • High cortisol levels

Stress can impact how we process information and our ability to focus. Additionally, trauma can make it harder to self-regulate (i.e., calm down). When experiencing a threat (or perceived threat, like an email from your boss that your brain mistakenly equates to a tiger in the jungle), the brain releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.

So, if you’ve been feeling a lot of tension lately, your body might be storing the stress of events you’ve experienced or the trauma of constantly facing the world’s problems on social media.

✨Let’s talk about cortisol.

What is it?

Think of cortisol as your built-in alarm system. It works with your brain to control mood, motivation, and fear. When you are under threat or perceived threat, cortisol is released to help you conserve energy and slow down systems to deal with the threat.

But what if you’re under constant stress and the alarm button stays on? 

It can derail your body’s most important functions and lead to several health problems, including:

  • Anxiety and depression
  • Headaches
  • Heart disease
  • Memory and concentration problems
  • Digestive issues
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Weight gain

My goal?

Stop allowing my brain to think I’m under constant attack.

I need to recalibrate the stress in my life and lower my cortisol.

But I have a confession.

I’m not good at meditating… or turning my brain off. 

I’ve tried many times, but unless I’m in a group setting with an instructor and have distanced myself from my daily life, it feels impossible.

So, I’m sharing my four alternatives to meditation if you are like me:

✨#1 Be Still:

  • You can’t be aware of your feelings if you’re always in motion. Slow down and be present in your body. See how it feels to be still. Resist the urge to grab your phone or think through your to-do list.

✨#2 Stretch it out:

  • Movement is medicine, and certain movements can help release stored stress and trauma. Yoga is great for releasing tension, but if yoga is not your thing, try a 10-minute stretch at night before bed. This has helped me a lot with my teeth grinding. Stretching is the new Nyquil.

✨#3 Breathe Intentionally:

  • We can breathe without thinking, but intentional breathing helps your body relax by bypassing your conscious mind. Trauma can overstimulate the body’s sympathetic nervous system (your ‘fight-or-flight’ response). Breathwork settles it down.My favorite is Box Breathing:
    • Breathe in for 4
    • Hold for 4
    • Breathe out for 4
    • Hold for 4
    • Repeat 4 times

✨#4 Tap it out:

This is a different type of tapping that has helped me when I feel anxiety ramping up to an attack.Tapping is similar to acupuncture and focuses on meridian points — or energy hot spots — to restore balance to your body’s energy. Based on Chinese medicine, meridian points are areas where energy flows through the body. Acupuncture uses needles, but tapping uses fingertip tapping to apply pressure.Tap each of the following points seven times, in this order:

  • EyebrowSide of the eyeUnder the eyeUnder the noseChinBeginning of the collarboneUnder the arm
After tapping the underarm point, finish the sequence at the top. See how you feel after the cycle.

As I said at the beginning of this newsletter, please take what helps and leave what doesn’t.

Everyone has a stress threshold.

Even the highly ambitious who read this newsletter.

Trauma happens when this threshold is crossed, and you feel unable to cope with the situation at hand.

If you are feeling the physical effects of stress and trauma it’s important to talk to someone to help work through it and find your own ways to release it.

Hugs

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