Why trauma informed?
"A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for." - William GT
Trauma informed is a way of teaching & caring for each other that recognizes the impact of trauma & past experiences that each of us have, and we integrate knowledge of trauma into sessions, learning, and content.
In this space together, we are encouraging & nurturing our whole selves. We care that there is enough space for all of us.
Our trauma, stress & upbringing is part of us and how we see & understand the world. It impacts relationships & interactions, and how we act in all circumstances. Every past experience spills into every choice we make - relationships, wellness, time, boundaries, communication, how we move or don't move our bodies, how we feel or don't feel, what we eat and drink.
When we learn to stop ignoring our feelings, we work to reduce resistance and tension, and we actually end up creating space for more good things to come our way.
We can re-write the story, and we will. This is our power.
Moving your body can be triggering af, especially if you have experienced trauma or injury. It's also easy to hide behind the “fitness” stuff like the exercise, the reps, the gains or losses, the before and after pics, the forcing, the outfits, the fitness challenges…BUT we are building a different type of wellness practice here, remember? We care about how we feel.
Opportunity to write.
consider who you are attracted to in the healing & fitness space. what is this person like? why do you value them? what is their niche?
what sensations do you notice in your body as you think about the you that you want to be?
what story have you already created in your mind about you & your body? your relationship to wellness?
what is holding you back? what is the one excuse you keep telling yourself?
what has worked really well?
when was the last time you reminded yourself it was okay?
what is one thought or emotion that you are ready to unlearn & unremember?
What is trauma?
This is the definition that I have come to through years of therapy, self study & working with my own coaches, and people just like you.
Trauma isn't just huge massive life events like assault, injury, or violence. Trauma is any experience where you felt it wasn't safe to be fully you. This includes micro-aggressions, comments or jokes, when you didn't feel welcomed or included, play ground bullying or when someone responds aggressively to you. And, not all stress is trauma.
These traumatic experiences stick with us, and can become part of our identity. They don't always have to take us down or hold us back. When we are safe to be fully us, we can use trauma as our power.
Here's the thing, some things happen and we don't always have the ability to decide if it will be traumatic for us or not. Our nervous system is so wise, and responds in a way to protect us. Our nervous system has evolved to protect us against threats and is constantly flowing from “Fight Flight Freeze” response to “Rest & Digest” response. We will never erase all stressors or threats, stress is natural and our nervous system response keeps us alive! Our job is to become aware, self regulate & manage the flow from one state to the next. We know that feedback is important, from others in the world & from our nervous system, and we can start to shift the way we look at this feedback and therefore, trauma, so it can be used alongside our power.
Resources:
the work of Dr. Peter A Levine (https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/se-books)
The D.A.R.E. Response by Barry McDonagh
The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. van der Kolk
Dr. Joe Dispenza