Are Your Life Problems Really Trauma Symptoms?
/One of the challenges in healing trauma rests in identifying that trauma is at the root of what’s going on. Many of us who’ve had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) don’t even realize that we’re dealing with trauma until we come across someone who recognizes it. I liken the journey to playing whack-a-mole with your symptoms and life issues. Just when you think you’ve got one area of life under control, something else pops up that needs attention NOW. It’s pretty frustrating and exhausting.
Trauma symptoms can include any or all of these:
Anxiety
Depression
Withdrawal
Isolation
Addiction
Disordered eating
Sensitivity - emotional and/or physical
Insomnia
Nightmares
Relationship and intimacy struggles
Financial distress
Health issues that don’t seem to resolve
A sense of impending doom
Restlessness
The thing is, living with unresolved trauma is like being a series of scattered puzzle pieces without a frame: some of them seem to be missing, others seem like they’re in the wrong box, and still you’ve got to make a complete and cohesive picture with what appears to be a mess on your hands. Does life always feel like that? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s certainly and underlying theme for people who’ve got trauma stuck in their bodies and minds.
If you’re struggling with situations that seem to keep coming around, no matter HOW HARD YOU TRY, you might be dealing with unresolved trauma at the root. You may or may not remember the initial trauma, but you live in a way that’s abbreviated. Your joy is limited, and you’ve got a sense of fear and loss that sit just below the surface of your being. And the problems you’ve got have gotten old…but you don’t know what to do anymore, so you’ve pretty much given up.
I hope you won’t quit now.
Take a few deep breaths. Go for a walk outside. Call a friend. Get a massage. In other words, practice the pause. You’re so resourceful. You’ve come this far. You’ve fought this long. There’s good news: The rest of this process will allow you to put down the fight and find rest—that deep rest you’ve longed for all your life.
Yoga for trauma isn’t just about doing poses for an hour. Yoga for trauma is about giving your life a framework that supports living your best life, starting from the inside out. To stop with the physical practice would be selling yourself short. You deserve more than an hour of peace. You deserve to live happy and free.
NOTE: If you’d like to read up on ACEs, check out these links.
Getting to Why: Adverse Childhood Experiences' Impact on Adult Health