Dr. James Gordon teaches people specific methods on overcoming emotional trauma, based on scientific research. His simple techniques have been helpful to many victims of war, abuse, accidents, street attacks, earthquakes and other cataclysms.
Here is a slightly modified version of what he recommends:
- Get yourself in a safe place, when and where no one will disturb you.
- Stand up, put your feet and shoulders apart and start shaking your feet, one after another. Start shaking up your legs and then let that move up through your whole body. If you feel a nudge to act like a furious animal, pulling faces, making noises - do. Let your hands go floppy, shake your head, allow yourself to be awkward. Do it for at least two minutes. Let your body shake on your own - after your conscious invitation (your body has a mind of its own, gestures and movement with clear intention help it understand what you are asking for).
- Pause for a minute. Be aware of your breathing. Notice how you breathe. Simply put your attention to breathing and you may deepen it, making a few sighs on exhale, helping your body to unlock. At the same time, affirm in your mind that you are safe and secure, right now.
- Put your favorite, uplifting music on. Invite your body to dance to its rhythm. (I recommend Twist and Shout or other early Beatles songs.). After a while, you may feel like laughing, crying or both at the same time. This is a sign that the frozen emotions that got stuck in your nervous system because of the trauma - are being released. By doing this you're essentially sending a message to the fear centers in your brain that you are safe to be yourself. This turns on that parasympathetic system.
People with frozen trauma in their nervous system think they shouldn't be enjoying themselves.
"When you shut down a difficult emotion you go into a frozen state’ - says Dr. Gordon . "It is a way of protecting yourself against anything similar to a traumatic event. However the emotion gets stuck and it shuts down a range of possible responses. Your whole emotional life becomes limited."
