Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My (Part 2)

While the human intellect has managed to keep pace with the ever-advancing faster paced world with its increasingly sophisticated scientific and technological improvements, our nervous systems have been much slower to change. Unfortunately, we have been conditioned to disregard and disparage our primitive ancestry and have become separate from our natural, more instinctive healing processes, but we still need access to those primitive processing centers to eliminate traumatic energy trapped inside our bodies.

The neocortex, also referred to as the human or rational mind, does not have direct access to the outside world, but interprets information received from other parts of the brain through images, language, and ideas. Because information processed in the neocortex is based on past beliefs, expectations, and attitudes, its conclusions about the meaning of present events tend to be relatively inaccurate. For example, just because you failed in the past doesn’t mean that you will fail this time. But sometimes our rational mind can’t draw that conclusion and proceeds as if failure were certain.

The brain also consists of two other processing centers, the limbic brain (Mammalian Brain), which processes emotional and social behaviors and the reptilian brain, also known as the instinctual brain. It has direct access to the outside world through the five senses. The reptilian brain processes vast amounts of information directly related to survival. Instinctively, the reptilian brain knows what is necessary for survival and is built on rhythms of charge and discharge. All mammals, including humans, snap into the reptilian brain mode of behaviors when they perceive a threat. It doesn’t make any difference whether the threat is to life or limb or related to the need to protect the ego. The reptilian brain discharges traumatic energy from the body.

Trauma resolution in healthy humans relies on instinct, emotions, and intellect working together to create the widest range of choices possible in any given situation. People more aligned with their natural systems tend to resolve trauma more easily. Being in touch with these natural processes allows them to discharge energy and restore health. Those who cannot discharge traumatic energy trapped inside their bodies freeze. They remain traumatized and engage in dysfunctional behaviors that do nothing to solve their problems because the only solution available to them is to protect the ego. People’s level of intelligence doesn’t matter; highly intelligent individuals are just as susceptible to physical and emotional trauma as those less intellectually talented, if the need to protect their ego outweighs all other choices.

Most coaches, counselors, and therapists work only with the conscious mind and make connections with the emotional-processing part of the brain, helping their clients think their way through their problems. Using such techniques as Reality Therapy and Cognitive Reconstruction, individuals experience relief from their problems by learning to look at their problems with new “eyes”. These approaches are also used to help people overcome irrational beliefs, fears, and expectations that impede performance in a variety of intellectual and physical venues.

Many times, uncovering cognitive blocks helps people perform all daily life tasks better. But what happens when we get stuck or “freeze” and these approaches don’t work? Does it mean that the problem is unsolvable or that we don’t possess the physical or intellectual attributes necessary for success, at least in that situation? No, what it means is that energy blocks in your body must be released.

Without the inclusion of bodily sensations and uncensored memories disconnects occur between the brain and the body making problems appear unsolvable, giving the illusion that one doesn’t possess the physical or intellectual talent necessary for success. That is when most people get stuck or “freeze.” In working with clients, I check for physical sensations, emotional feelings, thoughts, and memories triggered in difficult situations.

Many people are able to adequately describe the emotions, thoughts, triggered memories, and physical sensations they’ve experienced in past adverse or stressful situations. Some are not. If you are one of the latter, consider that physical sensations usually show up as tension, pain, stiffness, jitteriness, a racing heart, headaches, or labored breathing. Are there situations in which you feel helpless or hopeless? Do you get angry, frustrated, or sad when you feel like this? Do you remember times when nothing you did worked? If so, it’s a good bet that you have energy from these past situations trapped inside your body. If so, refer to “Lions and Tigers and bear, Oh My (Part 1) for suggestions to help remove these energies so you can begin anew, as if the past trauma never occurred. Here’s a list of therapies that help rid your body of unwanted energies.

1. Massage
2. Chiropractic
3. Reflexology
4. Reiki
5. Ascension Reiki
6. Sound Therapy
7. Osteopathy
8. Acupressure
9. Acupuncture
10. Relaxation Therapy

If you know of others, please let me know. Also, if you experienced PTSD or unresolved stress for an extended period of time one session isn’t sufficient. Weekly or monthly sessions over an extended period of time will have the energy in your body running freely and smoothly and you will not even know that your life is filled with stress.