When I was in college, a Viet Nam vet who stayed in the apartment below would sometimes be triggered by the sound of a helicopter, and, believing himself to be back in the war, would climb up on the roof with his loaded shotgun and watch for bombers. This re-experiencing of old trauma happens pretty frequently, but thankfully not usually to this degree of emotional and behavioral overwhelm. Most of the time it shows up as an overreaction to an event, an emotional flood that echoes an old story of assault, abandonment, fear, victimhood, or other disturbing event that has not been resolved. Memories live in our cellular structure as well as in our minds, and a smell, a sound, a situation can open up pockets of stored emotion that interfere with our present functioning. A person who has been mugged in an elevator may have disturbing sensations and emotions when they enter a small space even if the attack happened decades ago. There is a survival mechanism in the reptilian part of our brains  that floods our system with biochemicals when triggered. Connective tissue stiffens, the adrenals release. The body prepares for survival in one or more of three ways. We prepare to flee, to run, move away, get out of town, quit our job, pack our bags,  leave now. Or perhaps we get bigger, puff ourselves up like many animals in nature when threatened, and assume an aggressive pose to fight. Or sometimes we get small, withdraw, try to hide, pull the covers over our heads, be quiet and invisible, freeze in the headlights. These reactions are not conscious; they are automatic and biochemically initiated, and sometimes they escalate into feeling as if we are in a life or death situation when is not true, as with my friend on the roof. The lingering effects of old trauma enactment interfere with our relationships, sabotage our goals, and inhibit our happiness; frequently we are not even aware of what we are doing that creates our own discomfort, and emotional blackouts are not uncommon. 

So if we are powerless over the onset of these reactions, what can we do? One way is to inhibit the cycle completion and redirect our energies to a new desired experience. The first step to doing this is to recognize what is happening and take responsibility for it without judging it. Observe it with interest; notice what happens in your mind and body. It is helpful to talk with someone you know and trust about what you experience.  Does your jaw get tight, your breath get shallow, your shoulders hunch, your hands clench, your neck turtle down into your shoulders? Does your mind race, do you think about a past event, relive it in your mind, get stuck on one thought in a looping pattern, want to run or fight, project the past onto the present, feel emotions that are too big or not appropriate to the current situation? Recognize that these and other symptoms are the result of a bio-chemical cascade that was very effective back in the days when our crisises involved escaping from saber toothed tigers. Know that you are just responding to a trigger that your system has identified as dangerous, and it is trying to protect you with a program that has not been adequately updated in centuries. 

The second step is to become willing to change, willing to step outside your comfort zone to interrupt the pattern re-enactment. We need to update the program by finding a way to inhibit the old configuration and re-direct to a more helpful new response pattern. It is possible to do this at the time of the trigger or anytime afterwards, and you don't have to fully understand the process. Action follows thought, so if you allow yourself to really think about or visualize being in the traumatic situation, your body will respond, as it will respond to your instructions. This can feel a little scary if we are in emotional overwhelm, so ask for help if you need it; it is always good to have someone you trust hold the space for you. You can begin by changing thoughts that lead to actions, and your emotions will also change. Start small; choose one of your symptoms and simply tell yourself what you want to do instead. If you find that you hold or shorten your breath, tell yourself to exhale completely and breathe in slowly and deeply. If your shoulders are up against your ears, tell your body to let them relax, to widen and lengthen your shoulders and allow your neck to be forward and free. If you are looping in frantic thought, give your mind the direction to slow down and think about your breath. If your attention wanders, lovingly direct it back. If you find yourself closing down to try to protect yourself, inhibit the shut down mode and direct your heart to stay open, allowing the fear to blow past you without harm like mist in the wind. Find language, images, sounds, and sensations that invite you to a calmer place and use them as tools for re-direction and re-creation. We often 'leave our body' when we are triggered, so working with body responses is a great way to bring us back. 

At times fear based emotional blockages, perhaps exacerbated with continual adrenal release, settle into chronic pain in the body rather than as reactive responses or behavioral symptoms. The back or neck pain that does not respond to treatment, fibromyalgia, severe headaches, and autoimmune disorders are believed by many to be related to unresolved trauma and fear held in the body. As we become adept at the techniques of inhibition and redirection we can find freedom from the burden of old trauma re-enactment and often release energy blockages that cause chronic pain. When we reroute the flow of energy into a different script, we create the opportunity for an alternative response. When that alternative response become familiar, it becomes a new habit. Other ways of working toward this freedom include the energy psychologies and trauma theory approaches. Using these methods we can learn to release that which no longer serves us and use that freed energy to create more of what we want in our lives.





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One of the more interesting experiences I have had involved witnessing a man literally bounce off walls. I was working in an inpatient addiction rehabilitation program and had the task of informing a client that his father had just died. We were alone in my office when I told him the sad news and he stood up from his chair and ran into a wall, bounced off, did it again with another wall, and again, and again, and again. I remember noting with surprise that the phrase "bouncing off the walls" was not a just figure of speech, and then deciding that he was just releasing his anger and heartbreak and that it would be better to let him run it out as long as he didn't seem to be injuring himself. When he finished careening off the walls I just held him while he sobbed, and when he quieted he seemed very lucid and able to accept his father's death and commit himself to his own recovery process. I remember wondering afterwards if another staff person had been in my place whether the client would have been restrained and possibly sedated. And I wonder now if part of our struggle with anger is that we are afraid of strong emotions, and we don't let them run their course because of that fear.

I'm not saying that we should slam ourselves into walls when we are angry or upset, but just to recognize that our primitive brain is wired such that when the flight or fight response gets triggered it is good to let the system flow and flush. Otherwise the biochemical soup that is  designed to speed and strengthen us floods our system and does not get used, often resulting in unwanted side effects. The extreme of this is post traumatic stress syndrome, and I suspect that given the constraints of our sedentary and technological orientations that many of us are walking around with adrenaline based emotions stored in the cellular structure of our bodies. Symptoms include and are not limited to sleep dysfunction, physical illness, chronic pain, an exaggerated startle reflex, nightmares, difficulty relaxing, anxiety, and depression.

It has been observed that animals in the wild are rarely traumatized, whereas domestic animals and humans frequently are. Wild animals usually give an energetic reaction to their stress events that releases the adrenaline and other chemicals that were generated in support of intense movement. In situations where the "freeze" response is used instead of fleeing or fighting, the animal vigorously shakes itself out of that state when the danger is past. One reason domestic animals may have more trauma stored in their bodies is that they are often restrained and not allowed to run out their experiences. I knew a horse named Arrow who could not tolerate to have his head tied because in his past he had been severely beaten while tied to a post so he could not get away. He was the sweetest, smartest horse you could ever hope to ride; but when his head was tied he went berserk and would hurt himself and anyone near him. Domestic animals may evidence more trauma in that they have acclimated to spending time with people, and we have our issues about emotions. Many of us humans have been taught to keep our feelings in, to deny them or intellectualize them, and have had no release for the accompanying biological stimulants that end up stored with the memories in our cells. In our culture people are often told "don't cry", "be a man", "you shouldn't feel that way", and if we exhibit strong feelings or find ourselves shaking after an experience are told "here, drink this, take this pill",  and numerous other injunctions designed to suppress our emotions. Or some of us lose control of our feelings, and like Arrow, hurt ourselves and others; so maybe we clamp the lid down harder on our feelings..... until the next time they erupt and the cycle starts again.

Suppressed emotions coagulate energy. To keep from accumulating energy blockages, find safe outlets for emotional experiences as they occur instead of repressing the feelings. Talking to someone you trust, running or other physical exercise, visualization, chakra balancing, journaling, dancing, singing, drumming, and other expressive modalities are helpful in giving release. And if you suspect you might be harboring some old emotions that block the full flow of your life force, hypnosis and the energy psychologies (TAT, EFT) have proven very effective in clearing emotional blockages. All of our emotions are gifts and have significance; one of our lessons here on earth is to learn how to work with them for our highest good and benefit. 

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