Reclaiming Power from Trauma

Understanding PTSD

PTSD symptoms often overlap with anxiety and depression, and sufferers may experience intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their trauma long after the event; which affects our relationships and overall well-being.

Common Symptoms include:

• Flashbacks: Reliving traumatic events with intrusive thoughts or vivid memories.
• Nightmares: Recurrent, distressing dreams that replay the trauma.
• Avoidance: of places, people, or activities that trigger memories of the trauma.
• Memory Loss: Amnesia related to the traumatic event or its aftermath.
• Negative Self-Perception: Deep-seated feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or anger.
• Social Withdrawal: Isolation from friends and family, leading to relationship difficulties.
• Irritability and Anger: Heightened emotional responses to everyday stressors.
• Hyper vigilance: Our nervous system gets stuck in a heightened state of alert which leads to an exaggerated startle response or an inability to relax,
• Difficulty Concentrating: Loss of focus on the present due to a preoccupation with the past.
• Insomnia: Can't sleep or always staying asleep.

Interestingly, trauma can also occur indirectly. We can develop PTSD simply by hearing about a loved one's traumatic experience. First responders, social workers, military personnel, and other professionals exposed to violence and disturbing situations are especially prone to second hand situations that cause PTSD. 

Inherited Emotional Patterns

Ancestral trauma is the idea that emotional wounds can be passed down through generations, encoded within our DNA. This perspective suggests that PTSD may not always stem from personal experiences but can also result from the accumulated traumas of our ancestors, such as war, displacement, or abuse.

Trauma that persists for over seven generations becomes pathological, influencing our psychological and emotional frameworks. This inherited trauma sensitises us to similar events in our own lives, making us more vulnerable to post-traumatic stress reactions.

For instance, if our ancestors endured war or severe abuse, abandonment or betrayal in our own life may trigger a subconscious response that reactivates both present and ancestral traumas.

Additionally, if your mother experiences trauma while pregnant, you as the unborn child may absorb the emotional distress, creating a foundation for PTSD later in life. Thus, PTSD can develop through both direct and indirect exposure to traumatic events.

Trauma Response

We have evolved to create survival strategies that help us navigate traumatic situations. These instincts include the fight-or-flight response, designed to protect our body and mind from collapsing under extreme stress.

However, when trauma is not fully processed, the survival instinct can leave us in a state of emotional suspension—trapped in the past, constantly replaying traumatic experiences, and unable to return to a balanced state.

When we experience stress or trauma, our nervous system releases chemicals like adrenaline to prepare for immediate action. In cases of chronic stress or life-threatening situations, this response can become overactive, leading to long-term emotional and physiological effects. If the trauma isn't processed or released, our body remains in a state of 'hyperarousal', which can contribute to feelings of irritability, anger, or emotional numbness.

Failing to complete the survival cycle can exhaust the body's energy, leaving us feeling emotionally frozen or numb. Over time, this depletion manifests as fatigue, mood swings, or a constant need to control situations, all of which can further exacerbate PTSD symptoms.

Spiritual Growth opportunity

Traumatic distress has been linked to a sense of separation from divinity. Individuals with PTSD often grapple with existential questions, struggling to reconcile their traumatic experiences with their belief systems. This disconnect can create feelings of hopelessness, isolation, and disillusionment.

However, PTSD also offers a unique opportunity for spiritual growth. Those who are able to find meaning and purpose in their traumatic experiences are more likely to experience post-traumatic spiritual growth, a process where individuals derive strength, wisdom, and resilience from their suffering.

If we can establish a collaborative relationship with a higher power or the universe, this can help regain a sense of purpose. Meditation and prayer foster emotional healing, encouraging us to see our trauma as part of a bigger spiritual journey.

PTSD often brings survivor guilt, which can be relieved through the process of forgiveness—both of oneself and of those responsible for the trauma. This will align us with a higher spiritual purpose, and help find peace and closure.

Studies have shown that PTSD patients who engage in spiritual practices, like attending worship services, praying, or meditating, are more likely to turn their trauma into an opportunity for spiritual transformation.

Energetic and Emotional Imbalances

TCM understands trauma as a massive disruption in the flow of Qi. When someone experiences trauma, their nervous system and energetic system become disorganised, disrupting the harmonious interplay between Yin and Yang, the body’s natural dualistic energy forces.

Viewed through the lens of the Five Elements, each element is usually associated with specific emotional responses to trauma:

• Metal (Grief): Trauma can cause a profound sense of shutdown, where we struggle to let go of the past, which can lead to chronic grief and a disconnection from life’s gifts.
• Water (Fear): We may develop hyper vigilance or anxiety, constantly scanning our environment for threats. Water imbalances make it difficult to sink into oneself and feel safe.
• Wood (Anger): PTSD can leave us feeling frustrated or angry. If the trauma prevents the natural fight-or-flight response from completing, our body may hold onto residual anger, leading to outbursts or feelings of hopelessness. 
• Fire (Sadness): Trauma can flatten emotional expression and inhibit social interactions. The heart and mind become dull, affecting both memory and our relationships.
• Earth (Digestive Issues): Trauma often impacts digestion, both physically and emotionally. We may struggle to process life experiences or digest food, leading to conditions such as IBS or emotional numbness.

Energetic impacts of Trauma

When traumatic events overwhelm us, they act like a lightning bolt to the body, disrupting the flow of Qi and leading to a breakdown in the natural rise and fall of the nervous system’s rhythm. Trauma leads to extended or overwhelming sympathetic nervous system activation (fight-or-flight), which prevents the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) from soothing and restoring balance.

Our Qi gets massively disorganised if we experience either extended or overwhelming SNS activation. It can be chronic low-grade activation or acute, massive activation. Our PNS loses its capacity to regulate the SNS; yin loses its capacity to soothe and quiet yang; yang loses its capacity to activate and enliven yin.

Reciprocity between SNS and PNS is lost. PNS increases in a desperate grasp to ensure survival – resulting in a collapsed, frozen state – with massive SNS arousal underneath it.

This imbalance can manifest as:

• Rigidity in tissues and thoughts: The body becomes physically tense, and the mind may get stuck in repetitive thought patterns.
• Challenges in processing sensations: Everyday sensations, such as a racing heartbeat, may be mistaken for panic attacks, reinforcing feelings of fear.
• Dysfunction in relationships: Trauma can compromise the ability to form safe and trusting attachments, leading to isolation and social withdrawal.

Restoring Balance with Qigong

Healing from PTSD requires addressing the body, mind, and spirit. A combination of traditional therapy, spiritual practices, and TCM techniques can help restore balance to the nervous system and energetic body.

Qigong addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of trauma. By restoring the natural flow of Qi, regulating the nervous system, releasing physical and emotional trauma, and promoting inner peace.

How Qigong helps with PTSD:

• Unblocking Stagnant Energy: Qigong’s gentle, flowing movements help unblock stagnant energy that accumulates due to trauma. Through continuous movement, we release tension in the body, allowing energy to circulate freely.
• Balancing Yin and Yang: PTSD often disrupts the balance between Yin and Yang, with trauma activating the sympathetic nervous system (Yang) and overwhelming the parasympathetic (Yin). Qigong helps reestablish this balance, harmonising the body’s natural energy flow and calming the nervous system.
• Activating the Lower Dan tian: We focus a lot on the Lower Dan tian, located in the lower abdomen. This is responsible for storing vital energy. Strengthening the Lower Dan tian through specific movements helps rebuild inner strength and resilience, stabilising our core energy.
• Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Balance: Qigong shifts the body out of the sympathetic “fight-or-flight” mode and activates the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which promotes relaxation and healing. The gentle movements combined with deep, mindful breathing allow us to move into a calm, relaxed state.
• Promoting the Relaxation Response: Deep, controlled breathing increases oxygen intake and stimulates the vagus nerve, which directly supports PNS activation. This promotes a sense of safety and well-being.
• Grounding and Centring: Practices like rooting the feet firmly into the earth and focusing on deep breathing, help us connect to our body and surroundings, anchoring us in the present moment and reducing any sense of dissociation.
• Releasing Tension: The slow, mindful movements will gently release tension stored in the muscles and fascia. This will also provide an emotional release, and helps us process and let go of stored trauma.
• Body Awareness: Continual focus on our body helps us recognise areas where trauma is held and offers a path to gently and safely release it. Over time, this process helps alleviate both physical discomfort and emotional pain.
• Restoring Somatic Balance: Qigong helps us become more comfortable with our body sensations, restoring a sense of safety and normalising the body’s responses to stress. 
• Mindfulness and Mental Focus: Combining movement with meditation and focused attention, as well as focusing on our breath and bodily sensations helps quiet the mind and reduce the constant replay of traumatic memories.
• Breathing as a Tool for Mental Clarity: Breathing exercises are central to mental clarity and emotional regulation. Rhythmic, deep breathing stimulates our calming brain pathways, slowing down thought patterns and allowing for greater mental clarity and peace.
• Releasing Emotional Pain: Through the combination of movement, breath, and focused intention, we can release emotional pain and process difficult emotions such as fear, anger, and sadness. This emotional clearing will reduce the emotional charge of traumatic memories, making it easier to manage symptoms.
• Cultivating Inner Peace: By focusing inward and calming the mind, we access a deeper, more peaceful state of being, reconnecting with our inner essence and connecting that with the wider mind and universal consciousness.
  
• Restoring the Spirit: In TCM, trauma is often seen as a disturbance of the Shen (spirit), which resides in the Heart. Qigong helps restore the spirit by balancing the body’s energy and calming the mind, allowing us to experience greater emotional and spiritual alignment.