Anyone who has been following my Restore Womb Therapy socials will have heard me talk about overcoming trauma. There is a lack of understanding around what relevant trauma is in context to our cycles, so today I am going to give a little clarity by expanding on this topic (Well that’s the aim, so let me know how I do).
Trauma sounds heavy doesn’t it?!
the dictionary definition; “a deeply distressing or disturbing experience”.
We tend to categorize trauma as something that must have been catastrophic. Actually, trauma to our body’s is a very common event for most of us. Ever had a bruise appear and you weren’t sure where it came from? You probably just walked into something like a table leg or kitchen bench, so it wasn’t exactly “traumatising”, your body still experienced the impact though and it showed up as a bruise. Even when something is seemingly insignificant, our body remembers and responds, but unless we consider something to be “traumatising” we don’t really validate its impact on our body.
This is where we need the clarity around what relevant trauma actually is and how it shows up in our bodies
There are three forms of trauma:
- Acute
- Chronic
- Complex
Chronic and Complex trauma are easier to spot. Abuse, long term illness, war, severe poverty etc
If, however you have multiple types of acute trauma spread out over the years such as a bad first experience with your period, a nasty colleague, a breakup, argument with a relative, small bingle in a carpark and a few weeks of financial hardship. It’s hard to see how all these experiences can be impacting something like your menstrual cycle and your fertility. Depending on how you processed those events, it can rewire the way your body now responds to it’s messages.
Trauma, in essence, is caused when your nervous system has been activated and your emotional response to it has not been turned off.
Even when the situations are over, your body is still responding as if it is ongoing and all these things effect how our body and brain converse with each other.
Ever heard that saying “don’t shoot the messenger”? well, because hormones are messengers, you guessed it, they often get caught in the cross fire. Our reproductive system (our womb) can not function well without clear hormonal messages.
Some women will come in for the purpose of overcoming a traumatic event, most come in for a variety of other needs and don’t walk in feeling “traumatised” at all, so they have no idea where to start.
When I ask clients about any relevant trauma they want to share, very few can think of something straight away. When I ask clients a series of questions about their childhood, relationships, work, parenthood, personality traits etc we suddenly start to notice a pattern – a dot to dot picture let’s say – of events that have occurred in their life that have left lasting impacts on the way they emotionally and physically respond to the world around them.
Lets take a look at nature – like our beautiful coastlines here at Torquay on the Surfcoast and all along the Bellarine Peninsula: a wonderful insight in to how different systems work perfectly together.
Our ocean tides communicate with the rise and fall of the moons and it’s varying phases. The seas are dictated to by the winds and all its different moods and this makes the seas calm or wild, it can create clean rideable waves or an undulating surface. The water reflects the seasons as they change, warmer in the heat of summer or holding an icy sting once winter sets in.
The ocean never argues with the moon or resists the winds. Even in the coldest parts of the world where there are frozen masses in the water, it still moves and shifts with the moon and wind. It still greets the land that interrupts it. It’s consistent even in different seasons.
A woman’s body has been created with the same intricate design brief. It’s intelligent, sensitive and flexible. The body becomes chaotic when it argues with the brain.
Mentally you may have moved on from whatever the situation is, be it catastrophic, small or in between. If however, your body continues to anticipate that threat, a memory has been stored and it will reactivate that emotional response, cementing it in your system.
Some of the common ways women respond to trauma externally are:
- Super scheduling/organising life
- High intensity exercise every day
- Boom and bust – they keep going until they can’t go anymore and then fall in a heap (umm, guilty as charged your honour – cue burnout)
- Continuously studying without a required need for their employment
- Rigid eating
- Event junkie – always making sure they have somewhere to go or someone to be with
Enjoying order, exercising, working hard, eating well and going out and about are not bad things to do. In fact, a portion of all these things is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. It’s all about the balance. Where is that need/drive coming from – 9/10 times, its a response from an event or moment that implanted a feeling they never wanted to return to and this is how they are managing it.
Some of the ways our cycle reveals stored trauma are:
- Painful ovulation
- PMS
- Endometriosis
- Painful intercourse
- Irregular cycles
- Sore coccyx
- Heavy bleeds
When linking habits and symptoms and history, this is your: Relevant trauma.
Good news; even if you have formed a lifetime of habits out of a trauma response, we can rewrite the script, rewire the responses and restore health to your nervous, digestive and your reproductive system. How clever!
To start understanding how an optimal cycle needs support, you can subscribe on the side of this page and download my free pdfs “The cycle seasons” and “Masculine and Feminine balance”
For more information, please reach out or book a consultation today.
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