Podcast Summary
The impact of emotional repression on health: Emotional repression can harm health, leading to pain, inflammation, immune responses, emotional flashbacks, and physical symptoms. Practicing safe emotional expression and having a supportive environment are crucial for individuals.
Emotional repression can have detrimental effects on both our emotional and physical health. While it's important to work towards expressing and processing emotions, the nervous system and body may not be ready for this if they haven't learned to feel safe with emotional expression. This can result in negative outcomes such as pain, inflammation, or immune responses. Additionally, if individuals do not have a supportive environment or community to help regulate emotions, they may experience emotional flashbacks or physical symptoms. Therefore, it's crucial for individuals to practice expressing emotions safely and appropriately, and for professionals, such as neuro somatic intelligence trainers, to be trauma-informed to help guide individuals through this process. Matt shared examples of unexpected emotional expressions during vision training exercises, highlighting the importance of understanding the connection between emotional repression and the nervous system.
Understanding the mind-body connection: Being trauma-informed is crucial for professionals working with the human body to effectively respond to unexpected emotional responses during sessions, ensuring a safe and effective training environment for clients.
Working with the human body involves more than just physical aspects. Trauma, emotions, and memories can be reactivated during exercises or training sessions, leading to unexpected emotional responses. It's essential for anyone working in fields related to the human body and nervous system, such as neurotrainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, and personal trainers, to be trauma-informed. This means understanding how the brain stores memories and the potential for emotional and cognitive pieces to resurface when the physical aspect is reactivated. Being trauma-informed can help professionals respond appropriately when emotional activations occur and ensure a safe and effective training environment for clients.
Daily grief practice and connection with nature: Embracing deeper emotions through daily practice and nature's healing power can lead to feelings of cleansing, grounding, and deeper self-connection.
Exploring and expressing deeper emotions, such as grief, can be a challenging yet rewarding process. For the speaker, this journey began with setting aside structured time each day for grief practice, which eventually evolved into a more natural and immersive experience, like dancing in the rain during storms. Nature became an essential co-regulator, providing healing power and a safe space for emotional release. Sharing her experience through a viral video further emphasized the importance of expressing emotions and the support and connection many people seek in doing so. Overall, the process of embracing and releasing deeper emotions can lead to feelings of cleansing, grounding, and a deeper connection to oneself and nature.
Understanding the importance of expressing grief for children's development: Suppressing or repressing grief can hinder deep connections and overall health, while embracing it can lead to transformative relationships and improved well-being.
Grief and the physical expression of this emotion are essential for children's development as they signal the need for care, love, and attachment. However, when these expressions are not met with the necessary support, individuals may learn to suppress or repress their grief, leading to a barrier in forming deep connections with others and impacting their overall health and well-being. From a neurobiological perspective, grief can be understood as the internal sensation of loss, similar to phantom limb pain, which occurs when the brain no longer receives input signals from a lost body part. This disconnection can result in a range of negative effects, including difficulty predicting and navigating the world, assessing safety, and conserving energy. Embracing and practicing grief, on the other hand, can lead to transformative relationships, improved health, and a more resilient nervous system.
Loss of input leads to pain or discomfort in phantom limb and grief: Recognize that loss can lead to pain or discomfort, and focus on creating new signals or inputs to help the brain adjust and heal.
Both phantom limb pain and grief result from a loss of input from a particular area of our lives, leading to our brains perceiving a threat and experiencing pain or discomfort. For phantom limb pain, the body part is missing, and there's no way to provide the necessary signals to the brain. In grief, it's the loss of a loved one or significant emotional connection, leaving us with a "deafening silence" and a need for remapping and healing. The best approach to dealing with both is to create new signals or inputs to help the brain adjust and fill the gap. This process can take time, and during this period, we may experience various emotional and physiological responses. By acknowledging and addressing these feelings, we can begin the healing journey towards wholeness and safety once again.
Recognizing the Impact of Unresolved Grief: Unresolved grief can lead to chronic pain and emotional suppression, but acknowledging and expressing emotions through a 'grief practice' can facilitate healing and resilience, despite the shame that may accompany it.
Unresolved grief and loss can manifest physically as chronic pain, and it's essential to acknowledge and process the raw edges of emotional pain to facilitate healing. Sometimes, losses are so significant that they leave deep holes in our identity and perception of the world, making us feel unsafe. These emotions can be suppressed or ignored, leading to a distraction or even repression. However, if we don't address the grief, it may resurface later in life. The concept of a "grief practice" can help us recognize opportunities to grieve and practice acknowledging and expressing emotions, just like recognizing the opportunity cost. Shame, a normal human emotion, can also be a significant barrier to processing grief, leading to a sense of toxic shame and immobilization. By understanding and addressing these emotions, we can facilitate healing and move towards a healthier, more resilient state.
Link between shame and freeze emotions: Shame can create debilitating feelings of avoidance and hiding, rooted in a deep sense of fear of rejection. Understanding this connection can aid in healing and building resilience.
Shame and freeze are closely linked emotions, and shame can create a sense of time dilation and amplify negative perceptions, leading to feelings of wanting to avoid and hide. Shame serves a protective function, keeping us connected to our caregivers and the herd, but for those with complex trauma, these feelings can become hypervigilant and debilitating. As children, we may believe that if we can change ourselves, we'll get the care and connections we need to survive. However, we cannot change our environment or caregivers, and these beliefs can lead to a deep sense of shame and fear of rejection. Understanding the connection between shame and freeze can help us heal from these experiences and build resilience.
Understanding the Inner Critic in Complex PTSD: CPTSD individuals face a critical inner voice due to unmet needs and protective mechanisms. Tools like NSI help address emotional and survival brains, allowing individuals to understand and move past the critical language.
Individuals with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) often struggle with an inner critic and shame voice that stems from unmet needs and protective mechanisms. This voice can be hypervigilant, loud, and lead to overgiving, boundary issues, and physiological responses like freezing or shutting down. It's essential to recognize that this voice is not a reflection of reality but a protective mechanism trying to prevent fear. However, the declarative language it uses can lead to self-beliefs and a critical perception of oneself. Tools like Neurosequential Interventions (NSI) can help address the emotional and survival brains on their terms, allowing individuals to understand the messages behind the critical language and move towards emotional safety. When in an emotional flashback, it may be challenging to think oneself out of it, and focusing on body movement and nervous system regulation can be more effective.
Navigating emotions with sensitivity: Approach emotional work with sensitivity, use neuro-somatic tools to regulate nervous system, be aware of self-talk and emotions to prevent shame or fear, and understand complexities of positive emotions.
Working with emotions, particularly shame, requires sensitivity and alternative approaches. The backdraft effect refers to the potential intensification of shame when discussing it directly. Instead, neuro-somatic tools can help regulate the nervous system and mobilize immobility without requiring cognitive deconstruction or prolonged discussion. Positive emotions can also be challenging for the nervous system due to their unpredictability and potential for conflict with deeply held beliefs or past experiences. It's essential to be aware of our self-talk and emotions to prevent them from turning into shame or fear. The ability to experience positive emotions fully can be difficult due to uncertainty and self-limiting beliefs. By understanding these complexities, we can approach emotional work with greater compassion and effectiveness.
Practicing emotional regulation and clearing emotional blocks: Embrace emotions, release anger, trust deeper connections, and engage fully in the present moment for renewed vitality and abundance
Allowing ourselves to experience a full range of emotions, especially positive ones, can be challenging due to our brains' natural tendency to protect us from potential harm. However, by practicing regulation and clearing emotional blocks, we can access a renewed sense of vitality and receive abundance in various aspects of our lives. This process often involves addressing and releasing anger, and learning to trust deeper connections with others. Embracing the duality of emotions and understanding that they are not static but constantly flowing can help us overcome the fear of loss and fully engage in the present moment.
Embrace Change and Recognize the Transient Nature of Emotions and Experiences: Understanding neuroplasticity and the transient nature of emotions and experiences can help us overcome fear, practice growth, and build stronger relationships.
Our brains and emotions are always changing, and it's essential to recognize this to overcome fear and allow ourselves to experience positive emotions fully. Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change and rewire itself, is a constant process. Fear of losing positive emotions or experiences can be as debilitating as the fear of negative ones. To move forward, it's crucial to remember that there's no permanency to personality, emotions, or beliefs. Embracing change and practicing small steps towards growth can lead to becoming better at handling emotions and building stronger relationships. Encouragement and courage are essential in facing fears and allowing ourselves to evolve. By recognizing the transient nature of our emotions and experiences, we can approach life with curiosity and resilience.
Practicing regulation and nervous system work leads to a more present and authentic life: Through consistent practice, we heal internal deficits, express emotions freely, and live a more connected and authentic life, enhancing emotional intelligence and neuro-somatic intelligence
Practicing regulation and nervous system work allows us to become more present in our bodies and fully engage in our relationships and experiences. As we consistently practice, we heal internal deficits and develop the ability to express emotions freely. This leads to a more connected and authentic life, where our emotions move through us naturally without the need for excessive regulation or suppression. Emotional intelligence, as defined by Pete Walker, reflects our ability to accept and express all feelings without dissociation or harm to ourselves or others. Neuro-somatic intelligence, or the ability to integrate and regulate emotions in the present moment, complements emotional intelligence by providing us with the tools to do so.