# How to Win Over Trauma

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to the Malkan Show podcast. I am Meghana Malkan, thank you so much for joining me today for this episode of the podcast.

I know your time is valuable and I am really happy that you are listening to me today.

I have begun this podcast because after being coached by the world’s best, I wanted to share with you guys what success habits, success tools, and cues have helped me get onto higher levels of performance at work, have great relationships with my spouse and kids and what really helped me stay focused and motivated all the time.

So, guys let’s dive into the next episode. The struggle is part of everyday life for almost all of us. Each one of us faces upheavals of varying degrees at various points in our lives. However, those like sudden illness or an accident or divorce and death are as powerful and distressing reactions in us on an emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual level.

So something like the trauma is often the result of an overwhelming amount of stress that exceeds your ability to cope or integrate those emotions involved with that distressing experience. Even a small minority, if, suppose you had a tiff on a roadside can also induce trauma in a person and can render them paralyzed for a few moments.

So griever evens like sudden illness or accident or death leave their mark for a longer period. And in some people, sadly forever. Usually, a traumatic event immediately impacts once basic chakra or the root chakra, which is a base energy center and renders that person incapable of any coherent action for few moments, depending on the severity of the incident and the person's spiritual health, the time duration of the impact may vary even longer.

There is no one way to recover and heal from the feelings that you feel from any of these traumatic incidents.

Each survivor chooses his or her own path or stumbles across it. Still, generally, people leave their healing from trauma to time. There's even a saying that goes like time heals almost everything. Give time, give time. However, traumatic experiences are not easy to repress or forget.

The distressing feeling of the troubling event will replay in our minds over and over and in due course of time imprints itself on the nervous system. This is what we know as something called post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. It leaves the person feeling helpless, emotionally disturbed, and of course, traumatized.

So every individual reacts in different ways. Those that feel normal to them as there's no one right or wrong reaction to drama. Any response is a normal reaction to abnormal events. So these reactions may be categorized in a lot of wide varieties of cases. And can be taken into consideration while looking for symptoms that are given up by people who are traumatized?

So let's see what are those symptoms? So let's look at some emotional and psychological symptoms.

It could begin with the shock or denial or disbelief and can lead to confusion, difficulty concentrating, and even anger, irritability, mood swings, anxiety, fear, guilt, shame, self -blame, withdrawing from others, feeling sad or hopeless, feeling disconnected or numb while these are emotions such psychological symptoms, let's look at some physical symptoms.

They could include insomnia or nightmares, fatigue being startled easily, difficulty concentrating, racing heartbeat, edginess, and agitation, aches, and pains, and muscular tensions. So, all these traumatic symptoms typically last from a few days to a few months, gradually fading as you process the unsettling event that’s occurred in your life.

Now, having looked at the symptoms, let's look at some of the causes. The causes could include either one time, events such as an accident and injury or a violent attack, especially if it was unexpected surprise or happen in childhood.

The second one could be your ongoing relentless stress such as living in a crime-ridden neighborhood or battling a life-threatening illness or traumatic events that occur repeatedly, such as bullying or domestic violence, sexual abuse, or childhood neglect.

The third one could be commonly overlooked causes such as surgeries, especially in the first three years of life or sudden death of someone close the breakup of a significant relationship or a humiliating or a deeply disappointing experience, especially if someone was deliberately cruel.

So the cope, coping process with the trauma of a natural or manmade disaster can present more unique challenges. Even if you weren't directly involved in the event, for example, an earthquake.

So aren't, we all bombarded by horrific images on social media or news resource of disasters. So, when you view these images over and over, they can overwhelm your nervous system and create more traumatic stress.

So now how about talking about some healing? We are designed by nature to recover from trauma physically, our system shuts down and we run on basics. We feel dead inside or terribly shocked or shaken. After the trauma, the system starts to recover and return to normal function. So let's explore a few ways to get past the trauma.

The first one is to get moving, which means trauma disrupts your body's natural equilibrium because it paralyzes you into a state of fear. So, when you burn off adrenaline and release, endorphins, exercise and movement can actually repair your nervous system. Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes or more on most days, exercise that is rhythmic and engages both your arms and legs works best.

So instead of engaging with your thoughts or listening to music, focus on your body and how it feels as you move. The second and important one here is isolating yourself. Because wanting to withdraw yourself from others and from day-to-day life seems quite appealing in the event of a traumatic experience.

But the fact is isolation only makes things worse. Connecting with loved ones face-to-face helps one heal, also connecting with others does not have to mean one has to talk about the trauma ask for support, as comfort comes from feeling engaged and accepted by others.

Participate in social activities even if you don't feel like it does normal things with other people, things that have nothing to do with the traumatic experience. Join a support group to help you be with others who are facing the same problems can help reduce one sense of isolation while volunteering can be a great way to challenge the sense of helplessness that often accompanies the trauma.

The third one is self -regulate your nervous system. So no matter how agitated, anxious or out of control, you feel it is important to know that you can change your arousal system and calm yourself. Not only will it help relieve the anxiety associated with trauma, but it would also engender a greater sense of control.

If you feel disoriented, confused, or upset, quickly to calm yourself is through mindful breathing. Simply take 30 to 60 breaths, focusing your attention on each outgoing breath in a way that it's releasing all the anxiety and tension. Allow yourself to feel what you feel when you feel it.

Acknowledge your feelings about the traumatic experience. As and when they arise and accept them, do not resist them.

The fourth part is to take care of your health because, after a traumatic experience, worry or fear may disturb your sleep patterns. A lack of quality sleep can put so much of your trauma symptoms into action and make it harder to maintain your emotional balance.

So go to sleep and get up at the same time every day, aim for at least seven to nine hours of sleep each night, and sleep means deep restful sleep. At all costs, avoid alcohol and drugs that are used can worsen your trauma symptoms and increase your feelings of depression, anxiety, and isolation.

Eat a well-balanced diet, eating small well-balanced meals throughout the day will help you keep your energy up and minimize mood swings. Avoid sugary and fried foods and eat plenty of omega-3 fats like walnuts or flax seeds or soybeans to give you a mood boost.

Try relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. However, if you've tried all the above-mentioned ideas and are still unable to cope with trauma-induced stress, try spiritual cleansing. Ask help from a healer or a psychotherapist and take healing sessions.

You can also learn about energy healing modalities and address your stress issues by routine energy cleansing, which is very powerful. You know, research in positive psychology sees that every individual is blessed with certain strengths.

And when you recognize these strengths in adverse times, you allow these people to thrive. It's all about that magic. This is why not everyone responds to trauma with that pervasive sense of helplessness for some, the by-products of trauma, a significant growth, hope, and even empowerment.

So guys remember in times of trauma, focus on your strengths and what gives you more empowerment and go for it.

May 12th, 2020   #The Malkan Show