How Trauma Affects the Brain and Body
I work with a number of women who are discouraged because their health and fitness journey comes to a standstill after years of hard work. They have been able to lose weight, but then it all comes back. Other women become obsessed with counting calories and never can meet their own perfectionistic expectations. Both are symptoms of a bigger issue.
When it comes to becoming physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy, we must become self aware of how trauma has played a part in our lives. It can be a barrier that hard work and discipline cannot overcome on their own. There comes a point where, in order to be healthy, we must do the deeper work of understanding the impacts of trauma on our brain and body and how it effects our relationship with food and exercise.
Our brains are wired for love. When a traumatic event happens, it turns on our nervous system, elevating it from at rest to a heightened state in order to survive. Often this system becomes and remains charged, and we continue on with our lives. Whenever the same feeling comes up in other scenarios, that charge continues to elevate. In order to feel better, sometimes we will eat to help calm ourselves and our bodies. We begin to teach ourselves that food is a comfort, and it can become addictive.
Due to past traumas we can also think negative thoughts that become toxic thinking patterns about ourselves or others. For example, we may think, “I’m not worthy,” “there is never enough,” “I’m not safe,” and the list goes on. These thoughts and many more send us deeper into anxiety and depression, creating more barriers to bringing true healing to the deeper parts of ourselves. These toxic thought patterns affect our emotions. This can lead us to become uncomfortable or distressed, which can then lead us to cope in unhealthy ways.
As we are gaining awareness of how our thoughts and emotions affect our hunger and eating habits, let us start by having compassion on why we think and feel this way. We can then begin the road to accepting and grieving our past, healing from our pain, and breaking free from unhealthy coping patterns. Trauma therapy, cognitive work and recovery work mixed with compassion, nurturing and discipline will help you on your road to transformational healing from the inside out.