Relaxation methods, exercize, acupuncture and other body-oriented recovery work

[schrödinger's cat]

Hi everyone. One thing I stumbled upon recently is this theory that trauma is locked in our bodies - that it's not (just) this emotional and mental thing that's going on with us, but something physical as well.

So I wondered what experiences everyone has had with body-oriented recovery work. This is probably way too hyper-organized, but... here's a questionnaire. (Please don't kill me.)  The idea is to copy the bold bits in your reply and then answer.



What did you do?

Did you ever do anything calming, centering, and grounding, whatever you want to call it? (Maybe yoga, or deep breathing...) Or something that moves the major muscle groups and/or wakes you up (hm... kickboxing an effigy of your abusers, or running, swimming...)? Or something that's a bit weird (like purposely being late and then running to catch the bus, or riding your Harley at breakneck speed...)?


Did it make a difference?


How long did you do it? Did you just dip your toe in or did you do it for a long time? Are you still doing it?


Do you have any comments, any recommendations, and/or any thoughts on why it worked for you?


Thanks for your patience, everyone. I do appreciate it.

[schrödinger's cat]

I'll start.

What did you do?

Deep breathing. Some core musculature exercizes (mostly Pilates). Meditating. Walking instead of taking the tram.
When I was a teenager: purposely being late so I had to run to catch the bus.

Did it make a difference?

Deep breathing: yes; my breathing is too shallow as a rule, which causes stress.
Exercizing and walking: yes. It helped calm me down, and it made me feel stronger and more poised, which felt very good.
Meditating: sometimes yes, sometimes I didn't notice any difference.
Being late: it gave me a few cheap thrills. I'm not even kidding - I always enjoyed the excitement of it. It made me feel alive.


How long did you do it? Did you just dip your toe in or did you do it for a long time? Are you still doing it?

Deep breathing and meditation: I did it every day for a few minutes, but then stopped because I got bored. I'm thinking of starting again using either background music or a guided meditation.
Exercizing: the time slot I used for this in the moring got commandeered by my kids, and I've yet to organize another time.
Near-missing the bus: hah no, my life is a lot less bland now.

Do you have any comments, any recommendations, and/or any thoughts on why it worked for you?

I was surprised what a difference even a few minutes per day made.

[globetrotter]

What did you do?

Centering, meditating, grounding..somatic exercises and visualizations w my T..I am a bit of a fitness junkie and find that running, biking, working out calms me. Also a fan of very long hikes. It's been proven that running, etc., creates the same 'calm' as meditation. It all wears the edge off and makes me feel more at peace.

Did it make a difference?
Absolutely - the chemicals our bodies release are intended just for this purpose - endocannabinoids, endorphins. etc. - it's a wonderful thing!


How long did you do it? Did you just dip your toe in or did you do it for a long time? Are you still doing it?
I found a elementary school portrait of myself in second grade pasted to a piece of paper where I wrote a few personal details, including "I like to play hard", so I think that being outside in nature and playing hard have always been an outlet for me.


Do you have any comments, any recommendations, and/or any thoughts on why it worked for you?
It reduces my anxiety, relaxes me, takes the edge off - even a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood is proven to be helpful. I would like to make meditation more of a habit, but have a hard time "finding time" - it's like mental floss - a hard routine for me to keep. You are so right, Cat, it only takes a few minutes and can make such a difference.

[schrödinger's cat]

I was surprised too. I had thought you have to be perfectionist about exercize. You know - the more, the better. But a wee little bit helps, too.

[spryte]

What did you do?
Deep breathing


Did it make a difference?
Yes. It definitely calms me, especially when I can remember to do it when I'm stressed/anxious. I also think it's helping to strengthen the muscles around my stomach/diaphragm and helping my digestion (I have a hiatal hernia)


How long did you do it? Did you just dip your toe in or did you do it for a long time? Are you still doing it?
I'm still doing it. I started doing it to help me fall asleep. I'd just do 10 breaths, trying to focus on each breath without getting distracted. Then I'd just kind of start doing it whenever I thought about it. Now I'm trying it specifically after I eat to see if that helps digestion. Not sure if that's working but it feels good.


Do you have any comments, any recommendations, and/or any thoughts on why it worked for you?
I think it's a tool that has multiple uses. As you mentioned, shallow breathing is actually a stressor. I had a yoga teacher watch me breath once and tell me that I was "basically hyperventilating, all the time". It takes the stress off of secondary breathing muscles around your throat/in your shoulders, which get too tight from upper chest shallow breathing. (Additional info - people who were bottle fed, and are smokers are much more likely to be shallow breathers) So, physiologically, I think there's some mechanism through deep belly breaths that helps us to relax - I don't know enough about it, but I would imagine that it affects stress hormones as well.

Emotionally - it also helps me relax, and it is a tool that teaches me mindfulness.
When I am counting to 10, with each breath, I am going 1 inhale - relax, exhale. And I am consciously relaxing my body with each breath. This highlights how tight my body was to begin with, which helps me keep that in mind throughout the day. As for mindfulness...well, if you try to concentrate on any one thing for any specified period of time, you can see how much your mind bounces around (I've been thinking about starting a specific thread on mindfulness) So...the more I do it, the easier it is to get from 1 to 10 without getting "lost" in thoughts, and it gives me practice in "guiding" myself back to the count and my breathes with compassion and non-judgment - I use those skills a lot when it comes to:
1. paying attention to my thoughts
2. Leading myself away from negative thoughts
4. Bringing myself "into the moment" when I am feeling anxious/unsafe

*******************

There are a bunch of body work/therapeutic modalities that believe that emotions get trapped in the body. One that I've always been interested in trying was John Barnes Myofascial Emotional Release.

I have a pain in my right shoulder that I am almost certain is emotional.