We fill up our emotional ‘luggage or suitcase’ with many things along our life journey. Things that at that time may have been necessary to help us process and understand. As we grow, we need to be mindful of how allowing our ‘luggage’ to stay full, even overflowing at times can weigh us down and hinder our growth. Let’s start unpacking the things that do not serve us and fill up with attitudes, skills and things that do such as gratitude and self-compassion.
Emotional Trauma can be the result of extraordinary stressful events that disrupt your sense of security. You can experience a range of symptoms such as intense emotions, recurring memories, and high levels of anxiety. While emotional trauma is a normal response to disturbing events, quickly processing, and resolving it is key. These symptoms can leave you feeling numb, disconnected, or unable to trust. They can show up emotionally, mentally, and physically for you. It is important to recognize your triggers and to develop strategies or tools to help you manage and ultimately allow you some freedom and peace. See below some recovery strategies to help you manage, cope, resolve and heal.
Self-Regulate: Take some time to allow yourself to sit with your emotions as tolerable as possible and feel them in different parts of your body. When doing this regularly you can identify ways of keeping yourself grounded and steady. Some ways of doing this is to start a daily routine of personal self-reflecting rituals such as meditating, and gratitude journaling and learning some grounding techniques that work best for you.
Focus on Health: Making sure you are taking care of yourself both inside and out can help tremendously. Eating nutritious food, drinking plenty of water, getting regular exercise and enough sleep can improve your mood physically, mentally, and emotionally. Do your best to limit consumption of alcohol and avoid drugs altogether.
Connect with others: Find your tribe! Surround yourself with family and friends that are supportive and can give you a sense of security and comfort. Join a support group to connect with others with similar experiences. Look into your community and volunteer where there is need such as an animal shelter, hospital with premature babies, and food banks just to name a few.
Seek Professional Help: Do not feel you need to do it on your own. If you are that person that shuts down or distracts by doing everything at once or has self-destructive behaviors, know that you are not alone. Talking to a professional can help. Love yourself enough to believe that you deserve to heal from your suffering and live a good life.
Nourish Wellness therapists provide treatment for the whole person; mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We use integrative practices in every session. Nourish Wellness offers ongoing Guided Breath and Guided Imagery Meditation Sessions, Therapeutic Support Groups, Workshops and Webinars. Please visit our website for details and additional resources.