The impala and the cheetah
On the savannah are a herd of impalas and nearby the cheetah prowls in pursuit of its prey. The impalas are vigilant and the cheetah looks for the weaker brother. If they stay together it gets tricky so one has to be soaked loose. And that happens...
Savannah is a breeding ground for trauma or not....
The cheetah sneaks closer and the herd flees. A young impala doesn't make it and falls. The cheetah is lightning fast and at about 120 kilometers per hour it grabs the impala. Of course, before the impala is grabbed, he flees because that is the best response to the impending predator.
But when an impala is seized by a cheetah he "freezes. He does not fight or flee but uses the 'Freeze' response. He has to do this for two reasons
- He then feels little or nothing of what is happening to him
- Should the leopard become momentarily distracted it can still flee
In fact, the leopard thinks he is dead and drags him to the cubs and leaves the impala there for the cubs. Now he sees his chance, shivers and trembles for a moment and shakes himself awake. There the young impala runs away, off to freedom.
Does the impala of this encounter have a trauma?
No, even though it was a huge impact, he shakes it off and moves on. Wild animals may do that every day. Every day they go through something traumatic and yet they function just fine.
Do you know how they can? Do you know how they can easily and simply shake off something as traumatic as a predator attack?
You may already know the answer. You see, they really do literally shake it off. It doesn't stay in their body, but because they "freeze" first, they can then throw off all the effects of the trauma afterwards.
They shiver and tremble for a while and then they lose it and "wake up" again from their freeze.
An interesting process isn't it? And why are we humans so bad at it? When you experience something bad you often keep thinking about it for hours. Hours? Some people for years, with all its consequences as you can imagine.
Humans, on the other hand, are animals and we can do it. We can release trauma and process it effectively. It's not necessarily easy, but it can be done.
How to release trauma.
A good book in this that I can recommend is "The Tiger Awakens" and in that book there are many exercises you can do yourself to let go.
Now that is not really helpful with some traumas. Especially not if they are very intense traumas, of course. Then it is better to seek out a therapist who can effectively guide you in releasing trauma.
With this, though, if it's not a problem, then it's not a problem. What I mean by that is, you don't necessarily have to bring up everything if it doesn't really bother you now. It's not convenient.
But when it's holding you back, it's important to let it go.
Hypnotherapy for trauma
When you do hypnotherapy you can effectively release your traumas with regression and especially with Systemic Voice Regression. In this regression we work with the catharsis which causes you, like the impala, to let go of the trauma and therefore can truly leave it behind.
A very effective method and of course you can always make an appointment with us.
I'd love to hear what you think about this so if you'd like to leave a comment, please do 🙂