Overcoming Dissociation and Emotional Repression to Create Presence
Aug 14, 2023
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Learn how presence can be learned and its importance in healing complex traumas. Explore the impact of presence on health, relationships, and trauma. Understand the link between stress, trauma, and health issues. Discover the power of presence in enhancing relationships and fostering healthy connections.
Cultivating presence is crucial for individuals with complex trauma to heal and develop regulation skills.
Presence has significant impacts on health, reducing stress and promoting overall well-being.
Deep dives
The Importance of Presence
Presence is crucial in living a connected and fulfilling life. It allows us to be fully present in our own bodies, experience emotions and sensations, and connect with others. The cultivation of presence is especially important for individuals with complex trauma, as trauma often disrupts our ability to be present in the world. Being present requires a sense of safety and the regulation of our nervous system. By intentionally training our nervous system, we can develop the skills to be present and create new realities for ourselves. Presence also has significant impacts on our health, such as reducing stress, improving stress resilience, and promoting overall well-being.
The Role of Presence in Trauma and Complex PTSD
Trauma and complex PTSD can disrupt our ability to be present in our bodies and the world. Dissociation becomes a well-worn response, protecting us from overwhelming sensations and memories. However, cultivating presence becomes crucial for healing from trauma. It allows us to redevelop the skills of regulation and integration, enabling us to exist in the present moment. Presence empowers us to observe and recreate our reality, moving away from survival brain responses and reshaping our beliefs and behaviors. Through intentional training of our nervous system and the use of specific tools, we can develop the capacity for presence and create new possibilities for ourselves.
Presence and Its Impact on Health
Presence has a profound impact on our health and well-being. Research shows that being present can combat the effects of stress and promote stress resilience. Studies have revealed how presence is linked to the length of telomeres, the protective caps on chromosomes. Being present during activities enhances the positive effects on telomere length, highlighting the importance of actual presence rather than just engaging in activities. Furthermore, presence allows us to have a greater awareness of our internal state, detect interoceptive signals, regulate our body, and make choices that support our overall health. By cultivating presence, we can decrease the physical and emotional effects of stress and foster a more balanced and resilient state of being.
Presence in Interpersonal Relationships
Presence plays a vital role in building healthy and supportive interpersonal relationships. When we are present, we can fully listen and attune to others, interpreting their signals accurately and creating a safe space for open communication. It enables us to respond appropriately and be a safe container for others to express themselves. Cultivating presence also helps us recognize when relationships are out of alignment and when to establish boundaries for our well-being. By being fully present, we can transform relational patterns rooted in past experiences and foster more authentic and fulfilling connections with others.
How do you show up in the world, in relationships, at work? Even just sitting in a sauna. Can you safely say you are fully present in these situations? If you feel you aren’t present most of the time, you’re not alone. Most people aren’t, especially if you’ve experienced complex trauma. On the bright side, presence can be learned by using the right tools to get you there. Presence is a topic that is near and dear to our hosts Jennifer and Elisabeth’s hearts, precisely because of how they both struggled to be present after experiencing trauma, but also the gift presence provided them in all aspects of life once re-learned. In today’s episode, Jennifer and Elisabeth discuss how not being present, repressing emotions and dissociation can lead to health issues and deteriorate relationships. While offering the tools required to become present to live a fulfilling and healthy life with secure attachment styles in relationships.
This episode dives deep into the science behind presence as well as what happens when you are in your body for the first time in a long time and how using the tools provided in the NSI training can help. Understanding how your brain operates when it is fully present and how it affects your body, while having tools to help you get there, can literally put years back on to your life.
Tune in for this and more!
Topics discussed in this episode:
How Jennifer and Elisabeth define presence
Why presence is important for healing complex traumas
Empowerment that comes from presence
How presence is a time expander
What is a trigger?
How intentional training can lead to presence
The time it takes to cultivate full presence in the body
The struggle behind showing up in the world differently
Health implications behind repressed emotion and not being present
One big reason to start being present: a study on telomeres
Why it is important to work with your interoceptive system
Re-patterning of relationship attachment style
Get started training your nervous system with our FREE 2-week offer:
Head to https://calendly.com/traumarewired/consultation for a consultation to identify trauma responses in your own life and learn how to train your nervous system to move out of behaviors that aren’t serving you!
