Do I have Trauma-Body?

1) Fine a piece of paper. Draw a body on a piece of paper (stick figure is fine)

2) Use one color to identify where in your body you feel the most energy when you are angry, experiencing panic or anxiety or tense. 

3) Use a different color to identify where in your body you have the most awareness of feeling spaced out, dissociative, sleepy and down and depressed. If you have no awareness, then mark where you start to have awareness when you come 'back online'.

4) State out loud where you feel the energy of HYPER arousal (number 2 above). If you have a friend or partner, state it out loud to them too. If possible, have them state it back to you by using your name, such as: 'Sue feels tension in her chest and hands when she is angry, etc.'

5) State out loud where you feel the energy of HYPO arousal (number 3 above). If you have a friend or partner, state it out loud to them too. If possible, have them state it back to you by using your name, such as: 'Sue feels her shoulders slouch forward and collapsed in her stomach when she is down, etc.'

6) Then try one of these steps below: 

For HYPER arousal, you will need something CALMING:

Mission statements – You can tell a lot about a company by its mission statement. Don’t have one? Now might be a good time to create one and post it here. A good mission statement tells you what drives a company to do what it does.

For HYPER arousal when you are above a 5 out of 10, you will need a DISCHARGE activity first and then something CALMING: 

For HYPO arousal, you will need something ALERTING: 

Company policies – Are there company policies that are particularly important to your business? Perhaps your unlimited paternity/maternity leave policy has endeared you to employees across the company. This is a good place to talk about that.

Window of Tolerance self-regulation tips: 

Remember if you are feeling hypo (low energy or spacey) than you need something alerting for your nervous system, and if you are feeling hyper (over threshold, irritated, anxious) than you need something calming (after something discharging if you are over a 5 out of 10). If you are feeling both, then you need something alerting than calming. 

1) Mobilization helps in both states. Fast (really good if angry) or slower pace (good for grounding). Just moving your bodies always helps. Walking helps. 

2) Bi-lateral movements (eyes, ears, feet, fists, smell) always helps. 

3) The third shortcut is to re-‘orientate’ by using your dominant sense to connect with something in your immediate environment for at least 30 seconds. 

4) Scent/Smelling (olfactory) always helps. It is the most immediate shortcut for the brain to regulate to the immediate present. As long as the scent is pleasurable to you. 

5) If you tend to co-regulate, it will help you to put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach to help you self-regulate. 

If you tend to avoid, then it will help you to look in someone’s eyes and then away, then back to their eyes then away, to try to facilitate more co-regulation.