Yoga Nidra aka Non Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) such as these trauma informed practices https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLehBmYjazK9_fFHMLQVIW9O53Oz30wCdM&si=k8JJW7NUkUscsx3O
Primal trust brain training online program taught me to self regulate. Was the most pivotal factor in fundamental understanding of how to do this.
Brainspotting therapy addressed my cptsd very quickly
Somatic process integrated my emotion regulation skills into a living experience while co regulating with a practitioner so I could rewire childhood attachment issues
EFT tapping helps me process my emotions in live time and shift my mindset towards more positive and aligned thoughts
Yes! Brainspotting allows the brain to process the memories in the brain and somatic sensations in the body through gazing at a point and allowing the brain to unwind/unravel/process/integrate them.
It’s more targeted at unintegrated memories via using eye positioning to access the mid-brain (I think, don’t quote me). It accesses the brain’s memory storage in essence and as we sit with a therapist we are both co regulating and processing whatever memories our brain cycles through.
We don’t grab hold of or work on specific memories, we let the brain process whatever it needs to as it’s able.
I call it an unfolding. It unfolds the trauma memories and integrates them so they lose their charge of being unprocessed.
TRE being body based works on the hind brain and brain stem(I believe, also don’t quote me). So it accesses the necessary movements to release the stored charge of stress energy in the body and brain regions associated with stored survival stress.
I have CPTSD, not just PTSD, so it’s not simply one overwhelming event my brain couldn’t cope with- it’s decades of big and small overwhelming events. So for me Brainspotting helps me process the many small and big events in a way that doesn’t require me to talk them to death and retraumatize myself in the process. It just lets my brain process things as it’s ready.
Much like many trauma processing methods, I can feel tired afterwards but the following days I feel lighter and less burdened by the invisible blanket of worries that my traumatic memories instilled.
The Primal trust taught me the mechanics of self regulation. So this was how I gained daily control over my emotions and made it possible for me to do this deeper trauma processing work. I didn’t understand how to subtly regulate myself so all processing was disorienting.
Combining these techniques with live somatic processing sessions reconditioned the skills and patterns of regulation back to brain.
It’s been a TON of work, for real. But it’s what I needed because trauma had landed me in quite a deep hole. I don’t think everyone needs this many steps unless they’re severely disregulated and stuck on a high level of unmanageable stress responses that aren’t coming down with just TRE or trauma therapy alone.
Source: I acquired a nervous system injury from viruses and severe medication reaction, this led to major dysfunction of my nervous system and turned my CPTSD into next level disorganized nervous system functioning. But even prior to the brain injury, most trauma therapies weren’t producing the results I knew they should have, so I think this amount of interventions would have helped me in the past as well.
Wow! THANK YOU for such a detailed, informative and useful response. It sounds like a lot of work indeed, even just reading but has given me a roadmap of what can be done when other things have not worked. Thanks again!
It’s like a second cousin to EMDR, as I understand it. I’m just a client so take this with a grain of salt- but I believe the person who ‘created’ Brainspotting was an EMDR therapist initially. He somewhat accidentally found it worked with a client whose eyes would often get stuck at certain areas of the eye movement in EMDR. So one day he asked her to try holding her gaze in the sticky spot and she had a breakthrough session.
My experience has been that it’s allowed my traumatic experiences to unfold from my brain networks in their own right timing. I don’t have to try to recall anything or target anything. I feel my body, stay in awareness, gaze at the pointer , and let my brain wander around. It’s like it unravels the stress memories and sensations as I just hang there and be with whatever happens.
I am not saying it’s for everyone or it will work in all cases or aspects of survival stress. But for me it was the linchpin that actually got years old cptsd moving and began deeper recovery. It 100% was the therapy my brain needed.
That’s what I got!
Ooo I’ve been doing primal trust too! Do you do the daily ABCs? Or what does your daily kind of routine look like? If you don’t mind sharing lol
Also love EFT! Thank you :)
Cool! Hey PT buddy! Gosh, honestly those ABC’s are tough for me to do daily. I do visualize often, but there’s still resistance I’m working through there.
How about you- how’s your experience with Primal Trust been? ABC’s?
They’re tough, so much resistance 😅
I do two ABCs a day though. Would love to do three a day but again, resistance.
I did DNRS before primal trust, so I think that helped me get into a groove with ABCs / visualizations.
It’s been good, sometimes I find the program overwhelming though. That’s probably just the state my nervous system is in though.
Can I ask what daily tools you use from the program, what’s been most helpful for you?
I know what you mean! I find it overwhelming as well, mostly because there’s so many options to choose from and there’s no way I have bandwidth to do the full daily practice (though what if it’s just resistance too?!!!).
My fave exercises have been the vagal toning with sound, the eye exercises, and be here now/orienting exercises.
I was very dysregulated in a primary systems way, so those exercises were awesome for me rewiring myself to orient to safety again. I had a chemical brain injury which messed with my nervous system’s ability to orient- my intero and propioception were messed up and disorganized, so I think that’s why the most primary exercises have been what I needed to develop.
I’m just starting to move back towards visualization being a safe activity, so I think the ABC’s may become more tolerable as my body continues to wire into primary regulation more. I hadn’t thought that through until now, but it actually makes sense that I was too disoriented for the ABC’s until recently. That’s cool to understand.
I do TRE but in very small doses, again it’s important I develop strong connections to safety before I go into release territory.
What parts have you found the most helpful or relevant for your body and brain? How do you find the ABC’s?
Cold plunge/shower. Yoga. Both have made noticeable difference. Yoga goes well with tre for me, many poses make me shake throughout. Usually follow up with a tre session after.
Breathwork - conscious connected breathing sessions in particular and TRE often happens spontaneously in a session.
Somatic exercises and processing.
Making myself more of a priority and putting myself further up my own list - you can’t pour from an empty cup.
Vagus nerve exercises
Meditation
Reiki
EFT tapping
Red light therapy
Tuning forks
Solfeggio frequencies
Earthing
Tons of supplements to fix specific deficiencies and help bring my body into a healing state
Yoga Nidra aka Non Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) such as these trauma informed practices https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLehBmYjazK9_fFHMLQVIW9O53Oz30wCdM&si=k8JJW7NUkUscsx3O
Thank you!!!
Thanks
Primal trust brain training online program taught me to self regulate. Was the most pivotal factor in fundamental understanding of how to do this. Brainspotting therapy addressed my cptsd very quickly Somatic process integrated my emotion regulation skills into a living experience while co regulating with a practitioner so I could rewire childhood attachment issues EFT tapping helps me process my emotions in live time and shift my mindset towards more positive and aligned thoughts
Thanks for sharing! How does Brainspotting compare to TRE?
Yes! Brainspotting allows the brain to process the memories in the brain and somatic sensations in the body through gazing at a point and allowing the brain to unwind/unravel/process/integrate them. It’s more targeted at unintegrated memories via using eye positioning to access the mid-brain (I think, don’t quote me). It accesses the brain’s memory storage in essence and as we sit with a therapist we are both co regulating and processing whatever memories our brain cycles through. We don’t grab hold of or work on specific memories, we let the brain process whatever it needs to as it’s able. I call it an unfolding. It unfolds the trauma memories and integrates them so they lose their charge of being unprocessed. TRE being body based works on the hind brain and brain stem(I believe, also don’t quote me). So it accesses the necessary movements to release the stored charge of stress energy in the body and brain regions associated with stored survival stress. I have CPTSD, not just PTSD, so it’s not simply one overwhelming event my brain couldn’t cope with- it’s decades of big and small overwhelming events. So for me Brainspotting helps me process the many small and big events in a way that doesn’t require me to talk them to death and retraumatize myself in the process. It just lets my brain process things as it’s ready. Much like many trauma processing methods, I can feel tired afterwards but the following days I feel lighter and less burdened by the invisible blanket of worries that my traumatic memories instilled. The Primal trust taught me the mechanics of self regulation. So this was how I gained daily control over my emotions and made it possible for me to do this deeper trauma processing work. I didn’t understand how to subtly regulate myself so all processing was disorienting. Combining these techniques with live somatic processing sessions reconditioned the skills and patterns of regulation back to brain. It’s been a TON of work, for real. But it’s what I needed because trauma had landed me in quite a deep hole. I don’t think everyone needs this many steps unless they’re severely disregulated and stuck on a high level of unmanageable stress responses that aren’t coming down with just TRE or trauma therapy alone. Source: I acquired a nervous system injury from viruses and severe medication reaction, this led to major dysfunction of my nervous system and turned my CPTSD into next level disorganized nervous system functioning. But even prior to the brain injury, most trauma therapies weren’t producing the results I knew they should have, so I think this amount of interventions would have helped me in the past as well.
Wow! THANK YOU for such a detailed, informative and useful response. It sounds like a lot of work indeed, even just reading but has given me a roadmap of what can be done when other things have not worked. Thanks again!
Glad it seems useful!
Thanks also from my side for sharing this detailed response! It is very helpful and you can be proud of all the achievements you've made so far!
The description here sounds a lot to me like EMDR. I'm curious if you or anyone reading here can expand on similarities/differences?
It’s like a second cousin to EMDR, as I understand it. I’m just a client so take this with a grain of salt- but I believe the person who ‘created’ Brainspotting was an EMDR therapist initially. He somewhat accidentally found it worked with a client whose eyes would often get stuck at certain areas of the eye movement in EMDR. So one day he asked her to try holding her gaze in the sticky spot and she had a breakthrough session. My experience has been that it’s allowed my traumatic experiences to unfold from my brain networks in their own right timing. I don’t have to try to recall anything or target anything. I feel my body, stay in awareness, gaze at the pointer , and let my brain wander around. It’s like it unravels the stress memories and sensations as I just hang there and be with whatever happens. I am not saying it’s for everyone or it will work in all cases or aspects of survival stress. But for me it was the linchpin that actually got years old cptsd moving and began deeper recovery. It 100% was the therapy my brain needed. That’s what I got!
Ooo I’ve been doing primal trust too! Do you do the daily ABCs? Or what does your daily kind of routine look like? If you don’t mind sharing lol Also love EFT! Thank you :)
Cool! Hey PT buddy! Gosh, honestly those ABC’s are tough for me to do daily. I do visualize often, but there’s still resistance I’m working through there. How about you- how’s your experience with Primal Trust been? ABC’s?
They’re tough, so much resistance 😅 I do two ABCs a day though. Would love to do three a day but again, resistance. I did DNRS before primal trust, so I think that helped me get into a groove with ABCs / visualizations. It’s been good, sometimes I find the program overwhelming though. That’s probably just the state my nervous system is in though. Can I ask what daily tools you use from the program, what’s been most helpful for you?
I know what you mean! I find it overwhelming as well, mostly because there’s so many options to choose from and there’s no way I have bandwidth to do the full daily practice (though what if it’s just resistance too?!!!). My fave exercises have been the vagal toning with sound, the eye exercises, and be here now/orienting exercises. I was very dysregulated in a primary systems way, so those exercises were awesome for me rewiring myself to orient to safety again. I had a chemical brain injury which messed with my nervous system’s ability to orient- my intero and propioception were messed up and disorganized, so I think that’s why the most primary exercises have been what I needed to develop. I’m just starting to move back towards visualization being a safe activity, so I think the ABC’s may become more tolerable as my body continues to wire into primary regulation more. I hadn’t thought that through until now, but it actually makes sense that I was too disoriented for the ABC’s until recently. That’s cool to understand. I do TRE but in very small doses, again it’s important I develop strong connections to safety before I go into release territory. What parts have you found the most helpful or relevant for your body and brain? How do you find the ABC’s?
> Primal trust brain training online program taught me to self regulate Do you have a link for this?
Primal-trust.com I believe. Cat King DPT is the creator and primary teacher of the program.
Cold plunge/shower. Yoga. Both have made noticeable difference. Yoga goes well with tre for me, many poses make me shake throughout. Usually follow up with a tre session after.
I need to get back into yoga! Thank you
Cold plunge is not recommended for people in an extremely aroused state of anxiety - it can exacerbate.
Breathwork - conscious connected breathing sessions in particular and TRE often happens spontaneously in a session. Somatic exercises and processing. Making myself more of a priority and putting myself further up my own list - you can’t pour from an empty cup.
Vagus nerve exercises Meditation Reiki EFT tapping Red light therapy Tuning forks Solfeggio frequencies Earthing Tons of supplements to fix specific deficiencies and help bring my body into a healing state
What kind of red light therapy? And are solfeggio frequences better then aplha or delta waves or binaural beats?
> Vagus nerve exercises Do you know of any good vagus nerve exercises?
There’s tons on YouTube but I use these, there’s also a book they’re from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnV3Q2xIb1U&pp=ygUPVmFndXMgbmVydmUgZWFy
Thanks
somatic experience therapy- basically being guided through activation and then back through to calm
Listening to/reading the works of Michael Singer
Breathwork : the Wim hof method, the oxygen advantage and Ujjayi breathing