Trauma Training Tip
The Heart is the primary organ of the Fire Element. Its job in the self-protective response is to tell us, “it’s over,” “we survived.”
A calm, regulated, nearly invisible heartbeat communicates a sense of restored equanimity in the kingdom of the body. It gives us the capacity to manifest the Heart’s gift of propriety and provides a sense of peace in our Heart as well as our mind.
If we suffered a sense of threat – and thus chronic cardiac hyper-arousal – as an infant, or repeated experiences of life-threat as an adult, our Heart Qi can become quite dysregulated – and may continue to communicate a high level of threat, even after the threat has passed.
Cardiac regulation is critical to our survival. All invisible body processes embody auto-regulation – things like our heart rate, breathing, hormones, and the assimilation of nutrients in our guts. They happen without our conscious instruction or awareness. These functions will be compromised if our Heart Qi is dysregulated. Western science confirms what has been known in acupuncture and Asian medicine for centuries – the Heart is the Supreme Controller. The steady and even rhythm of the heartbeat provides a regulating message to the entire kingdom of the body.
Cardiac regulation also influences our capacity for coherence in social regulation. In order to successfully navigate life, we need to have skills in the interpretation of facial expression, ways to understand nuances in tone of voice, and capacity for attachment and congruence in relationships with others. These skills are developed in the context of safe and playful relationships with others.
Our capacity for auto-regulation is developed through experiences of co-regulation. We heal in relationship with others.
How can we help this type of survivor restore regulation to the Heart? One way is to play patty-cake. Here are some thoughts:
- Let them know that this is not a game – it is an experience of connection and collaboration that invites curiosity, not competition. It is not a time to go faster and faster in an attempt to trip up your partner! It’s a time for mutual connection.
- Set a slow, predictable pace. Don’t cross mid-line at first, especially in brain-injured clients.
- Look for a growing sense of connection and relationship. Consider when and whether to add eye contact, or make your movements more complex. For people who missed out on this as a child, it can be profoundly healing.
Acupuncturists may find that the various Fire-associated meridians are more available to treatment after playing a brief game of patty-cake.
Alaine’s Two Cents
No Limit Generation is a non-profit organization committed to helping children whose lives have been up-ended by war, displacement, or violence. They have produced a series of videos that explore a variety of approaches to help children find regulation and balance in their hearts and minds. I am impressed!
We know that the window for developing the Ventral Vagus Nerve and the regulation of the Heart is most available in childhood. No Limit Generation’s efforts to bring love, healing, and hope to children who need it most is creating peace for the next generation.
Take a look at this playlist.
Check This Out!
I’ve been offering a seasonal series for the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Training Institute on the Five Elements and the Five Steps of the Self-Protective Response.
You can watch The Tao of Trauma: The Function of the Fire Element to Restore Coherence. Let me know what you think, ok? You will need to download a free copy of Adobe Connect.
Clinical Curiosity
Where is your clinical curiosity carrying you?
Send me a question or two and I will explore them with readers in this corner next month.
Q. My patient is easily triggered by sounds. Certain types of music or tones of voice will send her right into a state of massive hyper-arousal. Her heart beats madly and she can’t think about anything but getting that sound to stop – or getting out of its range. How can I help her? She has all the hallmarks of being a Fire type that you describe in The Tao of Trauma.
A. We tend to remember things that are associated with strong emotion. It’s part of our survival design to remember things that we experienced as threatening – so we can avoid them in the future. If she was young when she experienced whatever is associated with these sounds, she likely didn’t have either the social or physiological capacity to run away or fight off whatever the threat was. She may have been dependent on her care-givers for food and shelter – or if she was even younger, she may not have been developmentally able to stand or walk or run away. She couldn’t create an embodied experience of “it’s over” because she was unable to mount a successful self-protective response.
Two things are critically important for her: safety and relationship. She sounds like she is fragile, so go slowly with your engagement. Eventually she will benefit from the Kidney/Adrenal hold – especially on her right side as the kidney/heart axis is most available with the right kidney. Since you are an acupuncturist – there are a wealth of points on her Fire meridians – and on her upper chest that will be very helpful to her as well. Touch therapists may want to place hands gently on her respiratory diaphragm and/or shoulder diaphragm with a goal of creating a safe container for the Heart to live in. There may be a strong brace, or collapse, response remaining in these diaphragms.
Let me know how she does. So glad she has you.