Trauma Training Tip Traditionally, we have thought about 3 neurological platforms that we, and all mammals, use to navigate danger and life threat – Fight, Flight, and Freeze. However, there is a fourth platform that I am noticing more and more and has come to feel so very important to explore. Called variously the feign, fawn, “tend and befriend,” or appeasement strategy, it is defined as a purposeful action taken in order to escape danger and defuse threat. It is particularly useful when a perpetrator has more physical or social power than we do. It is an adaptive skill that may …

Trauma Training Tip Feeling a little cranky lately? We are tentatively coming out of a 2-year long CoVid “hibernation.” Like Mama Bear or Rip Van Winkle, we are waking up to more engagement and connection, and it may feel a trifle odd or challenging to navigate.  Even in “normal” times, Spring naturally gives rise to experiences of feeling cranky. It’s the time when new beginnings, like those tulips, are trying to push through dense, packed soil. We need a wee bit of cranky to find the power to push through the obstacles made dense by Winter’s harshness. We feel called …

Trauma Training Tip Russia has invaded Ukraine. War trauma, past, present, and future commands our attention. Here’s a look through the lens of the Tao of Trauma. We are in the Northern Hemisphere’s Spring – the season of the Wood Element in Chinese Medicine. The Wood Element includes the Liver, known as the “General of the Armed Forces” and the Gall Bladder, known as the “Official of Wise Judgment.” The Wood Element, in terms of Western neuroscience is our Sympathetic Nervous System. It is responsible for crafting our mobilization response – it supports us to orient to the nature of …

Trauma Training Tip February 1st is Chinese New Year’s – the first day of Spring. It’s a time of great celebration – we have survived the long cold winter. The sap is starting to run in the trees and hope emerges for the new growing season. Spring is represented by the Wood Element in Chinese medicine. Its organs are the Liver and the Gall Bladder and its emotion is Anger. It parallels the function of the Sympathetic branch of the Autonomic Nervous System (SNS). The SNS is always “on.” It is always available to protect and defend us. Even in …

Trauma Training Tip The recent snowfall here in the mid-Atlantic has made it clear – We are in Winter! Chinese medicine teaches us that health is found in living in harmony with the energy of the seasons. In Winter, we, like the bears in the woods and turtles in the mud, are called to rest and reflect – to charge-up reserves of energy that will be stored in our Kidney and available to be spent all year long. The Kidney’s partner in the Water Element is the Bladder. Its job is to manage the “spending” of our Qi. In our modern …

Trauma Training Tip We are sinking towards the deepest and darkest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Named for the “Water” Element in Chinese medicine, the Winter is a time for deep restoration, contemplation, and quiet. Its organs are the Kidney and Bladder. Its role in the Self-Protective Response is to help us interpret fear. Fear creates the Signal that initiates our response to life threat. In terms of neurophysiology, it governs the dorsal vagus nerve. When the dorsal vagus nerve is operating at high tone, it makes use of Kidney Yang to “brake” hyper-arousal in the heart. It supports …

Trauma Training Tip There is considerable diversity of opinion about the CoVid 19 virus and vaccine. It may be one of the most divisive subjects in our highly polarized world. While I am not a student of the anthropology of medicine, I do find it interesting how our understanding of the causes of illness and the foundations for health have changed over time. What is the best way to understand those who hold the vaccines dear and those who are hesitant? Can we find a “middle way” to have a conversation about how to keep ourselves and our communities safe …

Trauma Training Tip The Fall is the season of the Metal Element and the Lung and Colon in Chinese Medicine. The Lung’s job is to receive the inspiration of the heavens – and the Colon’s job is to help us let go of what is no longer needed or useful. The spirit of the Lung is called the Po – which translates to “Animal Soul.” It gives us the capacity to take the inspiration of the heavens and bring it into our flesh. In the vocabulary of Western neurobiology, it can be thought of as supporting our “felt sense” or “interoception.” Our …

Trauma Training Tip We are moving into Fall and the Metal element, but I want to take one more newsletter to speak about the Earth and Late Summer because of their critical role in managing our inflammatory response. Our whole world and too many people in it are experiencing inflammation: There are forest fires on the West Coast of North America, the Taliban has over-taken Afghanistan, and the Delta variant of CoVid 19 is sending us backwards in our longing for safe social engagement, to name a few. The organs that house the functions of the Earth are the Stomach …

Trauma Training Tip August. Ripe peaches. Juicy tomatoes. Zucchini that won’t stop. Late Summer is all about the harvest. All of nature is getting prepared for the descent into the quiet of Fall and Winter. Like the bears who feast on spawning salmon to prepare for hibernation – we too will plump-up a bit in this season of abundance to prepare for the leaner times that are coming.  The Spleen and the Stomach are the organs of Late Summer. Their job is to receive food and transform it into the unique Qi/Energy that each and every cell of our body …