The trauma vortex ୭
Let’s be honest here. Many of us are really good at noticing what’s wrong, what’s bad, or what’s not enough. We’re highly attuned to shortcomings, and negative experiences.
In Somatic Experiencing® (SE) we called this the ꩜ “trauma vortex”꩜, and we have this joke and saying that the trauma vortex is seductive. But not in the juicy kind of seductive way. In a shadowy seductive way. It pulls you in, draws you down, deeper and deeper into the abyss of “what’s wrong”.
What we actually need more practice with Subscriber First Name is expanding nervous system capacity to hold what’s GOOD, pleasureful, juicy, alive, joyful, empowering… without immediately getting sucked back into the trauma vortex and “what’s wrong” attention. In SE we call this the ꩜ “counter-vortex” ꩜
And this takes PRACTICE! Or shall I say “micro-practice” hehe.
One of the best ways to recalibrate your nervous system to be able to hold goodness is to orient — multiple times a day, even just for 2-3mins at a time — to what feels, looks, smells, and tastes GOOD. Using your senses to open up to the goodness that’s available to you at any given moment.
You can do this right now: look around and find something in your space that’s pleasant to look at. A plant, a rug, anything. Pause and let your eyes simply receive the goodness. Let your vision soften as you take in the colours, textures, shapes. Don’t rush through this. Now, notice how your body is participating in the enjoyment of looking at that object. Say out loud what you notice (e.g. my shoulders soften, my breath deepens etc.)
The problem is, in a fast-paced, technology-driven world, we are so addicted to FAST pleasure, that our brains and bodies aren’t used to the 🐢 SLOW 🐢 pleasure model. We take for granted the simple pleasures that are so readily available to us throughout the day, or find it hard to deeply connect to those simple, non-addictive pleasures because they’re not as immediately gratifying for our reward-system as scrolling on socials. It takes time and practice to rebuild our capacity to enjoy the slow and simple.
This is not positive psychology.
This is deep nervous system recalibration.
The “goal”, if there was one, is to have enough capacity to pendulate between the trauma-vortex and the counter-vortex without getting lost or stuck in one or the other.
When we have enough capacity to hold what feels good, and allow pleasure to land more deeply into the tissues, then we can dip our toes into the trauma vortex from a more resourced place and meet the dark, shadowy pieces of ourselves that are longing to be tended to without getting lost in the darkness and sucked even deeper into the abyss.
This is exactly what we work on in 1x1 Somatic Experiencing® sessions. If you’re feeling the pull my love, I invite you to book a free 15-minute discovery call - a space to connect, ask questions, and explore how somatic work might support you!