Dr. Asher Beckwittt [00:00:02]:
Hello, and welcome back to Self Healing after trauma. My name is Dr. Asher Beckwit, and I am here with our co host, Kimberly Ward. So today we want to talk about Feeling exhausted and trauma and the implications that trauma has In Terms of Feeling Exhausted. So have you, you ever felt that no matter what you do, you are Tired, and Sometimes you might feel depressed and you have no idea why? Well, this could be partially because of that Underlying unresolved trauma. And so today is a continuation of our series, and you can go back and listen to our previous episode on the Trigger Regulator. We want to provide some Tips for you, some actually Active Tips for you to be able to get out of that place and into a place where you can feel rested and restored and not exhausted all of the time. So I'm going to turn it over to Kimberly, and she's going to share some of these tips with you.
Kimberly Ward [00:01:14]:
All right, Asher, thank you. So, know, you and I were just talking about the physiology of know. When we have unresolved trauma in our system. We are in a state that we call survival physiology. It's either fight, Flight, or freeze. And it's really obvious to us when we're in fight or flight because it's exhausting to be in fight or flight. We use a lot of resources to be in fight or flight, but we actually also use a lot of resources when we're in freeze. So if you're the kind of person that is chronically stuck in freeze, you typically feel exhausted all of the time, even if you're not sleeping well, or even if you sleep all the time, you don't feel rested, you don't feel recharged, because your physiology is trying to manage a state of being in defense all the time, because your system subconsciously is on alert, because the trauma is not resolved.
Kimberly Ward [00:02:15]:
It might not be happening in the Present moment, but your Nervous system is wired, and you are Responding as if you are still Dealing With a trauma. And unfortunately, as we've talked about so many times on this podcast, many, many people are Living Day to Day in survival physiology. And so for those of you people in chronic freeze, you're exhausted all the time, whether you're sleeping or not. You could sleep all day and still be exhausted, and you might even feel low grade or even pretty severe depression. That really is just lack of energy. Some of us don't know why we're tired. We feel depressed. We don't know why.
Kimberly Ward [00:02:55]:
Well, I'd love for you to consider that it could be just this chronic state of survival physiology, but we've got to find some way to bring in some energy, to pull in some resources to recharge our batteries so that we can function in our life better. So my favorite ways I'm going to share with you today, my absolute number one favorite way to build energy is by being in nature. All right? So those of you that live in the city, it's totally fine. You do not have to do what I did, which is buy 40 acres and be off grid totally in the middle of nowhere. It does work, let me tell you. But you don't have to do that. But simply touching, physically touching with your skin, your hands, or your feet, or your body to the ground, brings in the electrical charge from the earth directly into your body. And that builds energy that can totally reset and restore your natural defenses.
Kimberly Ward [00:03:57]:
And very, very quickly, there's a lot of studies out there that you can easily find on a Google search on earthing or grounding that this technique of having the earth touch your skin improves sleep, it normalizes cortisol levels, it reduces pain. It shifts that autonomic nervous, sympathetic autonomic nervous system from the sympathetic fight or flight freeze towards the parasympathetic rest and digest. So it allows you to recover from the just day to day stuff that is so exhausting. It's also going to increase your heart rate variability, more cohesion in your system. It boosts your immune system and speeds up wound healing, and it boosts cardiovascular health. The list go on and on, right? But earthing or grounding requires you to touch the earth directly. So you can walk barefoot on the sand or on the grass. YoU can lie down on the grass or just sit in the dirt.
Kimberly Ward [00:04:58]:
When you're gardening or pulling weeds, your skin is touching the earth. So whether you're on the grass or you're on gravel or sand, or even if you're in the mud, allowing your skin to touch that natural ground can provide you with healing and grounding energy. It does not take a lot of space. You could have just some potted plants on your deck and touch the earth that way. If that is all you've got that's going to work, just take your shoes off for a few moments when you're outside at the park and just allow, intentionally allow the powerful energy from the earth to enter into your system and replenish you. Go ahead.
Dr. Asher Beckwittt [00:05:45]:
I was just going to add, so this gives new meaning to hug a tree, right? So hug a tree. Honestly, trees, the earth and the roots. I've honestly hugged trees. There is some evidence that trees actually are. They communicate, and I do believe that they do. And you can literally feel the energy from the tree coming in. That tree can replenish you. And if you can take off your shoes and put your feet on the tree roots and feel that energy coming into your body.
Kimberly Ward [00:06:21]:
Yeah, and the energy is real. We can show that now in science, but you don't have to actually feel it for it to work. But what you do need to do is be willing to experiment with it, be willing to receive the energy, even if you don't have proof, like even if you don't notice it immediately giving you energy. I invite you to be open to the idea of allowing yourself to fill up with this energy in the trees or from the sand or from the grass, from whatever you can access from the natural world. Be open to the idea that the energy can be shared with you, and you can ask and receive this energy to come into your system and fill you up. So just going in with the intention of allowing yourself to be rejuvenated is such an important part of the process.
Dr. Asher Beckwittt [00:07:21]:
And I was just going to add to that, too. One of the other things that I've enjoyed doing personally is I'll go outside and not have my shoes on, and I'll literally take my arms and extend them out and bring the energy into me. Just feeling the energy into my body. And even if I don't necessarily feel the energy, just that act of bringing my arms up and feeling that energy come up with it is really healing for me. It's really rejuvenating for me.
Kimberly Ward [00:07:55]:
Acting as if it were true, acting as if I am bringing. I have the intention of bringing the Earth energy in and filling my system. Right. It is there. There is energy all around us. Often people that are traumatized have trouble receiving. I know you and I have talked about this. It's hard for both of us to ask for help.
Kimberly Ward [00:08:20]:
To ask and then allow for us to receive. So a great place to start if you struggle with that, also is asking for the Earth to fill you with energy. There's plenty of Earth energy. You ask and allow yourself to receive it, you can start to recharge your batteries. And I promise, even if you don't fill it at first, you will over time, if you just keep practicing it. If you can't go outside, let's say you're too sick to go outside, or it's too cold, there's too much snow to go outside. What you can do is go to a window, open up the window and allow yourself to recharge through the sunshine so you don't have to actually look directly at the sun. But if you could take glasses off, take your contacts out, and let yourself receive.
Kimberly Ward [00:09:11]:
The rays from the sun are incredibly healing when they actually enter through your eyes. It has a magical effect on your nervous system and your immune system and your entire body. So it has profound healing effects. It's not just the vitamin D that your body will produce, but it's also the rays from the sun are helping you to regulate our physiology and our emotions. So, again, take off your glasses, take off the contacts, open the window so that the sun isn't coming through any kind of glass or reflecting on anything. Just allow yourself to bring in some of that energy into your body. And you don't have to go outside in the cold to do that. Right.
Kimberly Ward [00:09:53]:
Finally, the last thing is just simple breathing. Taking deep inhales and very slow exhales will calm the system, getting you into that parasympathetic state where healing really does happen. And again, you can ask, as you inhale, to bring in some rejuvenating energy. And as you exhale, you can have the intention of letting go of anything that's not serving you. So InHale, bring In LOve, bring In RejUveNation, bring In hEaling. And on the exhale, use your intention to release anything that doesn't serve you. Go ahead.
Dr. Asher Beckwittt [00:10:36]:
I was going to say one of the things, too, that I encourage people to do is when you're breathing in, imagine that you're taking in something that you really like, like a beautiful smell or something that you really like that will fill you up. So, for example, like with me, I love the smell of lavender. That'S my ultimate favorite. And so when I'm breathing in and I'm taking those deep breaths, I imagine this Beautiful, almost like Wind or something coming into me. And it's Purple, and it's a beautiful color of lavender. And I Imagine taking in the smell of lavender, and it Just filling up every part of my body from top to Bottom. And that, I know is an additional piece that can help folks. And then when I breathe out, it's almost like I see it as, like a cycle going through and then coming out.
Dr. Asher Beckwittt [00:11:32]:
Then I imagine breathing out a color that I don't like, a brown, like a dirty kind of brown, is not my favorite color. And so working with the colors, I found being a little bit of a Visual Person also really can help. AnD trying to imagine or even using lavender or something, if you have access to those kinds of things, also can really Help to Help you feel replenished.
Kimberly Ward [00:12:00]:
Right? Like you're using all of your senses, which we've talked about before on the podcast, is the power of utilizing all of your senses and your intention, your imagination, your body's physiology will respond to your thoughts. So Just even remembering the scent of lavender that gives you pleasure can shift your physiology as well. Yeah, so that's a beautiful ExampLe. So come up with your own practices of intentionally bringing in energy. Anytime you feel emotionally exhausted or physically exhausted or mentally exhausted, you can use the power of your mind and the power of nature. So even if you can't go outside, you can always access your breath air. In nature, the sunshine and being able to touch the ground are really simple, inexpensive ways that you can be healing yourself.
Dr. Asher Beckwittt [00:13:03]:
And just keep in mind too, that all of these tools and all of these things exist within you. You do have the power to heal yourself, and you do have access to all of that within you. So thank you all very much for listening today. I hope that these tips were helpful for folks. And next time we're going to be talking about how to get out of Doomsday thinking. So we'll give you some tips on how to get out of that. And in the meantime, if you're interested, we do have a free handout today and you can be able to access that in the show notes by going to the website, which is www.selfhealthertrauma.com and you'll be able to access that tip sheet as well. And as always, we are so blessed and so honored and thankful to be here with you and to have us as a part of your healing journey.
Kimberly Ward [00:14:08]:
Bye.
