Re-defining Trauma

Neutral Acknowledgment of Trauma as Lived, Embodied Experiences

I read a post on Instagram this morning. There were two slides that really caught my attention on trauma from Jordan Dann.

“Trauma is not what happened to you or who you are; rather, it’s what your body carries as the imprint of what happened to you.

Trauma is also what you hold inside as a result of not having another empathetic and compassionate person to witness your pain.

Trauma is part of the human experience.

Trauma is not the story of what happened to one person; it is what each person experiences through a lifetime, in some form or another.

Trauma is a cultural phenomenon, a global phenomenon, and you are part of the human experience.

Trauma is a response to seeking safety it is your body’s adaptive brilliance that becomes maladaptive unless you learn to attend to your body.

If you don’t learn to listen to your body and you don’t befriend your nervous system, trauma can take away your vitality and keep you stuck in ways that no longer serve you.”

I appreciate this because it helps to understand that we all have trauma and that rather than think of it excessively negative, as something that plagues it, that, instead, it is something in which is just part of what has happened to us. And what our bodies remember about what has happened to us.

I also appreciate that this quote recognizes that trauma is unique to the human experience; it is individual and collective. But understanding and owning your own trauma is to work with your nervous system to work with what has happened, in moving forward.

I don’t think this is pollyannaist, nor is it all encompassing of trauma, but it is an important piece of the puzzle that is often neglected.

I also see this part—accepting your experiences and your body’s response to what has happened to you (also understood as trauma) to be integral to owning your own story. At least for me.