How Trauma Is Keeping You Stuck & How To Heal

Trauma can be a challenging issue, particularly when you throw in your monthly cycle. You get stuck in a loop of feeling better for a couple of weeks, but when your luteal phase hits, you're back to square one!

If you feel that trauma is keeping you stuck, there are ways you can help your body and nervous system process and heal.

The different forms of trauma

When we talk about trauma, most people think of soldiers or refugees. But although these people are definitely at a higher risk, there are plenty of potential triggers in everyday life! Some of the most common forms include:

• Daily traumas – food intolerances and allergens, heavy metals, lack of nutrients in the diet, noise, everyday anxieties you might have such as going to a new place or driving in the CBD

• Past trauma – something that occurred in your past that you’ve never fully recovered from. This can include PTSD as well as less severe experiences

• One-off events – for example, a robbery, a car crash, an operation or a sudden injury/illness of a loved one

• Generational imprint – when one or more of these has happened to an ancestor, been stored in their DNA and passed down the generations

Everyone is exposed to at least some of these at some point. But if you don’t go through the process of healing from them, your nervous system can stay stuck in the traumatic response. Once you add in the hormonal fluctuations of your monthly cycle, this response can be magnified even more.

When you get stuck in the trauma response, you can go one of two ways: freeze or fight/flight.

The freeze response

This response is your body’s way of trying to protect itself from pain and conserve energy. Some signs of being in a freeze response include:

• Pain 

• Numbness

• Chronic back pain

• Being unable to feel your legs

• Being in a daze

• Going through the motions without really being present

• Feeling lost 

• Tending towards being obedient to others 

This is particularly common for women with PMDD, PMS and/or severe mood swings. The luteal phase is more severe symptom-wise – you may want to lock yourself away, have no motivation, procrastinate and feel extremely fatigued the whole time.

The freeze response is a normal one – we see it in the animal kingdom when they are under threat from a predator. But unlike humans, animals come out of the response. Once the threat has passed, they shake it off (literally!), get to safety, and then enter a calm state. On the other hand, we tend to get stuck in this freeze state, which can have serious consequences for our long-term health.

The sympathetic state (fight or flight)

Unlike the freeze response, the sympathetic state is a high-energy state – your nervous system is on high alert and ready to act. Some signs of this state include:

• Insomnia

• Hypervigilance

• Anxiety

• A sense of being under threat 

• Tense muscles

• Racing heart beat and higher blood pressure

• Sweating

• Feeling hot

• Low progesterone

• Low neurotransmitters including serotonin and GABA

• Increased sensation of pain

• Digestive issues

• Hormonal imbalances and issues conceiving

Put simply, this is your body’s survival mode. And unfortunately, a lot of women stay here in their luteal phase.

The increased cortisol during this time can also throw off your blood sugar balance. As a result, you can experience more bloating, weight gain, acne, food cravings and even increased testosterone.

How you can support your nervous system around trauma

Now that you know that trauma is affecting your health and your cycle, what can do you about it? There is no one-size-fits-all approach to healing, but some useful tools include:

• Therapy/counselling

• Magnesium to support your nervous system function – I usually recommend 250-500mg of amino acid chelate

• Epsom salt baths to give your muscles a rest and allow yourself some downtime

• Being cautious around what you eat during your luteal phase – minimise your intake of sugar, food intolerances, alcohol and caffeine

• Skip the fasting and ketogenic diets as they can trigger your nervous system

• Eat a balanced breakfast by 8am

• Avoid HIIT and intense training during your luteal phase, particularly if you tend towards the sympathetic state – stick to slow and gentle movement instead

• Get plenty of rest – even if you have a build-up of anxious energy, you still need to give your nervous system a break

• Practice grounding – I recommend 20 minutes of skin contact with the ground daily, but even small doses can help

• Journal about your nervous system state – what does it feel like for you in each stage? And when you come down and finally enter your rest-and-digest state, how does that feel different in your body and mind?

Healing from trauma is an important aspect of rebalancing your cycle!