I swear to you, half of my job as a holistic trauma practitioner is telling people to slow down, and that's for good reason! Slowing down is one of the most powerful ways of facilitating your own healing. Let's look at why exactly that is.
Trauma is Too Much, Too Fast
One way to describe trauma is too much happening too quickly for our nervous system to handle. Whether all at once or gradually over time, this system overload is what keeps the imprints of trauma from being successfully processed and trapped as sensations in our bodies.
It stands to reason then that an essential part of recovery should include the contrary experience of slowing down.
We Notice More in Slowness
Somatic trauma recovery requires us cultivating an ability to notice things that have been suppressed. Our traumatic experiences leave imprints we can feel in our nervous system, in our tissues, and in our posture. The only way we can give these imprints the attention and healing they need is by moving slowly.
Imagine you are looking for dandelion in the mountains. Would it be easier to find them by walking through the woods – pausing here and there to get down on the ground, or would you be more successful by driving through the mountain canyon at 60 mph? The answer is obvious.
These trauma imprints that have been so carefully hidden from our awareness will not easily come to light if we are blazing past the internal landscape.
We Need to Feel Safe to Process Trauma
Trauma work requires touching into uncomfortable sensations/trauma imprints. The difference between encountering these sensations during a trauma processing session and during the traumatic event is that we are touching them gently and in the container of safety. This allows the nervous system an opportunity to make new associations with the trauma imprint. One of the most primitive signals of safety to our nervous system is slowness.
In the wild, our animal cousins generally move quickly when they need to fight or to flee. When they are calm it is because there is no predator...no challenger for territory...no threat to escape.
Our bodies are built with the same primitive nervous system signals. When we are in a place of socially-connected slowness our nervous system feels safe. So if we want to create meaningful change as we interact with our trauma, slowing down is a requirement.
We Can Feel More Sensation in Slowness
This is actually one of the main reasons people don't WANT to slow down. Slowing down increases our ability to sense things around us and within us. This means that the sensations we need to connect with in order to resolve our trauma become easier to tap into by slowing down (You can learn how to work with sensations here).
Try this at home: See if you can notice the sensations in your feet during this experiment. Pick a stretch of sidewalk or grass. You're going to cross it twice. The first time run as fast as you are able. The second time walk slower than you would normally walk. Like you're walking in slow motion.
Chances are you weren't able to notice very much when you were sprinting. Maybe the sensation of impact on your heel or the thrust as you pushed off from your toes. But when you were walking in slow motion you may have noticed the arches in your feet, the tendons flexing, or each individual toe as you moved.
We Have More Choice in Slowness
Trauma takes many choices away from us. In somatic trauma work, two of the most important concepts we explore are autonomy and choice. Taking ownership over your own experience and being given the opportunity to make choices (be-it big or small choices) can rebuild our sense of identity and safety. When we feel like we have the ability to make decisions, we can start to trust ourselves.
When we move too quickly, we can slingshot past powerful opportunities to make choices. Something as simple as...
How can I move my arms differently to make this feel better?
How can I sooth myself to release this tightness in my chest?
How can I adjust my breathing so that I don't feel so stimulated?
Do I want to keep doing what I'm doing right now or stop?
These are all choices that can only be made if you are moving slowly enough to have a chance to make a change.
How can you bring more slowness into your life/healing experience? You can share how you do it in the comments.
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