Healing me, healing you, healing us!
I remember five-year-old me being asked what I want to be when I grow up. It soon shifted to being asked to tell the "aunty" what you want to be when you grow up. Back in the day, adults did this. They made us dance, sing, put on shows and of course, tell their friends all kinds of things. My gran, also my biggest fan, would be beaming with pride when I'd answer with keen candor, “I want to be a Social Worker Mamma.” Upon every visit I would be warmly greeted with a, "here comes my Social Worker!”.
Why is this important to me today? While my path has had many twists and turns, the innate desire to help people has never left me – I was born to serve! Little did I know that as a servant, my journey through life would take me to the deepest and darkest places both within me and outside of me, leading me right back to my all-knowing 5-year-old self fully aware of her life purpose. So I’ve come full circle they say? I say, if it’s destined for you, it will find you!
But first, I need to heal myself!
So here I am, decades later, a Global Trauma Releasing Exercise (TRE®) Provider, empowering people to heal themselves. Getting here has been no easy feat. My journey was long and hard, filled with significant trauma, and through it all, I always thought about how I can help others who carried the same pain as me. My trauma tails, on the other hand, are for another post, or two or ten, or even a book, lol!).
Today, however, I wear my trauma as battle scars and the lessons I’ve learned as pearls of wisdom around my neck. For the past two decades, I have been working through and healing from sexual abuse experienced from the age of seven well into my teen years. I have also survived homelessness as a teenager, eating disorders, divorce before the age of 30 and single motherhood, loss of a parent, psychological abuse in the workplace, and endless chronic health and fertility issues. I am still healing from it all, but every day with TRE® I feel a little lighter, a little calmer, and a little more at peace.
PTSD is real in me and you!
The impact of trauma can affect your life significantly. Its remnants imbed themselves in every fiber of your being both energetically, physiologically, anatomically, and neurologically. Dr Steven Porges’ Polyvagal Theory teaches us that when we understand the impact trauma has on our neurobiology, we can understand what it means to be human and its relational aspects.
Simply put, his theory states that as we evolved as humans, we needed different physiological states – particularly as we evolved into mammals who care for their offspring and need to be connected to our tribe. As humans, we have 3 states: social engagement, fight/flight, and freeze/collapse/shutdown. Each of these states is elicited by our perception of threat or danger and are biological and nervous system responses to our neuroception (how we perceive threats in the environment). Each state is biologically underpinned leading to a psychological state which affects how we feel and behave.
For example, if our nervous system is in a social engagement state, we feel safe, calm and grounded. We have a curious and open mind, can show empathy and compassion for others, and are mindfully living in the present moment. When we are in a fight state, we will not be available for connection and will present frustration, irritation, rage, and anger. A flight state could present as being worried and concerned, anxious, fearful and in a state of panic. If we are in a freeze/collapse/shutdown state, we will not be able to take the required action. It could present depression, disassociation, helplessness, disappearing, raised pain threshold or even numbness, suicide, shame or simply going through the motions or even being checked out.
Our neuroception has major implications for our health and how we function relationally. When one suffers a traumatic event, or a series of these, combined with life’s stressors, the nervous system is significantly impacted over time. An unregulated nervous system in turn results in severe health problems usually accompanied by troubled relations. One can refer to this unregulated state and the cumulative impact of stress or trauma on our nervous system as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which is prevalent in most of us in varying degrees.
Why I chose TRE® to heal me
I’ve tried all kinds of healing over the past two decades ranging from medical treatments with renowned doctors, psychiatric help, and psychological therapy, to alternative healing and nutritional modalities. It is through my reverend seeking for healing, that I studied mindfulness coaching which helped me to reframe my perspective on life and my trauma. I also studied spiritual life coaching when it felt like the right time to heal myself and my connection to the Great Spirit. As my healing journey deepened, I was called to study energy medicine including Reiki and other Esoteric healing modalities. TRE® was the missing link for me though. Throughout my healing, deep down inside I’ve always felt like there was “stuff” inside of me that needed to be dislodged. Some of it was mine and some were generational trauma I was still carrying within me. With TRE® and the ability to “shake it off”, I finally found healing in ways that have been instrumental to me as a human being, as a mother, a daughter, a wife, and as a leader in business. The self-empowerment I attain from this practice leaves me feeling safe and secure within my body. As a sexual abuse survivor who has been disconnected from my body since I was seven years old, feeling safe within myself is significantly important to me. I’m building a relationship with this vessel I call home and tuning into it in a way I have never been able to do before. After every session, I feel more grounded, more relaxed, safer, more at peace, and more grateful for this beautiful life I have been blessed with. Five-year-old me is super proud of the woman I have become!
“Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises, TRE®, is a route to healing that I have not experienced from any modality. I have been a physician, a psychiatrist, and a Gestalt Specialist for 35 years now. I am now teaching TRE® to all my clients as a healing modality.” Dr. Melanie Salmon, MD Psychiatrist UK
Offered as a complement to traditional medical and psychological treatments, TRE® is proven to be effective in helping to treat various conditions:
ANXIETY DISORDERS
WORK AND FINANCIAL STRESS
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS STRESS
CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS
BODY ACHES AND PAINS
FATIGUE
GASTROINTESTINAL DISTRESS
SYMPTOMS OF VICARIOUS TRAUMA
GRIEF
HEADACHES
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
PANIC ATTACKS
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS (PTSD)
SLEEP PROBLEMS
SKIN DISORDERS and more
If you are curious about TRE® and would like to experience it, feel free to reach out to me either via email at raydiancews@gmail.com or via mobile at +27 72 0913563. Sessions can be done individually or in a group, in person or online, and both are equally effective.
With love and light
Ray
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