Noah Eastman (he/him)

We all experience anxiety in different ways: a tightening of the stomach, constriction in the chest, or a whirlwind of worry. Anxiety takes over in different scenarios for everybody and is often a response to a fear of being shamed, abandoned, or rejected. We can use tools like doing prolonged exhales, which is a way to directly access the ventral vagus nerve. This can instantly slow down our heart rate, reduce the cortisol levels in our body, and have a calming effect on the entire body.

If you often feel that you are "too much" or "that no one understands you," you likely had an important person in your life who couldn't tolerate your "negative" feelings. This leads to depression and a sense that something is wrong with you. In reality, your caretaker, teacher, or parent was too traumatized, stressed, or wounded to make space for your feelings of anger, envy, or sadness.

Trauma is not the bad things that happen to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you. When we are surrounded by stress, violence, or abuse, our body learns to disconnect from emotions because it is simply too painful. We are left with feelings of isolation, powerlessness, and separation. What we need the most is to feel connected, understood, and accepted. Trauma has us stuck in the past, recreating old patterns in an attempt to avoid the pain we once felt.

"Trauma is not the bad things that happen to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you." When we are surrounded by stress, violence, or abuse, our body learns to disconnect from emotions because it is simply too painful. We are left with feelings of isolation, powerlessness, and separation. What we need the most is to feel connected, understood, and accepted. Trauma has us stuck in the past, recreating old patterns in an attempt to avoid the pain we once felt.

We all experience anxiety in different ways: a tightening of the stomach, constriction in the chest, or a whirlwind of worry. Anxiety takes over in different scenarios for everybody and is often a response to a fear of being shamed, abandoned, or rejected. We can use tools like doing prolonged exhales, which is a way to directly access the ventral vagus nerve. This can instantly slow down our heart rate, reduce the cortisol levels in our body, and have a calming effect on the entire body.

If you often feel that you are "too much" or "that no one understands you," you likely had an important person in your life who couldn't tolerate your "negative" feelings. This leads to depression and a sense that something is wrong with you. In reality, your caretaker, teacher, or parent was too traumatized, stressed, or wounded to make space for your feelings of anger, envy, or sadness.

"Trauma is not the bad things that happen to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you." When we are surrounded by stress, violence, or abuse, our body learns to disconnect from emotions because it is simply too painful. We are left with feelings of isolation, powerlessness, and separation. What we need the most is to feel connected, understood, and accepted. Trauma has us stuck in the past, recreating old patterns in an attempt to avoid the pain we once felt.