How to Release Emotions Trapped in Your Body 10/30 How to Process Emotions Like Trauma and Anxiety | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

The video explores how the nervous system plays a significant role in processing emotions and provides techniques to regulate it for improved mental health.

Key Insights

• 🧠 Psychology has traditionally focused on changing thoughts to change emotions, but research now shows that the nervous system plays a bigger role in our feelings.
• 🌪️ Trauma and anxiety can get "stuck" in the body's nervous system, making it difficult to think clearly and process emotions.
• 🚀 There are two states of the nervous system: the fight-flight-freeze response and the parasympathetic response, which helps the body return to a calm state.
• 🔧 Physical treatments such as acupuncture, massage, and yoga can help release trapped emotions and heal trauma and anxiety.
• 🤝 Better Help provides online counseling for depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, and relationships, making therapy more accessible.
• 🐻 The body has a natural cycle of rest and activation, similar to a polar bear going from a restful state to the fight-flight-freeze response and then back to a calm state.
• 💪 Physical exercise can reset the nervous system and help in healing trauma and anxiety, often being more effective than medication.
• ♀️ Learning to trigger the parasympathetic response through body-based exercises and self-regulation can help regulate the nervous system and make more intentional and powerful choices in life.

Transcript

For a very long time the field of  psychology was dominated by psychologists   who insisted that the way to change how you  feel is to change how you think, and honestly   that is true, it's at least partially true; when  you change how you think, you can change how you   feel, but there's something deeper than thoughts.   The older more instinctua... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: How does the fight-flight-freeze response work in the nervous system?

The fight-flight-freeze response is an automatic reaction in the nervous system to respond to threats by activating the sympathetic nervous system, which results in physiological changes in the body such as increased heart rate and heightened senses.

Q: How does the parasympathetic response help the body return to a calm state?

The parasympathetic response slows down the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, turns on digestion, relaxes the muscles, and softens the eyes, helping the body return to a calm and healing state.

Q: Can physical treatments like massage or acupuncture release trapped emotions?

While there may not be empirical evidence to support this claim, anecdotal evidence suggests that physical treatments like massage, acupressure, or acupuncture can trigger emotional releases and help rebalance the nervous system.

Q: How can physical exercises and self-regulation techniques improve mental health?

Physical exercises like deep breathing and shaking off tension can trigger the parasympathetic response, signaling safety to the brain and promoting a sense of calm and well-being. Self-regulation techniques can help individuals process emotions and resolve anxiety by training the body to respond differently to threats.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The video discusses how changing thoughts can change feelings, but the nervous system has a deeper impact on emotions.

• There are two automatic responses in the nervous system: fight-flight-freeze and parasympathetic response.

• Trauma and stress can get stuck in the body, but physical exercises and treatments can help release trapped emotions and promote healing.