{"id":3719,"date":"2020-08-30T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T13:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.successseriesllc.com\/wordpress\/?p=3719"},"modified":"2020-09-06T16:37:55","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T23:37:55","slug":"getting-unstuck-from-a-past-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.successseriesllc.com\/wordpress\/2020\/getting-unstuck-from-a-past-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Unstuck From a Past Trauma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

#GrowYourLife\u00a0 #BuildYourBusiness<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Life Area: <\/strong>Personal\u00a0 \u00a0|\u00a0 Topic: <\/strong>Emotional Freedom<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Getting Unstuck From a Past Trauma<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Came across this article on self-actualization that I found so profound that I wanted to pass it on to you. It\u2019s about a five-minute read, so give yourself enough time to take it in. You can find the original at https:\/\/www.theladders.com\/career-advice\/the-scientific-process-to-heal-any-emotional-trauma<\/a>:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Greek mythology, Medusa was a monster, often described as a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those who gazed upon Medusa\u2019s face would turn to stone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a similar way, people who go through hard experiences can turn to stone, emotionally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As trauma expert Dr. Peter Levine has said, \u201cIt is how we respond to a traumatic event that determines whether trauma will be a cruel and punishing Medusa turning us into stone, or whether it will be a spiritual teacher taking us along vast and uncharted pathways.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all experienced \u201ctrauma,\u201d whether we think we have or not. According to Dr. Lisa Firestone:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cA trauma can be defined as any significant negative event or incident that shaped us. It can emerge from any impactful instance that made us feel bad, scared, hurt or ashamed. By this definition, we have all experienced some degree of trauma in the process of growing up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Having \u201csuppressed emotions\u201d is another way of saying we have unresolved trauma in our lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But what does this actually mean?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How people become emotionally stuck<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve had a hard experience in your past where something negative happened, or where you failed miserably, you might never step far outside your comfort zone again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In that case, you\u2019ve become incredibly limited because of your past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your emotions own you, rather than you owning your emotions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When this happens, your personality stops developing, and you become incredibly predictable as a person.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your life becomes quite repetitive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You may continue to develop mentally and cognitively, such as learning from books and school.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You could have a head full of facts and knowledge, which are easily acquired in an information world. But emotionally, you are stone. You are frozen at the same level you were when you got hurt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we never resolve the emotional pain, then we are forever damaged and crippled in our lives. As a result, we begin avoiding situations that would make us vulnerable to experiencing similar pain again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We become \u201cfrozen\u201d in our development as a human being, unable to embrace and fully take-in new experiences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An easy way to examine your level of emotional maturity is how often you step outside of your comfort zone. If it\u2019s rare to put yourself into the vulnerable position of not knowing the answers or how things will turn out, then you likely have trauma from your past that is holding you hostage \u2014 emotionally \u2014 and stopping you from fully developing your potential as a person.<\/p>\n

Research shows that the older people get, generally, the less open they are to having new experiences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Feel the fear and do it anyway.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

In this article, I\u2019m going to break-down the science of how to overcome all emotional blocks and become emotionally-free.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you become emotionally free and flexible, you become far more dynamic and fluid as a personality. Your ability to learn and adapt skyrocket.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your lifestyle and interests will continually change because you have the freedom to take on new things. You\u2019re no longer hostage to your emotions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re not afraid of getting hurt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re not afraid of being wrong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the words of Dr. Susan Jeffers, you know that regardless of what happens, \u201cYou can handle it.\u201d Hence, she says we should, \u201cFeel the fear and do it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to educator Sir Ken Robinson, \u201cIf you\u2019re not prepared to be wrong, you\u2019ll never come up with anything original.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the primary reasons many people don\u2019t view themselves as creative is because art and creativity are emotional and vulnerable experiences. You have to put yourself out there. You have to try something that might fail.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a result, many people discard the idea altogether, claiming that some inherent part of their personality or genetics is simply not \u201ccreative.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Extreme creativity is available to anyone who is emotionally flexible and healthy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In fact, creativity is often the doorway to emotional freedom, because, through art and creativity, a person can courageously put themselves \u201cout there,\u201d and that very act of courage shifts a person\u2019s relationship with their emotions and their past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shifting your relationship with your emotions<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s important to note that when it comes to healing suppressed pain or trauma, that you don\u2019t have to sit on someone\u2019s couch and re-hash the past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead, you need to courageously move forward in your life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you step outside of your comfort zone, you will experience the stress-response \u2014 fight, flee or freeze. Being out of the comfort zone is a beautiful experience because it is entirely physical and emotional.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a full-on sensory experience \u2014 something many people stop experiencing as they grow older.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The main reason this \u201csomatic\u201d experience arises is that when you\u2019re out of your \u201ccomfort zone\u201d \u2014 or in a new situation where you don\u2019t fully know how things will turn out \u2014 you\u2019re in a state of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many psychologists argue that \u201cuncertainty\u201d is the foundation of all fears. This makes complete sense because our brains are actually designed to predict the outcomes of our behavior.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Therefore, when we\u2019re in a new situation, all sorts of physical and emotional red lights start to signal \u2014 our stress response. What our brain is telling us is that we\u2019re in uncharted territory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is your relationship with THIS EXPERIENCE \u2014 your stress response while dealing with new things \u2014 that reflects your level of emotional maturity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you re-establish this relationship, you actually change your memories of the past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But you only change your memory of the past if you don\u2019t freeze up. Because undoubtedly, the act of stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new may trigger negative emotions and memories from the past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll try to sabotage yourself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But instead, you want to be \u201cpsychologically flexible,\u201d which means you fully take in the experience, and move forward toward your goal anyway. In other words, you feel the fear and do it anyway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you\u2019ll quickly realize is that you can do hard things. You can \u201chandle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even if things fall apart or don\u2019t work out the first time, you can figure out. You can commit to big things and you can keep those commitments, regardless of what you have to learn and become along the way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can do it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is how confidence is developed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is also THE ONLY WAY a person can become fully self-actualized.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breaking-down the process of self-actualization<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

According to Abraham Maslow, \u201cself-actualization\u201d is the emotional state of a person who is in a position to achieve their highest potential.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They have had all of their \u201cbase\u201d needs \u2014 physical, emotional, and relational \u2014 met. They are a healthy, happy, and mature human being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Having a healthy sense of self-esteem is great. But self-actualization is something totally different.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You need far more than self-esteem to become self-actualized.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are lots of people out there who feel good about themselves but aren\u2019t willing to pay the emotional price of expanding their personality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You cannot become self-actualized if you\u2019re comfortable where you are.<\/p>\n

According to Maslow, a key requirement to becoming self-actualized is having what he calls, \u201cpeak experiences.\u201d He defined peak experiences \u201cas rare, exciting, oceanic, deeply moving, exhilarating, elevating experiences that generate an advanced form of perceiving reality, and are even mystic and magical in their effect upon the experimenter.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peak experiences are those moments that stretch and shift your perspective of yourself and reality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said, \u201cA mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The only way to have your mind stretched is to step outside of your comfort zone and have a new experience. In other words, \u201cpeak experiences\u201d are simply those moments where you go through deep experiential learning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These moments of deep learning and transformation leave you in a state of awe, wonderment, and gratitude.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You need to have these experiences regularly in order to reach a state of self-actualization.<\/p>\n

Actually, you need to make having soul-stretching experiences your \u201cnormal\u201d way of life. Because once this becomes your way of life, then you are completely emotionally-free and flexible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you are emotionally free and flexible, then you as a person also become free and flexible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that you no longer experience emotions or fears. Rather, it means that you are completely fine experiencing whatever is required to achieve what you believe you should, or what you believe is right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re no longer constrained by your emotions, and thus, you\u2019re no longer STONE. Instead, you\u2019re highly fluid and flexible, even spontaneous.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breaking the process down into bite-sized steps<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n
\n

\u201cCourage is the Gateway. This is where you start to see life as challenging and exciting instead of overwhelming.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. David Hawkins, author of Power vs Force<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n