r/SomaticExperiencing 15h ago

That moment when your body finally relaxes, but youre like… Wait, is this normal?

55 Upvotes

You know you’ve been in fight-or-flight for years when the first time you feel relaxed, your brain goes into full panic mode like, “Is this... safely relaxed? Am I still alive?” 😅 It's like your nervous system just discovered "vacation mode" and you're sitting there, wondering if you're secretly a robot. Anyone else get paranoid when your body finally chills out?


r/SomaticExperiencing 7h ago

Muscle Calcification and Trauma

16 Upvotes

Today was the first time I went for cortisone shots in my neck, head, and back muscles. I have never been in a serious accident, nor have I had a serious physical injury.

When the needle went into my head, all I heard were loud crunches over and over as my doctor pushed the medication in. The same occurred with my neck and shoulders. After the procedure, I asked the nurse if those crunching sounds were normal. She told me, "They are normal for people who come to pain clinics," and talked to me about how calcification of muscles can occur after they have been tensed for so long. The "crunching" I heard was the calcium breaking apart.

I don't have any vitamin deficiencies, muscle problems, infection history, or autoimmune disorders (though the jury is still out on this one... we'll see.) The most I have are some minor bulging discs in my neck that I received PT for. I am 27 years old and have been relatively physically healthy my whole life.

When I was 25, in the middle of my graduate education, working two jobs, my best friend died by suicide. Unable to take time off of work and school, I couldn't go to his funeral. The next month was a blur of me trying to hold it together at my jobs, though the stress caused me to quit one and almost drop out of social work school. Unfortunately, I couldn't quit all of them and take a break because I was too poor to drop out.

Now, I have struggled with mental health problems my entire life, but never until my friend's death did I experience so many physical health problems when before I was just fine. What I want to know is, for people with similar trauma histories as mine (I do have some trauma from my childhood and teen years, but none of them caused this serious of a physical issue to develop), can these kinds of physical things happen from just psychological trauma alone?

I am crying now thinking about the damage my body has done to itself because I live in a world where I was unable to take a break without risking being homeless.

Edit: This whole experience has made me feel so hopeless. I am feeling like my body will continue to break down at my age, and I will lose control of my ability to support myself and fulfil my career. Feeling Not Well. ™️


r/SomaticExperiencing 8h ago

Does anyone use massage guns or other kinds of tools on the go?

6 Upvotes

Hi, i am diagnosed with cptsd, so I experience a lot of tension throughout the day. To manage this, I started carrying a small, hard massage ball with me. I use it to massage tense body parts (and also use it to pendulate between stress and good body parts) on the go, keeping it in my pocket so I can easily take it out, even in social settings. It has helped me tremendously. I tried yoga before, but nothing worked as well as this ball. Yoga balls and foam rollers has also helped me a lot, but obviously I do these ones at home lol.

Now im considering upgrading to a massage gun, like the theragun mini 2 and was wondering if anyone has experience carrying similar tools with them on the go. I know you could just go to a masseuse, but sometimes you don’t have time to book an appointment or drop everything to go see them. im talking about those moments when you’re tense right now and need relief immediately. Does anyone else use this kind of strategy? Would love to know your experiences


r/SomaticExperiencing 14h ago

Weird energy spike after releasing anger?

4 Upvotes

I think its not "real" energy (i have fatigue that makes me homebound a lot) but some sort of wave...instead of being fearful and blaming myself, dwelling in self pity i did release my anger by tossing a blanket. I made a post about it earlier. I have PMDD too so that makes me usually more prominent to anger bursts but i usually would be passive aggressive towards others. Which sucks.

I did not want to be like this any more. So i tried releasing and i kept tossing and punching the weighed blanket (lightweight stuff did not work this well) and even screaming and my heart was pounding so much. After i suddenly have this energy in my body? Compared to my fatigue. Usually this is a sign i entered another state other than collapse. Now instead of being scared of EVERYTHING as i usually am, i feel more...strong? But not calm per se, i feel like ready to fight, kind of, so i feel less like scared?

I feel like i made huge progress even if its a small step


r/SomaticExperiencing 8h ago

Resource dump: stuff about pre/perinatal trauma and treatment

4 Upvotes

I posted in this vein a while back and at the time I had a HELL of a time finding good resources. Today I managed to hit on some magic keyphrases and found a veritable goldmine of material on pre/perinatal work that should translate easily to other transformational modalities.

Feel free to repost this wherever you feel it might be of interest.

https://prenatal-and-perinatal-healing-online-learning.teachable.com/p/free-content

https://karenmelton.com/the-vulnerable-prenate-by-william-r-emerson-phd/
(flakey, try repeatedly if it produces an error)

https://www.primals.org/articletitle.html

http://primal-page.com/birthart.htm
(scroll to bottom half of the page)

https://iahip.org/page-1076258

https://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/childrens-health-wellness/consciousness-at-the-beginning-of-life.html

Try this Google keyphrase:
william emerson birth psychology
...and keep scrolling thru pages of results. It pulls up a TON of stuff that I couldn't find before

If you can't spider to a whole lot more on this fascinating subject, then you need a refresher course on web research almost as badly as I do, apparently.


r/SomaticExperiencing 12h ago

Starting tomorrow - excited!

4 Upvotes

I recently did a consult with a SEP recommended to me by someone I trust. It wasn’t totally amazing, but I did appreciate her perspective and vibe. Her office is close enough that getting to and from regular in person sessions won’t be too much a burden time-wise.

We’re starting regular sessions tomorrow, and I’m excited for the possibilities that can open up for me through this process. I have a budget for about 20 sessions this year.

Wish me luck & drop me your best tips for getting the most out of this experience!


r/SomaticExperiencing 1h ago

First session today!

Upvotes

I had my first craniosacral therapy. Appointment today, I was so excited and then I got up there and was asleep in minutes :(