Page 369 - Total War on PTSD

individual. “Body armor” is the way character armor is expressed in the body — impacting the respiratory, nervous, hormonal, immune, circulatory, organ, and reproductive systems and the flexibility or rigidity and strength of the musculoskeletal system. Body armor affects all elements of basic functioning — sexual responsiveness and performance, digestion, elimination, and sleep regulation — and results in our felt sense of health. Our body-mind is one, and we can create improvements by working directly with both parts. Unfortunately, the majority of mental health therapies do not approach this obvious relationship. Focusing just on talk therapy leaves half of the equation ignored.
When we intervene directly with the body we reinstate natural breathing, unwind and release bound muscular tensions, and undo chronic blocks to the free flow of energy within the system. Most importantly, we realign the autonomic nervous system (ANS) so the sympathetic part of the ANS (stimulating activities of fight, flight, or freeze responses) balances with the parasympathetic functions (“rest-and-digest” and “feed and breed”) relaxation responses. By balancing the ANS, which regulates the body’s unconscious responses, we can gradually lower chronic stress reactions, resulting in reduced inflammation and overall better health. The ANS is an example of expansive and contractive systems within the body. As we impact the ANS therapeutically, we reinstate a balanced pulsation between the two parts of the nervous system that directly impact the functioning of the entire body. We are changing a Veteran’s approach to life at its root — how they exist within their own body-mind.
Many individual’s may suffer from a variety of symptoms that emanate from the lack of balanced expansion and contraction — pulsation in the body. They might feel edgy and irritable; suffer daily feelings of low energy, exhaustion, and fatigue; experience numbness, and lack of vitality; endure chronic pain in their gut with chronic bowel problems, or have pain in their joints, muscles, or head, and/or have endless back pain; have respiratory symptoms like asthma; and have chronic sleep problems. By balancing the ANS to allow for a natural pulsation, expansion, and contraction, the system can relax
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