Have you ever heard that saying? Or have you read the book, “The Body Keeps the Score” by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk? Well, the body does in fact keep score of our traumas! That statement is absolutely true. It probably doesn’t come as too much of a surprise because many physical diseases are actually caused by previous traumas in life. Stress has an incredible negative impact on our bodies. Most of us have experienced a “cold” or other type of illness when we are exhausted and have not had the appropriate time to rest and let our bodies recover. Our bodies are incredibly designed and every system in our body is designed to protect us. Our sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the “fight-or-flight response”. This system is activated in response to any type of stress, trauma, or infection. The body essentially deviates from its normal duties of digestion, hormone secretion, reproduction, glucose control and regulating the heart rate and blood pressure at a healthy level. But when the body detects stress, trauma, or infection, everything changes. Suddenly, the body goes into survival mode as if it needs to fight off its attacker. The heart rate and blood pressure increase. The immune system is activated so that it’s ready to repair the trauma and infection. Increased amounts of glucose are released from the liver to give the body extra energy. Digestion, reproductive hormones, and thyroid hormone production is decreased as it is non-vital at the time of the attack. The body is able to concentrate its efforts on the present danger.
The body has this incredible system designed to keep us safe, but sometimes the body doesn’t recognize that a stressor is gone. Sometimes, the brain replays the traumatic event and the negative emotion causes the brain to signal that sympathetic nervous system that the threat persists. Dr. Van Der Kolk wrote that “trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions…For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present”.
For me, I was struggling to lower my blood sugar to the optimal range and my cortisol levels were much higher than they should have been. I knew that my body was stuck in this fight-or-flight mode. I wasn’t exactly sure how to tell my body that it didn’t need to stay in this mode. I tried to add in some deep breathing exercises and deepen my prayer life. I know that I could do better in these areas. I tend to be a very goal-oriented person and don’t allow a lot of time to rest. But despite that, I felt that I was overall happy, well-functioning, adjusted, and everything was going pretty well in life. However, I knew that there was likely an emotional/trauma component to my health issues. I was hoping that FSM might be able to help.
FSM works by using specific frequencies that target specific areas of the body and essentially re-set the cell signaling pattern in the body. I recently experienced a FSM treatment and my shoulder had limited range of motion. My pectoral muscles on my chest were extremely tight and inhibited my range of motion. The practitioner tried multiple frequencies intending to decrease inflammation and repair the tissues, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. However, then she used a frequency that is connected with the emotions and trauma in the body and I immediately began to have an emotional response as my body replayed the trauma of the death of my husband. My practitioner was able to talk to me in the moment and assure me that I was safe. At that time, my previous trauma was keeping my body in this fight-or-flight mode. The FSM treatment allowed my body to reset itself and signal to the body that it could return to its relaxed, parasympathetic state. Once that happened, I had an increased range of motion in my shoulder. It was quite incredible to experience, but it also allowed me to fully realize how our emotions and trauma can have such an effect on our overall health.