How Trauma Affects Our Perception of Time
The way how trauma affects our perception of time is by keeping us trapped in segments of memories. A result of trauma is PTSD and with post-traumatic stress disorder things like understanding the self in the environment, being able to navigate the world effectively, and living in the present moment become skewed. C-PTSD can result in flashbacks and triggering and when these events occur the brain signals the nervous system to go into the fight, flight, or freeze mode. When in that mode disassociation and cognitive dissonance resulting in irrational behaviors, believes, and significant discomfort happens inside of the body and mind.
The average human being dies by age 80. That is 47 years away for me, though I plan on living until 100. Between now and then I am going to do the things that make my life most fulfilled. I wrote a list of everything that I want to accomplish by the time I’m dead. I call it my Get Shit Done list and on top of the list is to guide 1 million people who are stuck in the vortex.
How I think about time and trauma
I used to be stuck, and that’s why I adopted a series of practices and habits to take my life back. These practices range from therapy and meditation to diet and exercise. It also includes the essential thing — giving myself permission to fall and more get back up. It’s in my practices that I’m able to execute on the things in life that honestly matter. It’s one thing to visualize what your future is, and it’s another to take control and move towards that future.
Time has never been on my side. Time, as I’ve discovered, is an illusion. It doesn’t matter if I live to 100 or 35 because it’s this moment right now that matters the most. For trauma survivors, time becomes an enemy instead of a compatriot. We dread the time that has been taken from us, the time we wasted, and the time that we may not get but that doesn’t have to be how it is.
I realized that time is my best friend and my most important asset because with every second that I have left I want to create and impact change in my life and the lives of others. It’s not about how much time we have but what we do with it. Time isn’t real but the things we do with it are, and I want to use every last second.
Tools you can use to overcome trauma and take back your time
The process of recovering from trauma takes time; yes there is some irony in that. It will take time to process, to become associated within your body again and it will take time to understand how to leverage the practices that work for you in your life. When you become present and associated by aligning your mind and body, you can tap into parts of yourself that make room for growth and exploring how to better spend your time. What sounds better: spending 5 hours a day staring at your phone because you do not want to connect with other human beings due to irrational thoughts and fears around human connection or going to the beach and having a picnic with a few friends?
There are simple daily practices that you can use to slow down the trauma response. You can begin these the moment you start your day. When you utilize these practices and discover how trauma affects our perception of time you can develop even more methods that are fitting to your lifestyle.
Here are a few:
Breathing for Trauma Recovery
The way we breathe is the most important thing that we do to cope with stress. When your heart is racing, your hands become clammy, and your vision is narrow you are in your fight, flight, or freeze state. This can happen from being triggered or if you are how I was, your normal state of being. When we breathe we can calm the sympathetic nervous system which regulates and controls this response. Multiple different breathing mechanisms have been shown to work on calming the human body. My favorite is O.C.E. Breathing which is a modality that I created for myself. It consists of a 4-second breath in, a 7-second hold, and 5-second exhale. This is Open, Control, Exist breathing. I do this for 1 minute at the earliest sign that I am triggered or my anxiety kicks in
Writing for Trauma Recovery
When you write for trauma recovery, you are associating past, present, or future events. Often in the scope of trauma, it is common that you may feel a million miles away from the person that you are. In writing and journaling, you are making things that are ideas or thoughts real. Much in the same way that world champion athletes visualize victory when you take something that is just an idea and write it and then act on it you make it real. The process of writing also allows your brain the space to think about one thing at a time even if only for a few minutes. When triggered your brain likely goes in a hundred different directions. When you find a few moments to write you are not only calming those irreverant thoughts but also focusing on whatever is present for you at that moment.
Exercise for Trauma Recovery
You have probably heard that exercise is a key component to trauma recovery and that is because it’s true. Don’t believe me? Read this. When you exercise, your brain releases a rush of endorphins into your body. This creates a sense of calm and pleasure. It’s also important to note that physical exercise takes time. Whenever you make an excuse not to move your body, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Not only does exercise help to calm the nervous system but it also is a fantastic form of meditation. Exercise doesn’t have to be lugging weights at the gym or sprinting on a track. There are a million activities that you can do from tennis and basketball to cycling and rowing. Find what works best for you.
How to best use your time to recover from trauma.
Rule #1 Be Patient. The way how trauma affects our perception of time is not easily overcome, but you can understand how to navigate it. When I started the process of implementing different trauma healing modalities into my life, I had to find a series that worked best for me, and it took me years to get into the rhythm that best fit my lifestyle. Like anything in life, there is no one size fits all. The baseline of recovery is taking the first steps and allowing yourself the space to try different things. You may even create new habits that you stick with for a week or even a few months and suddenly fall off. That’s ok.
There will be setbacks because healing from trauma doesn’t have a timeline but deciding to make a change does. You can live the life that you want, and it starts with one step at a time.
You can check out my other blogs on trauma here: https://michaelunbroken.com/category/facing-trauma/
#ThinkUnbroken
