279 Brenda Hershey: Mind-Body Medicine: How Trauma Lives in the Body & What to do About it

Most addictions are rooted in unresolved trauma, but how do we begin to build awareness around what that looks like as it shows up in our minds and bodies? In this talk, Brenda Hershey will elaborate on not only the signs and symptoms, but will break down the science behind it. Furthermore, she’ll share integratable tools to strengthen the mind-body connection to foster a sense of safety and security in one’s body again, which is so often lost when dissociating and numbing out. If you’re ready for some simple yet powerful tools to anchor yourself into the present moment and not miss a moment more of your life, don’t miss this episode.
     
Based in Iraqi-Kurdistan, Brenda Hershey is an author, international humanitarian, researcher and TRY Global's President & Founder. She became a certified Trauma Recovery Yoga (TRY) instructor in 2019 and had been teaching the classes regularly when she experienced a series of her own “Big T” traumas. Because she had built up such a high level of resilience teaching TRY, she found herself equipped with the tools to self-regulate during those dark moments, and process/ release that trauma. Now, she’s on a mission to empower others by sharing these mind-body tools with others on their journeys of recovery and resilience.

3 top tips for my audience:
1. Notice your breath! During our call, I’ll cue for them to notice whether they’re inhaling or exhaling right now, and highlight how we can go crazy amounts of time without noticing our breath (despite taking about 20,000 breaths a day). I also plan to emphasize the significance of breath in strengthening the mind-body connection and toning the vagus nerve/ re-calibrating the nervous system. 

2. Mindfully move your body on a regular basis. Whether it’s yoga, going on a walk, playing with your kids, playing a sport, or whatever. By moving mindfully with our breath, we create opportunity to strengthen our nervous system, and if we’ve disassociated due to addiction and/or trauma, it helps bridge that gap within.

3. Listen to your body. The reality is that, even when our brains have stored away old memories or programming that we’d rather not face, our bodies remember. Our bodies are talking to us all the time, the real practice is in listening to what it’s saying. TRY provides trauma-informed tools to do just that - to quiet the mind, be still and listen.

Social media and contact info: 

Email: bhershey@tryglobal.org
Instagram: @try.global
Facebook: TRY Global
Youtube: TRY Global
Website: www.tryglobal.org 

**CALL TO ACTION** We’re currently fundraising for a project in Ukraine, where our team will travel to Lviv, Ukraine to teach community classes to displaced people, as well as train locals to become certified TRY instructors. Here’s the fundraiser page: ​​https://gogetfunding.com/help-ukrainians-become-try-certified/  

#trauma #traumarecovery #mindbody #mindbodyscience #yoga #traumainformedyoga #meditation #breath #tryglobal