What gazelles know about healing that therapists don't

Last year, a client told me she'd been in talk therapy for 8 years trying to "process" her childhood trauma.

She looked exhausted just thinking about rehashing the same stories again.

So why am I telling you this story?

Simple…

When you experience trauma, your autonomic nervous system activates one of three survival responses: 

1. Sympathetic arousal (fight/flight).

2. Sympathetic mobilization (fight).

3. Or dorsal vagal shutdown (freeze/collapse).

In healthy stress cycles, your nervous system completes the response…

The energy mobilizes, you escape or defend, then you discharge the activation and return to baseline.

But trauma interrupts this completion. 

The survival energy gets trapped in your system, creating what we call "incomplete stress responses.

This leads to chronic sympathetic overdrive, where your nervous system remains stuck in a state of hypervigilance, producing symptoms like:

• Sleep dysregulation and insomnia

• Persistent anxiety and hyperarousal

• Somatic disconnection and numbness

• Relational overwhelm and attachment disruption

But here’s where things get a little weird…

Most therapeutic approaches target the prefrontal cortex (the thinking brain). But trauma lives in the brainstem and limbic system, below the level of conscious awareness.

While you're trying to "process" trauma cognitively, your nervous system remains locked in that original threat response. The talking engages your neocortex while your reptilian brain stays convinced it's still under attack.

And here's what else…

Your nervous system has an innate capacity for what's called "pendulation"...

Or the natural oscillation between activation and calm that restores homeostasis.

Why am I telling you this?

Somatic Experiencing works by helping your nervous system complete those interrupted defensive responses through gentle titration.

Small doses of activation that don't overwhelm your window of tolerance.

This allows for the organic discharge of trapped survival energy, restoring your nervous system's natural resilience and capacity for self-regulation.

And this reminds me of… wild animals in nature.

Watch a gazelle after escaping a predator. It shakes for a few minutes, then goes back to grazing like nothing happened.

I’m telling you this because your nervous system doesn’t care about complexity. Your nervous system responds to biological completion.

Somatic Experiencing works by helping your body discharge trapped survival energy through natural movements and sensations (without rehashing the same stories to your therapist).

Get started with this:

1. Establish grounding and present-moment awareness.
   
   Sit with your feet flat on the floor, feeling the connection to the ground. This activates your ventral vagal complex, the "safety" branch of your nervous system.
   

2. Practice interoceptive scanning.
   
   Slowly scan your body from head to toe. Notice areas of tension, numbness, heat, or constriction. These are somatic markers of trapped activation.
   

3. Use gentle touch as a co-regulating resource.
   
   Place your hands on the area that draws your attention.
   
   This bilateral contact helps organize your nervous system and provides proprioceptive feedback.
   

4. Allow organic movement and discharge
   
   Let any natural impulses emerge:

• Trembling

• Stretching

• Spontaneous sighing

• or gentle rocking. 

These are your nervous system's attempts to complete interrupted defensive responses.

5. Track sensation and pendulation.
   
   Notice the natural oscillation between activation and calm.
   
   This pendulation is how your nervous system naturally processes and integrates activation.
   

6. Maintain your window of tolerance.
   
   If you feel overwhelmed or dissociated, slow down or stop.
   
   Work within your capacity for present-moment awareness (what we call your "zone of proximal development.")
   

7. Notice the shift in nervous system state.

Pay attention to changes in breathing depth, muscle tone, or overall sense of aliveness.

This is evidence of your autonomic nervous system returning to a more regulated baseline.

Remember:

This isn't about forcing discharge or creating cathartic experiences. 

It's about supporting your nervous system's innate wisdom to heal itself through gentle, conscious completion of interrupted survival responses.

With love and healing,

Brian Maierhofer (Professional Human)

P.S. 

This is just scratching the surface of what's possible when you work with your nervous system instead of against it. 

On Monday October 6th I'm teaching some of my most effective somatic protocols in Kimia's Brain-Based Healing course.

These are techniques I normally only share with my private clients. If you're ready to go deeper than basic self-regulation, keep an eye out.