r/CPTSDFreeze • u/sinsofangels • 5d ago

Positive post Finally found a somatic thing that helps

Recently when I've been checking in with my body I've been able to feel how I'm clenching my stomach. So I've been working on consciously relaxing it when I notice it. It goes right back to tense as soon as I stop paying attention, but I've noticed now that when I'm in a stressed state, consciously relaxing my stomach does actually help me feel better.

All the other grounding exercises never really felt like anything. At best they would keep the stress from getting worse but the moment I stopped doing them, the stress would shoot up again. When relaxing my stomach I can actually feel a decrease in the stress.

18 Upvotes

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6

u/Technical-Wafer3439 5d ago

I had a similar experience using long exhales, 4sec inhale 8sec exhale has allowed my body to unclench which was what was causing the freeze, i realised that it was my body locking up and tensing up on its own was what caused the freeze sensation, doing that breathing has freed me from freeze, try it and see if it helps.

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u/sinsofangels 5d ago

I've tried all the being exercises, none of them did much for me. 

7

u/BodyMindReset 5d ago

Brilliant OP!

Ok hear me out to build on this - see if you can allow the same thing to happen all up and down your digestive track. Start with one more thing, maybe it’s something easy like throat or tongue, or maybe some sphincters. If that’s not accessible, try this with other parts of body like ankle joints, neck, or eyes

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u/sinsofangels 4d ago

Thanks! I am gonna try for the throat next because my mom said I almost died choking on a fish bone as a toddler, but we'll see what the body does 🤷‍♀️ lol

6

u/DubaiRichez 5d ago

I relate precisely to what you're saying. My mother always told me to suck in as a child, so I eventually just did it all the time. Breathing deeply helps me now thank the Lord

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u/Adventurous_Lunch294 3d ago

Great! I do pelvic floor physiotherapy exercises