In the literature, it's called UNPROCESSED FEELING. I know it has been with me for a long time. But I have no idea, when I felt it for the first time. Trauma is also said to be inherited across generations, it can come from time in mom's tummy, childbirth, early childhood, or it can appear during life. So how does one recognize it?

One way is to look at what has happened in my life. For example, what it was like when I was still in my mother's belly, how I was born, and what my early childhood was like:

• Did my mother have any problems during pregnancy (e.g. illness, depression, existential problems, addiction)?
• Did my mother have any problems during childbirth (e.g.: difficult birth, caesarean section, injuries, anxieties)?
• Did I have any problems early in my life (e.g.: injury, jaundice, breathing problems, umbilical cord around my neck, illness, time in incubator, premature birth, infection, was I left in the hospital after my mother went home)?

But it's more complicated than that, because whatever has happened (or not happened) in our lives doesn't mean that we carry trauma. Trauma is only created by how our system reacts to it, it is created by incompletion, non-release. It's something that's squatting in our nervous system and it is not planing to move out so easily. 

Try reading the following questions, and then sit somewhere quiet, breathe in slowly, breathe out even slowlier, and let these questions sink into you: 

• Are there topics that, when I touch them, my perception immediately changes and I will do anything to avoid them?
• Do I avoid certain places, activities, movements, memories, persons?
• Do I perceive my life as unstable? My mood changes frequently. I decide to do something and then it doesn't matter. Maybe nothing matters anymore?
• How do I manage my emotions? Is it hard for me to feel an emotion and let it pass? Sometimes I'm hypersensitive and sometimes I'm insensitive.
• What are my relationships like, am I able to establish and maintain stable relationships with others or is it mostly a roller coaster?
• How do I treat myself and how easily do I succumb to addictions? (Whether it's food, chocolate, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex or anything else that tends to have power over me).
  Am I suffering from some chronic disease? (e.g.: chronic pain, tension in the body, gastrointestinal problems, migraines, extreme sensitivity to light and sound, hyperactivity, chronic fatigue, panic attacks, disturbing images and flashbacks, blackouts, sleep problems, severe forms of premenstrual syndrome, depression, eating problems, autoimmune diseases, allergies...)

Recognizing trauma can begin the path to integrating it and no longer having a negative impact on our lives. Because only what we are aware of can be processed and changed in a constructive way.

We bring space to delve deeper into the topic. 

Participate in the meeting Healing Prenatal Trauma - May 3-5, 2024 in the Czech Republic, or ONLINE. Your ticket includes an unlimited video recording of the presentations. 

Written by: Eva Nedbalová
Sources and inspiration: Stephen Porges, Bessel van der Kolk, Dorothe Trassl, Ellyne Skove, Radmila Telváková