The Biology of Trauma® With Dr. Aimie

Why do I crash every time I finally slow down? Maybe you feel fine all week, then crash on the weekend. Maybe an open Saturday fills you with a quiet dread. So you fill it. An early bike ride. A full list. Anything to keep moving. Many people call this high-functioning burnout. It has a name, and it has a cause.

➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/episode-184-why-you-crash-when-you-slow-down-the-pattern-of-depletion

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

01:34 — Why do I crash every time I finally slow down?

04:03 — What is the pattern of disconnection, and why do I feel numb or distant?

04:33 — What is the pattern of disruption, and why do I feel stuck and unable to move forward?

05:03  — What is the pattern of depletion, and why do I feel like I'm running on empty?

05:15 — What is the pattern of dysregulation, and why does my nervous system overreact or under-react?

05: 32 — What is the pattern of disease, and how does stored trauma become physical symptoms?

06:30 — Why is the pattern of depletion the one that hides?

08:52 — Why does the crash come with the rest, if the rest did not cause it?

11:22 — How are stress and burnout different to my biology?

12:53 — What is capacity, and why does low capacity turn stress into overwhelm?

16:33 — What does it mean to live at two speeds, fast and stopped?

18:35 — How does depletion show up in my biology, from magnesium to ferritin?

Resources/Guides:

Stress or Trauma Guide — a free guide to tell a stress response from a trauma response, and see the sequence your nervous system needs next.

➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/episode-184-why-you-crash-when-you-slow-down-the-pattern-of-depletion

Most of us were told to grieve, to rest, to be present. Nobody taught us the skill. In Part 2, Dr. Aimie and neuroscientist Dr. David Rabin get into heart rate variability and resilience, why anxiety masks itself as focus, and why grieving is a skill your body has to learn. Feeling safe enough to feel is where the work begins.

➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/why-grieving-is-a-skill-what-hrv-reveals-about-resilience-david-rabin 

01:03 — Why is heart rate variability the key marker for resilience?

03:08 — What is intention, and what is it in the nervous system?

04:08 — Where does intention fit if you have lived in hypervigilance?

08:18 — What practices in therapy get in the way of healing?

11:28 — How do you apply these principles in a full, busy life?

16:33 — How do you grieve a loss, and why is grieving a skill?

Listen to Part 1 here.

Resources/Guides:

Get the "Is It Stress or Trauma" Guide. Know whether what your body is carrying is stress or something deeper.

➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/why-grieving-is-a-skill-what-hrv-reveals-about-resilience-david-rabin

Stress was never the enemy. Your body was built to use it. What wears the body down is chronic stress with no recovery on the other side. Translational neuroscientist Dr. David Rabin splits stress into two forms. Eustress builds capacity. Distress, carried over time, moves the body toward disease.

➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/eustress-distress-difference-means-for-your-body-david-rabin

In This Episode You'll Learn:

01:25 — What does the equation eustress × time = ease actually mean?

06:19 — How does the meaning you carry from the past shape your stress response?

07:37 — Can a person experience post-traumatic growth decades later?

09:19 — What creates safety so the body can reorganize?

11:00 — Why is a soothing touch such a powerful signal of safety?

13:55 — Why is rest the key to resilience, and where do you start if you cannot rest?

Resources/Guides:

If you want to know whether what you are carrying is stress or something deeper, this free guide walks you through the difference. Get the Stress or Trauma? Guide

➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/eustress-distress-difference-means-for-your-body-david-rabin

Cravings point to a need underneath. This episode covers the three unmet needs behind food. It looks at the childhood roots of reaching for it. And it helps you tell stress from something deeper.

➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/what-your-food-cravings-mean-nervous-system

In This Episode You'll Learn:

01:11 — The difference between hunger and an unmet need

05:27 — When a craving is really about connection or a memory

08:03 — What states does a parent go into when food becomes survival?

09:49 — Why children learn a parent's relationship with food so early

12:27 — How do our parents shape our earliest relationship with food?

16:18 — What happens to a parent in survival mode for food

19:00 — Why do we crave sweets when we feel low or shut down?

24:14— Why does the fear of connection drive us to food?

29:41 — How to draw your own craving map

Resources/Guides:

If you want to know whether what drives your reaching is stress or something your body is still carrying, this free guide walks you through the difference. Get Stress or Trauma? guide 

➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/what-your-food-cravings-mean-nervous-system

An early read on your nervous system explains why reflux holds on. This episode covers reflux hypersensitivity, lost hunger and fullness cues, and the somatic tools that calm the gut, including diaphragmatic breathing after meals.

➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/nervoussystemandacidreflux-thegut-brainconnection

In This Episode You'll Learn:

01:10  — Why Molly Pelletier chose to focus on reflux and gut health

02:15 — How is acid reflux linked to the nervous system?

07:30 — Why is somatic work the missing link with reflux?

09:18 — What nutrition shifts actually help relieve reflux?

13:31 — What childhood patterns show up in stomach and reflux issues?

17:16 — Why can't some people feel when they are hungry or full?

22:12 — Which somatic tools help calm reflux?

26:52 — Which foods can trigger reflux during a healing phase?

30:32 — How do you know if reflux is affecting your sleep?

32:22 — What's the most important first step to calm reflux?

Resources/Guides:

Stress or Trauma? Read What Your Body Is Running (free): a Biology of Trauma® guide to tell whether your nervous system is running a stress response or a trauma response, and the sequence it needs next.

➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/nervoussystemandacidreflux-thegut-brainconnection