A bat in the kitchen??? I was doing the dishes when I looked down behind a large pot and saw something moving. At first, I thought it was a frog, and then I realized it was a BAT! My heart started racing. How the heck did a bat make its way into my kitchen sink, and better yet, how was I going to get it out?
Jared had already left for work, so it was just the girls and me. While the girls like animals it was definitely on me to take care of this situation. I called a few dads in the neighborhood, but no one was home. Then I got ahold of my next-door neighbor Ellen who brought over a bucket.
As I waited for her, I found myself involuntarily trying to shake the creepy feeling off. It was as if my body needed the movement to get this feeling out. As I thought about my response, it dawned on me that there was something significant in the phrase “shake it off.”
Looking it up later, I found out that shaking can be an element of preventing and healing trauma. Let’s explore that for a minute before I tell you what happened with the bat!
Shaking it off in Nature
In nature, animals are often in situations that seem traumatic but rarely suffer from it long-term. Only humans and zoo animals experience trauma that lingers, sometimes for years, with an emotional and physical impact. This may be due to the wild animals' ability to discharge the flight or flight chemicals from the body through movement.
Trauma specialist Peter Levine uses the example of a polar bear who was running from trackers after being shot with a tranquilizer. Once the bear got the care needed and started to regain consciousness, it began to shake intensely. Its legs thrashed while it made biting movements over its shoulder. Then it began to gasp deeply and went into a freeze state. Replicating and completing this flight-flight-freeze cycle released the trauma chemicals in the body.
(You can watch the video here, but use discretion if you are an animal lover. It can be hard to see an animal tranquilized regardless of the good intent.)
What about us?
In times of crisis, your nervous system is designed to go into a state of fight, flight, or freeze. These protective responses happen automatically to provide you with the best chance for survival. Levine explains that trauma happens when the body is “unable to complete a satisfactory fight, flight or freeze response.” There are many reasons that could prevent someone from moving through such a response.
In traumatic situations, people are often prevented from defending themselves or getting away from the danger. Their survival might depend on suppressing their natural instinct. Our society's insistence on being "strong" and keeping our emotions in check doesn't help either. Often, these factors result in trauma being trapped in the body.
Shaking
One of the ways we can discharge traumatic responses is through movement, specifically shaking! According to author Beth Shaw, shaking or trembling “sends a signal that the danger has passed and that the fight-or-flight system can turn off.”
Dr. James Gordon, Ph.D. works with clients to release trauma through movement. He explains that trauma doesn’t have to be a huge scary event. Things like injury, illness, divorce, the loss of a loved one, as well as situations that cause extended stress can trigger a trauma response.
Many of us don’t even realize that we have experienced trauma and are carrying its effects in our bodies. In this video, Gordon leads us in a shaking and dancing experience where you can have a first-hand experience with releasing trauma.
If you have experienced significant trauma, please proceed with caution. Sometimes it is important to have a skilled therapist lead you through this process. Overwhelming your nervous system by trying to process trauma too quickly can actually be retraumatizing. This is counterproductive and dangerous, so we definitely don't want that. Otherwise, I highly recommend you try the experience.
Back to the Bat
Carefully, Ellen slid the pot to the side as I trapped the bat under the bucket. I was able to sneak a piece of cardboard under the bucket without letting the bat out. Together we carefully headed for the door, took it outside, and threw it over our fence.
Only then I was able to take a deep breath, and my body began to relax. For the first 24 hours, I could not recount the event without feeling the need to shake my whole body. Slowly, over the coming days and weeks, I am able to think about the encounter without immediately getting the heebie-jeebies. It’s it fascinating that my body knew what it needed to do to handle the stress chemicals racing through me and satisfactorily complete the fight or flight response.
If you have experienced trauma, please know that it is not all in your mind. It is in your body as well. You don’t need to feel shame that you can’t “just get over it.” At the same time, know that there is hope for healing. Below you will find some resources that may help you on your journey.
Dr. Jamie
Resources for pursuing healing:
Therapists Recommend Books (by Cedar Tree Counseling)
The Self and the Parts: How IFS Therapy Approaches the Mind (psychcentral.com)
Somatic Therapy: How It Works, Uses, Types, and Techniques (psychcentral.com)
*If you need a trauma-informed therapist, let's find you one as well.