When you notice yourself in a dorsal vagal/freeze state - heavy limbs, low energy, low mood, overwhelm, shutdown - what is the right way to work with it?
Simply observing it non-judgmentally, allowing it, befriending it, not trying to fix or change it
or
working with the nervous system through grounding, somatic exercises, resourcing, movement, co-regulation etc. to come out of it?
I’m trying to understand what actually helps without creating more resistance or pushing.
I’m recovering from CFS/ME and also processing early trauma. Over the last month I’ve had quite a few strong releases during therapy / somatic work (crying, gagging, shaking). I’ve also connected with some very early parts of myself. I do a lot of somatic work on my own and have weekly somatic therapy and psychotherapy with a strong body-based focus.
Overall, I’d say I’ve been making real progress lately and even had more energy.
But in the last week something new has started happening: I feel a much stronger internal “charge” in my body, tension, like my nervous system is activated (but no anxiety). My Garmin keeps showing high stress almost constantly, even though my resting heart rate is actually lower than before.
I fall asleep quickly and sleep 8+ hours, but my watch shows high stress during the night too. (Since getting CFS, even when I was much worse, I was never “stressed” at night).
I wake up feeling wired and continue to feel like this until I get also tired and sleepy. The first few days I could still function normally, but now it’s catching up with me. Even after 9 hours of sleep, I wake up exhausted, like I only slept 4 hours.
Has anyone experienced something similar during recovery? My therapist says it could be suppressed / unprocessed survival energy coming up and moving through the system. I’ve also wondered whether I spent most of my life in shutdown/freeze, disconnected from anger, and now together with this charge I’m feeling anger, rage, and a lot of irritability coming online (I also feel much more agency and stronger boundaries).
Would love to hear if anyone relates or has thoughts.