After long-term trauma or severe PTSD, advice like “participate in your
healing,” “move your body,” or “practice self-regulation” can feel impossibly
far away. For some people, the nervous system is so overwhelmed that even "participating" or “wanting” to
heal feels offline. It’s like being asked to run a marathon with two broken
legs.
As a clinician and an "Insight Architect," my goal here is validation
without pressure. If you relate to feeling flat, distant, or emotionally
shut down, you may also find my previous posting helpful: Beyond the Shutdown:Reclaiming Your Vitality from Emotional Numbness.
1. Naming the Collapse: Acknowledge
the "Dorsal Vagal" and the Retreat of Yang
In modern trauma language, this deep shutdown is often linked with dorsal
vagal collapse—a state where the system drops below fight-or-flight into
freeze.
Deep freeze often comes with broken sleep—either sleeping too much and never
feeling rested or lying awake feeling empty and wired. I explore this pattern
more in How Stress Disrupt Sleep in a TCM perspective.
The body shows emotions flatten, and basic tasks can feel overwhelming.
This is not laziness; it is your biology protecting itself.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we could describe this as a state where YANG—the
active, warming, outward-moving “fire of life”—has retreated so far deep inwardly
that it barely reaches the surface.
You might recognize yourself if:
- You feel emotionally and physically heavy, like your body is made of stone.
- You can’t access strong feelings—not joy, not grief, not anger.
Even simple “self-care” ideas feel like someone is shouting from another
planet.
- The Message: "If you
can’t 'participate' right now, it isn’t because you’re weak or not trying
hard enough. Your body is currently an overtaxed fortress doing
everything it can to keep you alive. Your numbness isn't a failure of
will; it is a profound act of protective strategy.
2. From "Participation" to
"Presence": the Smallest Possible Step
When you’re in deep freeze, words like “engage,” “participate,” or “practice”
can feel violent. Instead of pushing participation, we can invite presence—and even
that in the smallest, gentlest form.
Presence here does not mean “feeling all your feelings.” If can be as
simple as witnessing that you are frozen.
You might say to yourself:
- “Right now my system is shut down.”
- “Today I feel like I’m behind glass.”
- “I notice that I don’t want to feel anything—and that makes sense.”
That small act of witnessing is already a form of participation, even if
your body cannot move an inch.
- The Message: "You
don't have to fix the freeze. You just have to be the person who notices
it. If all you can do today is feel the weight of your feet on the floor
for ten seconds, that is enough."
3. When You Cannot Move, You Are Meant to be Carried: the Role of "External Support" (Passive Healing)
There are seasons in healing when the nervous system truly cannot
do more, no matter how much you “want it.”
In those seasons, expecting yourself to self-regulate is like asking a
patient in traction to get up and walk laps.
This is where passive support matters—approaches that work on you and for
you, without requiring you to push.
Acupuncture as quiet participation
In TCM, acupuncture can be understood as a way for the needles to “participate”
on your behalf.
You lie down—even if you feel numb, shut down, or disconnected.
The needles are placed at specific points to move Qi, warm what is too
cold, and calm what is too agitated.
Your only job is to exist on the table. There is no performance required.
Even in deep freeze, the body is still responsive at the level of QI and
blood. Acupuncture respects that your conscious will might be exhausted, while
your deeper physiology can still be gently invited toward balance.
Herbs s internal allies
Herbal medicine in TCM can act as an internal blanket:
Nourishing formulas can support depleted yang, blood, or yin.
When stress has gone on this long, digestion and appetite are often
affected too. For a deeper dive into how a busy mind disrupts the gut, see HowStress Affects Digestion: A TCM and Gut-Brain Perspective.
Calming herbs can gently soften inner agitation without demanding
emotional processing.
Over time, this steady support can create a slightly safer internal environment so that feeling even 1% more becomes less terrifying.
You do not have to “work” the herbs. You take them as guided by your
practitioner, and they work in the background while you rest.
4. The Winter of the Soul: You are in a Season, not a Life Sentence
For many trauma survivors, even the idea of “thawing” can feel dangerous.
If feeling has always been followed by overwhelm, collapse, or chaos, your
system has good reasons to be suspicious of “opening up.”
If you read about participation, movement, or herbs and feel dread,
resistance, or “I can’t,” please hear this clearly:
- “That feeling is not a moral failing. It is information about your current season.”
In TCM, we might call this a Winter of the Soul:
- In winter, the surface looks still.
- Trees appear dead, yet life is preserved deep in the roots.
The task of winter is not growth or blooming; it is survival and storage.
If you are in this type of inner winter:
- You are not broken
- You are not behind
- You are in Stasis, and stasis is sometimes what keeps you alive.
During this season, your job is not to force movement. Your job is simply
to stay, with whatever support keeps you safest.
5. A Message for the Deeply Frozen
“Sometimes, the 'thaw' feels more dangerous than the freeze.”
If you are reading about participation, herbs, and movement and feeling a
sense of dread or 'I can't do that,' please listen: That is okay.
In severe PTSD and deep shutdown, your nervous system often decides that
feeling anything is a threat to survival. If you are in this state, your
job isn't to 'work harder' at recovery. Your only job is to survive the day.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we call this the 'Winter of the Soul.'
In winter, nothing blossoms—and that is exactly how it is meant to be. You are
not failing; you are conserving life.
When movement is impossible, we look to passive support.
Acupuncture and herbal medicine are designed to meet you where you are, to act
as a blanket for your frozen soul. You can lie still. They will do the moving.
If you are not ready to step forward, stay where you are. You will not
lose your chance. We will be here when the first signs of spring appear in
your body, even if they are as small as a single deeper breath.
🌱Continue your Stress Series on TCM:
How Stress Disrupts Sleep: A TCM Perspective
How Stress Affects Digestion: A TCM and Gut-Brain Perspective
Beyond the Shutdown: Reclaiming Your Vitality from Emotional Numbness
Disclaimer: This article is for general
education and is not a substitute for medical care. Chinese herbs can interact
with medications and are not suitable for everyone. Please work with a licensed
practitioner and appropriate medical professionals for personalized guidance.
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