Have you ever experienced a frozen state when under stress, like a deer caught in headlights, when your heart races and you feel scared, but you can’t move? Or a state of dorsal immobilization, in which you have a low heart rate and low energy; you feel hopeless, depressed, unhappy, and checked out but you don’t experience a lot of stress? Both of these states are dissociative. I have lived in stressful environments most of my life, so I’ve experienced both.
Lately, as I delved into Mastin Kipp's book Reclaim Your Nervous System, I was reminded of past instances where I experienced suppressed dissociative reactions to stressful situations. Recollections surfaced of a specific armchair in my childhood home, a place where both my mother and I separately retreated during highly tense moments, freezing in the chair and gazing into the distance. I also recalled a time when I was in a car, enduring verbal abuse, and found myself mentally disengaging, staring blankly ahead for a prolonged period.
Recalling those distressing moments recently caused me to freeze once again. However, this time I was resolute in my decision to address these painful memories in a secure setting. While contemplating how to deal with these resurfacing frozen memories, I recalled a creative activity from Gail Spooner's book "Art Sozo," which had been suggested to me by my art mentor.
Realizing that I needed to confront the negative emotions I had been avoiding, I understood the reason behind my intense reaction to a recent stressful situation. Unprocessed painful memories were the trigger for these negative emotions, leading me to react strongly from a place of vulnerability.
This is how I approached handling my latest frozen memories: I established a secure space to address them, understanding that the journey would involve inner healing and expanding my heart's ability to love more, all from a place of safety. As I recalled and worked through these memories, I identified emotions (fear, anger, pain) and associated each with a random color (dark blue, red, black). Subsequently, I began expressing these painful memories through creativity by crafting a new artistic reflection.
I am sharing this story with you today for a specific purpose. It is likely that you also harbor some unresolved, frozen memories. You have the ability to establish a secure space to confront them and employ creativity to work through them. All it takes is a willingness to revive frozen memories by daring to unlock certain closed doors within your heart.
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. - Revelation 3:2
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