https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1031042908411618836/
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“When we attach labels onto things that appear in our life, they immediately become a roadblock to directly experiencing the Truth of the thing itself. Our labels impart an immediate bias onto things, which skews our impression, distorting our perception.”
This is a quote from the Kundalini morning group I am part of.
We “PTSD people”, is this our identifying label for life.
I identify with being a PTSD sufferer, ran a mindfulness group to help trauma victims, and currently facilitate this PTSD blog.
My life is consumed with trying to gain well-being against PTSD.
I label others as normal people, my words isolate me more.
Other labels connected are unworthy, flawed, anxious, and different.
We also label others, which places the bias on them.
He is gay, she is a rape victim, and our labeling gets a nasty boost with divisive politics these days.
Look at the names being thrown back and forth by politicians, Twitter has become a battlefield.
We kind of demean others with our labels, place them in a confined box, limiting their potential.
Does labeling myself as a PTSD sufferer limit my chance for well-being?
I know the labels I use are detrimental to my health.
I could stop using so many labels.
Now I see labels are hidden judgments that gain everyday use and acceptance.
This is fertile ground for us to improve.
It is all connected to dissociation, thinking about the past then drawing conclusions.
Guilty as charged, working to drop as many labels as possible.
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PTSD - A Way Out.com 
Posted by rudid96 on September 24, 2021 at 2:05 pm
By their nature labels can limiting. But to say that they’re all bad, where would we be without them? Can you imagine a library without labels? How would anything be retrieved? The human brain is quick to make sense of sensations by labeling and categorizing. I prefer to stay mindful of this labeling reflex. Remaining open and curious, without throwing totally buys me time to evaluate is my reaction accurate?. When a label makes sense, it furthers my understanding. Some labels serve as a good cautionary. In other instances, it’s incorrect. The body reacts to old feelings with misfiled interpretations. That’s where that Mindfulness is essential. I’ve been working with a somatic coach that has introduced exercises that help the automatic nervous system calm down before the brain mislabels the information.
Posted by Marty on September 24, 2021 at 2:44 pm
Oh yes somatic work
I have explored my inner world connected the thoughts to the body sensations over and over.
So let’s talk labels Rudid96
We can skip the library
Let’s talk about our labels around our trauma and other people.
Let’s talk about the labels we use when triggered
We think black and white and then discount
I am guilty
Some of my labels are punitive and put me in a box
An example
Jennifer the kundalini teachers says
Labelling her as just a mother limits her life
As a spiritual person she can be mother teacher educator
Practitioner and guru
How do we label, ourselves Rudid96
It’s all ego connected
Without labels I still have my fears and habits of avoidance etc
I have totally labelled myself as a PTSD sufferer above all else
Is that good?
I hate it when I write it and see the ramifications
Your body work is trying to change the labels you have put in triggers and thoughts
You are throwing out the labels and feeling the sensations in real-time
Posted by rudid96 on September 24, 2021 at 3:46 pm
Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate your thoughts so much! I believe the difficulty I have with de-labeling is fear-based.
Among the challenges presently is overriding the body sensations that translate as wordless messages to my mind. They’re regularly labeled as an imminent danger. Trusting that my body can sit thru the sensations despite my brain’s labeling is an internal battle. Most of the time, I’m at war with myself. My somatic coach has assured me that with practice, this will become easier.
All my younger parts want indisputable proof of safety. Setting aside reactivity leaves me at risk – for what, I don’t know. But my core insists that I must remain vigilant. Convincing all those younger parts that now, an older woman, one infinitely more capable of handling whatever comes along, resides in this body. This has been a real sticking point for me.
Posted by Marty on September 24, 2021 at 4:24 pm
Your coach us correct
We could go to the doctor and get the doc to administer all the drugs in our adrenal stress response
If we could add a few more things, tunnel vision, confusion
You could see no fear is involved
Rudid96
I sat and observed my fight or flight mechanism in silence everyday, until he became my friend
There is no fear inside the response itself
It is a body defense mechanism, broken and firing at will but defective
Look back at your worst trigger firing
You are not dead but we fear it every time it goes off even without a penalty
If my fight or flight fires then in ten minutes it calms down
Has any damage occurred
No
The fear we bring with our memories not adrenaline and cortisol
It’s inky our defence mechanism
Why be afraid of it
Posted by rudid96 on September 30, 2021 at 3:00 pm
Mindful Marty, I’ve heard it say that setting intentions, even small ones, is positive for those that are working thru trauma reactivity. I was told that this is because we are stuck in freeze mode. Our minds are constantly searching the landscape for signs of danger. Setting an intention allows our minds to focus elsewhere.
This intention setting has been curiously difficult. In my younger days, my intentions were mostly driven mostly by work & family. I operated in a dissociated fugue.
Now, those roles have little import and I am working to remain in the present.
Our recent discussions have helped me to a new understanding of setting an intention. In the past, this suggestion has always had a shallowness to it. I needed something more comprehensive than a daily to-do list.
Does setting the intention to ‘spend time observing my fight or flight mechanism’ count as a viable intention? I want the body and mind to establish communal peace. I’m hoping there’s space when knowing that the strong trauma-related sensations will rise, crest, & fall and that they can be observed without action.
I continue to meditate on Self vs. Ego.
Such amazing tools.
Posted by Marty on September 30, 2021 at 3:13 pm
Rudid96. Yes observing your fight it flight us an intention
I intend to be present as much as possible and to notice when I stray into idle thought
My intention is focused before my fight it flight fires
Our wellbeing depends on the moment to moment battle of who captains our ship
Ego and PTSD or our true permanent self
We need to accomplish nothing to be happy Rudid96
It is perfect and awaiting us
Our ship has come in
One issue, it is 20 miles offshore
A small one seat rowboat sits idle
Whoever you believe is a higher power
Wants you to get in that boat and row your ass off