The Biology of Trauma® With Dr. Aimie

Vision is one of the primary signals your nervous system reads for safety or danger. Under stress, peripheral vision collapses and the body locks into central focus. Dr. Bryce Appelbaum walks through three eye exercises that begin retraining the eye-brain connection and the felt sense of safety. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/vagus-nerve-and-vision-how-your-eyes-signal-safety-to-your-nervous-system In This Episode You'll Learn: 01:21 — What is neuro-optometry, and how is it different from a regular eye exam 03:46 — How do your eyes shape how you move through the world? 14:05 — Can an old concussion still be affecting you years later? 23:09 — How does early caregiving shape vision development? 33:31 — Eye exercise 1: How do you do peripheral pointing? 41:24 — Eye exercise 2: How do you do eye push-ups? 46:26 — Eye exercise 3: How do you do eye stretches and the 20-20-20 rule? 50:06 — What foods support eye and brain health? Resources/Guides: The Biology of Trauma® Professional Certificate Training trains health and helping practitioners in the same framework Lacey works from. If this episode resonated with how you want to work with clients, this is the path. ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/vagus-nerve-and-vision-how-your-eyes-signal-safety-to-your-nervous-system

Grief, regret, loneliness, inflammation, pain. There are deeper layers than we are even aware of. Dana was a family physician who had managed gut issues for years. Constipation. Bloating. Acid reflux. She had every tool available to her. She rotated medications, over-the-counter laxatives, and antacids. She pushed through. Then one brave question changed everything. I asked her: what happened that should not have happened? Her posture collapsed. The tears came. And she made the connection — that was when my gut issues started. This is the biology behind what so many of us carry without knowing it. In the main episode this week, we explored how grief and gut health are connected. Now I’m taking you deeper into what’s actually happening in your body when grief goes unrecognized — and the three types of grief that are hardest to name. In this episode you’ll hear more about: 00:00 Grief, Regret & Going Gently: Setting the Tone 00:33 Check-In: Where Are You With Grief Right Now? 01:07 Prepare Your Support Tools (So You Don’t Go Into Overwhelm) 01:51 Dana’s Story: When “Managing Symptoms” Isn’t Healing 04:21 The Brave Question: “What Happened That Shouldn’t Have Happened?” 05:03 When the Body Connects the Dots: Stored Grief & the Gut 07:33 The 3 Hardest Types of Grief: Absent, Attachment & Heart Shock 09:01 Grief Isn’t Stress: A Whole-Body Trauma Response 10:00 Guided Body Awareness: Hand on Heart, Hand on Gut 12:44 Stomach Support Practice + Closing Message to Your Belly 13:21 Wrap-Up: Completing the Session Grief is more than an emotion. It is a whole-body response. It creates overwhelm in a way that stress does not. When grief is stored, the gut holds it. The posture holds it. The throat holds it. Dana didn’t just need to grieve what happened. She needed to grieve the silence, the years of self-blame, and the cost to her health she hadn’t seen. Most of us carry grief we haven’t named yet. Resources/Guides: Download the 3 Most Common Biochemical Imbalances Guide — The biochemical patterns that disrupt normal nervous system function and keep the body stuck in overwhelm. Biology of Trauma book — Dana’s story begins in Chapter 7 and continues in Chapter 9. Available everywhere books are sold. Get your copy → Watch the video version on YouTube → Check out the main episode — EP 161: Dopamine and Depression: The Metabolic Link You Need to Know Try this practice this week: Notice when your gut clenches, your posture collapses, or a lump forms in your throat. Before you push through, pause. Put one hand over your belly. Give it a message: “I see what you’ve been holding. We don’t have to go there today.” Presence interrupts the pattern of pushing through. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. It helps others find trauma-informed care.

➡️ Get the full episode breakdown at Biology of Trauma® Podcast - Episode 160: How Creativity Rewires Your Nervous System with Adam Roa What if the key to healing isn't more therapy—but creativity? Adam Roa's poem "You Are Who You've Been Looking For" reached over 250 million people. But before that poem existed, Adam spent 25 years emotionally shut down. He didn't remember his childhood sexual abuse until age 30. His journey reveals why creativity creates neurological safety for emotions that were once too overwhelming to feel. Creativity isn't about talent—it's about pattern disruption. When you turn pain into a poem or painting, you force your brain to view that experience differently. This episode explains why safety must come before expression and how the creative process rewires neural pathways when talk alone can't reach what's stored in the body. In This Episode You'll Learn: (01:00) What poetry has to do with your nervous system's capacity to heal (03:45) Why Adam's viral poem reached 250 million people (05:30) How childhood trauma stayed hidden for 25 years (08:00) Why acting became Adam's first safe space to feel emotions (12:00) The moment poetry became a survival mechanism after heartbreak (17:00) How creativity rewires neural pathways associated with traumatic events (22:00) Why one poem can play multiple roles in your healing journey (27:00) What happens when you write for yourself but release for others (32:00) Dr. Aimie shares her song "Letter to the Me" publicly for the first time (47:00) Adam performs "You Are Who You've Been Looking For" (54:00) The journey from viral success to learning what self-love actually means Resources/Guides: The Biology of Trauma book — Get your copy here Adam Roa's New Book — Crazy Love explores the journey of learning to truly love yourself. Available May 2025. Adam's Websites — adamroa.com Dr. Aimie's Music Channel — Songs of the Inner World on YouTube Free Guide: The Chronic Freeze Response — Understanding why your body stays stuck even when you want to move Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 82: Using Biological Rhythms to Recover From Trauma with Dr. Leslie Korn Episode 119: Transforming Trauma Into Joy & Purpose with Gregg Ward

You know it's not good for you. You do it anyway. Then you ask yourself why. Late-night scrolling when you promised you'd sleep. Sugar after dinner when you said you'd stop. The fight you picked that you didn't need to pick. We call it lack of willpower. But willpower isn't the problem. This is the biology behind the main episode this week with addiction policy expert Dr. Kevin Sabet. He shared what we've been getting wrong about marijuana and addiction. Now I'm taking you deeper into what's actually happening in your brain when you can't stop doing what you know is harming you. In this episode you'll hear more about: (01:00) Why "why am I doing this to myself" is a dopamine question. (02:30) The truth about dopamine — it's not just high or low. It's both. (03:00) How drama and interpersonal chaos become dopamine sources. (04:30) Why the more you push the lever, the less dopamine you get. (05:00) Dopamine isn't about pleasure. It's about remembering what's important. (07:00) How early attachment wires dopamine to connection — or to danger. (09:00) The definition of addiction: going somewhere other than safe human connection to feel okay. (10:30) The three biochemical imbalances common in addictive patterns. (11:00) How brain inflammation lowers dopamine and raises glutamate — the double whammy. (12:30) Why bribes actually work for dopamine-driven behaviors. The craving isn't a character flaw. It's a signal. When dopamine is low at baseline, your nervous system will find ways to get it. The question is whether we repair the biology or white-knuckle through life. Resources/Guides: Download the 3 Most Common Biochemical Imbalances Guide — The biochemical imbalances Dr. Aimie mentions that disrupt normal dopamine activity. Biology of Trauma book — Available everywhere books are sold. Get your copy → Watch the video version on YouTube → Check out the main episode - Episode 158: Marijuana, Addiction, and the Body: What We've Been Getting Wrong with Dr. Kevin Sabet Try this practice this week: Notice when you're reaching for something to take the edge off. Before you act, pause. Ask: "Is my baseline dopamine low right now? What is my body actually looking for?" Awareness interrupts the automatic loop. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. It helps others find trauma-informed care.