David Bercelli, who developed trauma releasing exercises, discovered that people separated from a disaster experience just as much or even more embodied trauma because they cannot work out the experience through living it. Make sure you are getting the support you need.

****Additional thoughts update since this seemed to help so many folks*******

Those of us who are here are also experiencing helplessness but it is not compounded by guilt or ongoing catastrophe thinking. You all are seeing the worst of the worst and not able to do anything or balance it out with other experiences. You’re also not able to move cortisol out of the body with action or conversations or seeing things with your own eyes. Doom scrolling is contributing to the trauma (Not that we can help ourselves.)

Most of us here are experiencing plenty of normality in and among it all – places and people and experiences that are fine, even good/positive. And we are able to move through some of the shock as we integrate. Y’all aren’t getting that opportunity.

If possible please limit the images. And see if you can get some TRE. A zoom call for evacuated refugees is a great idea. Especially if there are embodied exercises to move trauma. And maybe someone can reach out to David Bercelli or other TRE practitioners to see if they can support at this time on a massive scale. Those are things that can be done easier from afar since yall have better access to internet. If you let me know I can post and spread the word and show up.

The best thing you can do is get yourselves stable and solid and send some of that juju our way. If you are able to be available for shock and grief support and can set up some kind of system to hold space for each other and folks here that would be amazing. Some of you with organizing energy reach out to me and we can brainstorm some ideas. If anything I’ll hold a zoom meeting for folks who want to step into that kind of leadership.

Hurricane Helene ravaged Asheville, NC and the surrounding Western NC area on September 27, 2024. This post was created in response to that devastation and helping our community find its way towards recovery and wholeness.