Lorwen Harris Nagle, PhD Profile picture
Jan 12, 2025 13 tweets 4 min read Read on X
The most taboo, weirdly romanticized, yet misunderstood topic of 2025:

Childhood trauma.

Dr. Jordan Peterson says it's why your Dad left, why your Mom cried alone, and why you're always anxious...

Here's how to reverse its damage naturally: 🧵 Image
Dr. Peterson says memories older than 18 months still stirring up emotions are a red flag of trauma that needs unpacking.

1st understand trauma happens in 2 stages:

1. Embodied terror
2. Conceptual processing
Terrible memories stay terrible until intentionally deconstructed.

When broken into manageable parts and challenged they dissolve.

Feel the feelings, but don't let them rule you.

As a Harvard-trained psychologist, here are 5 strategies I use with clients...
1/ Reframe distorted thoughts to loosen trauma's grip.

-Identify cognitive distortions
-Practice self-compassion over self-blame

You can't change what happened, but you can change the meaning you ascribe to it.
2/ Avoid trauma talk during an active crisis.

Dr. Peterson stresses not rushing to analyze trauma in the midst of a crisis.

When the house is on fire, just get out!

Well-intentioned "help" can backfire if mistimed.
3/ Old baggage loves to resurface in relationships.

-Focus on the current issues, not the past.
-Set clear conditions to resolve conflicts.
-Fight over what's happening NOW, not over everything.

One dispute pulls the thread, and suddenly every fight is about everything.
4/ You're not alone.

Shame from trauma is a universal human experience.

And, healing shame takes courageous vulnerability.

But you need to know: that vulnerable child isn't YOU anymore!
5/ Exposure therapy gradually desensitizes you to trauma triggers:

-Retrain your brain to lower reactivity.
-Always work with a trauma-informed therapist.
-Confront memories, situations, sensations in controlled doses.

It may feel slow-- even difficult --but you're reclaiming your life...
As a child, I experienced abandonment trauma.

By age 5, I'd crafted an alter ego that was tough and a tomboy. It
shielded the vulnerable side of me. And, I became self-alienated.

By 20, despite honors in school and blinding success, I fell into deep depression.

Years of therapy, spiritual work and working with others brought me to my true self. This could be your story too.
I have clients who've healed from horrible trauma.

Take the case of Rick, a 42 year-old founder I treated, he was riddled with chronic insomnia.

He would lie awake for hours, around 3 AM.
During therapy, he described growing up in a home where his father would come home drunk at 3 AM...
His father threw furniture and shouted waking the whole family every night.

As a little boy, Rick felt he must stay alert to keep safe and help his mother.
1 month into therapy, Rick was able to sleep through the night.
I've dedicated my life to helping people transform with mindfulness.

-Release anxiety naturally.
-End the cycle of overthinking.
-Transform fear through presence.

If you're facing these issues, schedule an Enlightenment Call to see if
I can help: calendly.com/lorwen_consult…
And, if this resonated with you, follow @LORWEN108 for similar threads on anxiety, stress, and mindfulness.

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More from @LORWEN108

Jul 16
A Stanford neuroscientist warns high cortisol wrecks memory, enlarges your fear center, and makes your brain feel broken.

If I wanted to lower it naturally, I’d do these 8 things every day:

1. Walk barefoot on grass for 5–7 minutes.
Your feet contain ~200,000 nerve endings.

When they touch grass, soil, or sand, your brain receives rich sensory information from the body.

That input can pull you out of rumination and back into physical awareness.

That’s why a slow barefoot walk can feel so regulating.
2. Get sunlight within 30 minutes of waking.

Cortisol naturally rises after you wake up to fuel the day.

Morning light helps regulate that daily rhythm.

Without it, you may feel wired, scattered, and unfocused long after the morning has passed.
Read 14 tweets
Jul 15
The most socially acceptable way to destroy your life:

Overthink everything.
Act on nothing.

Your mind calls it “figuring things out.”

Here are Eckhart Tolle’s 7 steps to break the loop: 👇

1. Recognize that there’s a voice in your head that never shuts up.
You are the one hearing it.

That means you are not the voice.
2. Stop treating every thought like an emergency.

A thought can be loud, convincing, and completely untrue.
Read 10 tweets
Jul 14
Joe Rogan spent 3 hours with James Nestor learning why millions breathe themselves into anxiety.

Your breath trains your body to panic—even when nothing's wrong.

6 signs it’s happening to you—and how to retrain your breathing: 👇

1. You hold your breath while reading a text.
Especially when you are waiting for bad news, a reply or someone’s reaction.

Then your body forces out a huge sigh.

That is the clue:

Your breath changes the moment your mind starts scanning for danger.

Method 3: Hum on the exhale

Inhale softly through your nose.
Hum slowly as you breathe out.

Repeat for 1–2 minutes.

The sound gives your racing mind one steady sensation to follow.
2. You keep chasing a full breath—but never catch it.

You pull in more air.
But it still feels incomplete.

So you try again.

Here is the trap:

The more you chase a deep breath, the more alarmed your body feels.

Method 1: The 6–6 Reset

Inhale gently through your nose for 6 seconds.
Exhale gently for 6 seconds.

Repeat for up to 5 minutes.

Do not breathe bigger.
Breathe quieter.
Read 11 tweets
Jul 13
How to drop your CORTISOL by 43%
(backed by 300+ studies):

7 proven ways:

1. Use the Butterfly Hug for 60 seconds.
Cross your arms over your chest and slowly tap left, right, left, right.

The rhythm gives your nervous system a predictable signal of safety.
2. Get morning sunlight.

Most people spike cortisol harder than necessary because they wake up and immediately flood their brain with:

texts
email
news

Before the phone, get light on your face.

Even 5–10 minutes changes the signal.
Read 10 tweets
Jul 10
High cortisol is aging you faster than smoking and tanning beds.

Low libido, achy joints, dark circles, weak muscles.

Here are 9 natural ways to slow the clock (without medication):

1. Cold water on your face. Image
Image
Because it can activate the vagus nerve and help shift the body out of panic physiology.

It triggers the mammalian diving reflex → increases parasympathetic (vagal) activity and slows your heart rate, which helps interrupt panic attacks.

Cold water also signals GABAergic release, giving you a quick, refreshing, invigorating feeling. It's a sure-fire way to interrupt negative thought loops.
2. Slow exhales stop the fight-or-flight response-- in seconds.

Long exhales increase respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and vagal calming. Your entire body relaxes, and visual clarity is restored.

This often increases HRV and shifts autonomic balance away from the fight-or-flight response.
Read 12 tweets
Jul 9
Most anxious high-achievers make ONE mistake before bed:

They try to calm their thoughts.

Erling Haaland trains his body to recognize the day is over.

Here are 6 habits he uses to protect his sleep:

1. Wear blue-blocking glasses 3 hrs before bedtime.
Less blue light → less daytime signal → more melatonin → easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

LED lights hits special cells in the eyes called melanopsin cells. These cells send signals to the brain’s master clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus:

Stay awake, it’s daytime.
2. Avoiding screens before bed.

Separate from the glasses, Erling reported limiting screen exposure at dusk.

This is his important rule:

No blue light at night because it delays melatonin production.
Read 10 tweets

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