Still Carrying It? How to Release Collective Trauma

“Holding on is believing that there's only a past; letting go is knowing that there's a future.” - Daphne Rose Kingma

Still Carrying the Weight of a Hard Season?

Let's be honest, some seasons aren't just rough. They leave a collective trauma behind.

To this day, many of my clients still talk about the covid isolation period. Not as something they got over, but as something that's still sitting in their body.

For some, it reactivated an old wound. One client grew up with a controlling parent who tracked her every move. Lockdown put her right back in that house, unable to leave, being checked on constantly. Her body didn't know the difference between 1998 and 2020.

For others, it was the sheer scale of it. Uncertainty with no end date. Isolation from people they loved. Loss that wasn't just personal, it was everywhere, all at once.

Whatever the doorway in, many of us were left feeling:

• Numb or stuck in survival mode
• Exhausted, no matter how much we rest
• Quietly grieving what we lost, time, people, plans, stability
• Disconnected from our joy, purpose, or even our bodies

When We Hold On, It Shows Up in Our Bodies

Past stress doesn't just go away. It settles in. Yup, adding to that “to-do” list. 

And if we don't release it, it starts to shape how we feel, think, and act.

• Body: inflammation, pain, tension that never really leaves
• Mood: anxiety, sadness, feeling on edge for no clear reason
• Energy: constant fatigue, burnout, trouble focusing

You're not imagining it. Your body remembers what your mind tries to forget.

But it isn't just collective trauma from the past. We're witnessing genocide unfold in Gaza, Congo, and Sudan, playing out in real time on our devices. We're seeing Black Americans found hanging from trees, deaths that get labeled "suicide" with no real investigation. We're watching ICE take people away from their families without warning. It's enough to make anyone nauseous, continuously. And we’re still expected to function.

In This Blog, You'll Learn:

1. What happens when self-care slips
2. Why clearing emotional gunk is so important
3. How to be kinder to yourself (even when life is hard)
4. What happens when you finally release stress
5. How letting go opens the door to your dreams
6. 10 simple tips to help you release a hard season (and feel lighter)

What Happens When Self-Care Slips

A hard season like that strips away many of our self-care tools:

• Routines fall apart
• Social time vanishes
• Normal rhythms disappear

Without those outlets, it's easy to slip into brain fog, poor sleep, and emotional overwhelm.

If you've experienced trauma, that stress can hit even harder, showing up as pain, inflammation, and total exhaustion. When we're not nourished, everything feels heavier.

With so much change and noise, our usual coping tricks just haven't cut it.

📊 Research Spotlight 

Research on large-scale collective stressors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, found real increases in anxiety, depression, and stress-related symptoms across the general population, not just people directly affected.

— Vindegaard & Benros, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2020 

It wasn't in your head. So now, we take a different approach:

• Go slow.
• Stay present.
• Give yourself space to process.

Why Clearing Emotional Gunk Is So Important

When we don't process what we went through, our bodies and minds stay on alert.

You might catch yourself thinking:

• "What if this pain never ends?"
• "Why can't I feel normal again?"
• "What's wrong with me?"

These negative thought spirals aren't weakness. They're a sign that your system is still bracing for impact.

📊 Research Spotlight 

Putting a hard experience into words, out loud or on paper, measurably lowers the physical toll of holding it in.

— Baikie & Wilhelm, Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 2005 

Let's teach your system that you're safe now.

How to Be Kinder to Yourself (Even When Life Is Hard)

If you're feeling tired, isolated, or like you should be "over it by now," stop.

Healing doesn't follow a calendar.

• Be gentle. Be patient.
• Treat your inner child with softness and care.
• You don't have to earn rest. You deserve it.

📊 Research Spotlight 

People who treat themselves with more self-compassion consistently show lower levels of anxiety and depression, no matter what they're going through.

— MacBeth & Gumley, Clinical Psychology Review, 2012 

What Happens When You Finally Release Stress

You'll notice:

• Better sleep
• Calmer thoughts
• A grounded sense of peace

📊 Research Spotlight 

Structured mindfulness practice meaningfully improved sleep quality and daytime functioning, more than a standard sleep-habits program.

— Black et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015 

Your body finally exhales. And so do you.

How Letting Go Opens the Door to Your Dreams

As many of you know from my "Reveal and Heal Obstacles to Your Success™" program, clearing out old gunk is crucial for manifesting the life you want.

✨ Key Insight

You can't build a new life on top of old pain. It's like planting flowers in dry, cracked soil.

When you clear out emotional clutter:

• You invite more flow
• You attract better relationships
• You create space for joy, creativity, and growth

This is how we manifest, not from pressure, but from presence.

10 Simple Tips to Help You Release a Hard Season (And Feel Lighter)

1. Prioritize real self-care practices: rest, movement, joy
2. Write down difficult thoughts to stop spirals
3. Process any trauma by talking it out with someone you trust. Also, seek professional help if you feel it trapped in your body.
4. Release pent-up emotions through journaling or arts
5. Set small, manageable growth goals for personal growth and development. Don't let progress stall
6. Spend time nurturing your inner child through comforting activities
7. Practice mindfulness and be present each day. Reduce stress through meditation
8. Feel your feelings fully. Don't bury or bypass them. Honor what hurt, what stayed heavy, and what still needs attention
9. Then, when you're ready, let go of grudges, hurts, and anything unresolved. Releasing them lightens your emotional load
10. Reflect on the lessons and growth this season gave you, even the hard ones

You don't have to do all ten at once. Pick the one that feels lightest, and start there.

FAQs: Releasing Collective Trauma

Q: How do I know if I'm still holding onto stress from a hard season in my past? 

A: Signs include unexplained fatigue, tension or pain with no clear cause, feeling on edge, or a nagging sense that you should "be over it" by now. Your body often holds what your mind has moved past.

Q: Is it normal to still feel affected by a widescale hard time years later? 

A: Yes. Shared, large-scale stressors can leave a lasting imprint on the nervous system, especially without space to process them. You're not behind or broken for still feeling it.

Q: What's the difference between processing an experience and just thinking about it? 

A: Thinking about it on a loop tends to keep you stuck. Processing means naming what happened, feeling it fully, and letting it move through you, often out loud or on paper, so it stops needing your attention.

Q: Can releasing old stress really affect my sleep and energy?

A: Yes. Chronic, unprocessed stress keeps your body in a low-grade alert state, which disrupts both sleep and daytime energy. Releasing it allows your nervous system to actually rest.

Q: Where do I start if this all feels like too much? 

A: Start small. Pick one tip, not all ten. A few minutes of journaling or naming one feeling out loud is enough to begin teaching your body that it's safe now.

Key Reminders:

• Your body can hold onto stress long after a hard season ends
• Processing a feeling out loud or on paper is different from just replaying it in your head
• Self-compassion isn't indulgent, it's tied to lower anxiety and depression
• Releasing stress changes your sleep, mood, and energy, not just your mindset
• You don't have to release everything at once. Start with the one tip that feels lightest

Want Help Letting Go of a Hard Season?

Inside the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle, you'll find a step-by-step healing experience designed to help you:

• Build your resilience to assist you in navigating this season
• Release trauma and emotional tension
• Build a calm, grounded foundation for the life you want

The Invoke and Release® Healing Modality helps you:

• Lower stress so you can focus and thrive
• Improve your sleep and recharge fully
• Clear energy blocks to feel more peace and flow

If you feel called to integrate and release a hard season, I encourage exploring the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle. With an open mind and heart, you can access profound inner resources to anchor and illuminate your journey.

Important Links:

Reveal and Heal Obstacles to Your Success™

What is Invoke and Release®?

Invoke and Release® Healing Circle

Invoke and Release® website

Helpful blogs:

Why is Healing Trauma Important

Your Body as Your Healing Ally

Seeing through the Seduction of Negative Thinking

Expanding Your Self-Love Will Activate Your Success

Recommended Book: 

The New Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz