A healing hangover is a process that someone may go through after releasing deeply held traumas. Oftentimes called a ‘healing crisis’ an individual may temporarily experience an aggravation of their symptoms, as old wounds are brought to the surface to be released.
It is important to note that this is completely normal and an expected part of trauma healing. As such, it is imperative that our clients are told about the probability of experiencing a healing hangover beforehand so that they are not alarmed and know what to expect.
It is also our responsibility as healers to provide our clients with the tools to integrate their experiences and to ensure they feel prepared.
What does a healing hangover feel like?
Imagine your most emotionally taxing day and multiply that by 20, or your first hard day at work. A healing hangover most often will feel mentally draining due to all of the unprocessed emotions coming to the surface for release, along with the realisations and learnings that need to be integrated.
The physical body may experience headaches, low energy, lethargy (the body trying to catch up with a new higher vibration), a feeling of being dazed, and the emotional body may experience a lot of reactivity from opening deep traumas. The body-mind undergoes a process of re-wiring and re-learning as all of the neurological paths are changing, and fast.
What exactly happens in a healing hangover?
During the healing session, a client’s sympathetic nervous system will get temporarily triggered (as most trauma has an element of fear or not feeling safe). The original traumatic event or events that were similar to the original event will flash up in the client’s mind, triggering the sympathetic nervous system, and a few days will be needed for the system to re-settle.
Once the nervous system calms down and returns to parasympathetic (relaxation/rest & digest) a healing hangover will then follow, lasting for a few days to a few weeks and on a rare occasion, possibly months if the healing has triggered a dark night of the soul where an overwhelming amount of old belief systems begin to fall away.
As mentioned above this event, while healing, is a significant emotional and sometimes physical temporary strain on the body-mind. Traumas that have been building for years and years, sometimes decades come to the surface for purging and release.
The person, in a very real sense, is re-living the event with the intention of healing it. A time of integration and entering into a protective healing cocoon is necessary. It can be especially deep when a person has lived with a dysregulated nervous system for years and never felt peace due to constant activation.
After living in a state of constant ‘numbing out’ consistently for years and decades, there will be a great deal of integration that needs to happen afterwards.
Some of the realisations that a person may experience during or after a healing hangover are:
* Experiencing themselves as more than a physical body (a spiritual awakening),
* Grieving time lost due to living in the false identities and protection mechanisms,
* Lost parts of the self-returning,
* Memories, epiphanies and more.
Self Care and Integration
If an individual has participated in a trauma-informed healing session or energy healing session of similar nature, there is a high chance they will experience a Healing Hangover. The emotions are after all, resurfacing in order to be released from the nervous system.
Self-care and space are paramount to ensure that the experience passes smoothly and this may simply look like quiet days, some self-soothing activities, massages, coffee with friends or alone time resting the body and soul with sound healing meditations.
Ideally, the possibility of this occurring will have been discussed before a session is held, forewarning the person and allowing them to be prepared for some downtime.
If you are considering a healing in this area, check with your practitioner as to whether you can expect a healing hangover, and discuss the best way to manage the release of emotions from your system smoothly.