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The Biology of Trauma® With Dr. Aimie

The Biology of Trauma® With Dr. Aimie

Auteur(s): Dr. Aimie Apigian
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 People are done dancing around the topic of trauma. They're ready to face this square-on. None of the current systems are getting to the root of the issue in the current model. Their biology has been affected on a cellular level, and that is now what's preventing the important work that they're trying to do. The Biology of Trauma® podcast is the missing piece to that puzzle. It's a practical living manual for the human body in a modern, traumatizing world. Join your host medical physician and attachment, trauma and addiction expert, Dr. Aimie as she challenges the old paradigm of trauma and illuminates a new model for the healing journey.2022 Développement personnel Hygiène et mode de vie sain Psychologie Psychologie et santé mentale Réussite
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  • Why Trauma Returns in Midlife: A Chinese Medicine Lens

    Why Trauma Returns in Midlife: A Chinese Medicine Lens
    Dec 9 2025
    Chinese medicine may help explain why stored trauma causes old patterns to resurface when we least expect it. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Lorne Brown, a leader in integrative reproductive health and Chinese medicine who brings 25 years of clinical experience to the conversation. We explore the concept of qi stagnation and how it aligns with chronic functional freeze. Dr. Brown explains why the body stores overwhelming experiences in layers as a survival mechanism, and why that strategy begins to unravel around midlife when our resources shift. If you're in perimenopause or menopause and noticing old symptoms or emotions stirring again, this conversation offers a new lens for understanding what the body is trying to communicate. In this episode you'll learn: [00:02:00] The Body's Layered Storage System: How Chinese medicine understands stored trauma as a three-layer defense mechanism designed to protect our vital organs [00:05:30] Why Around Age 40, Everything Changes: The body stops using resources to suppress stored energy and begins asking us to finally process it [00:08:00] Perimenopause as a Tipping Point: Why hormone fluctuations shrink our window of tolerance and reveal what we've been holding [00:11:32] The Second Spring: Chinese medicine's perspective on menopause as a spiritual awakening where resources redirect to the heart center [00:13:24] Qi Stagnation & Functional Freeze: The connection between stuck energy and chronic patterns of protection in the nervous system [00:17:00] The Radio Metaphor: How emotions are meant to move through us like a song, and what happens when we hit repeat [00:21:14] When Healed Trauma Returns: Why perimenopause can bring back symptoms and emotions we thought we'd resolved [00:28:40] Safety as the Foundation: Why Chinese medicine agrees that creating safety is the essential first step for allowing stagnation to move [00:34:44] Sound, Laser & Frequency Medicine: Tools that bypass the mind and work directly with the cells and nervous system [00:43:07] Notice, Accept, Choose Again: Dr. Brown's NAC process for metabolizing uncomfortable feelings and restoring flow Main Takeaways Emotions are the number one cause of disease in Chinese medicine. The classic Stored trauma is intelligent, not broken. The body stores overwhelming experiences to protect us. This isn't a fault—it's a brilliant survival mechanism that keeps strong emotions from reaching vital organs where serious disease develops. Around age 40, the body changes its strategy. Resources that once kept difficult experiences suppressed get redirected toward longevity. The body essentially says: "You're not four anymore. It's time to deal with this." Perimenopause reveals capacity gaps. Hormone fluctuations create internal stress. If our window of tolerance is already narrow, perimenopause shrinks it further—and stored patterns surface as symptoms. Qi stagnation is functional freeze. When we resist, suppress, or fight what we feel, energy gets stuck in tissues. When we allow feelings to move through us, we restore flow and health. Safety creates the conditions for release. Without felt safety, the body contracts and stagnation deepens. Creating safety—through breath, movement, acupuncture, sound—allows the system to finally let go. The healing journey is ongoing. If something still triggers a somatic response, there's more work to do. This isn't failure—it's an opportunity to clean up the system and restore flow. Notable Quotes "It's not always the situation that causes the experience inside. It's how you perceive it." "When we're children, we don't have the capacity to process and metabolize these strong emotions. But as we get older, the body eventually says, you need to deal with this." "It's in the name—emotion. Energy in motion. So emotions are you feeling the flow of qi in your body." "You have to feel it to heal it. And if you resist it, it persists." "I don't care if you've worked it a million times. If it still has a somatic response, that's your message from your body that you get to work it one million and one times." Episode Takeaway This conversation gave me language for something I've felt in my own body for years. Dr. Brown's explanation of why the body stores overwhelming experiences in layers—and why it eventually stops spending resources to keep them hidden—makes so much sense when I think about what happens around midlife. For so long, I resisted my own freeze response. I hated it. I didn't want to accept it or feel it. And yet it was always there, waiting for me. What I've come to understand, and what Dr. Brown articulates so beautifully through the lens of Chinese medicine, is that resistance creates stagnation. Fighting what we feel amplifies it. The invitation here isn't to dig up the past or analyze every event. It's simpler than that: when something surfaces, can we notice it without taking it personally? Can we let it move through rather than ...
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    50 min
  • Frozen in Success: The Biology of Staying Stuck in Survival with Dr. Aimie Apigian

    Frozen in Success: The Biology of Staying Stuck in Survival with Dr. Aimie Apigian
    Dec 2 2025
    Many high-achieving people look successful on the outside while part of them remains frozen in childhood survival patterns. Through the Biology of Trauma® lens, I share how trauma disrupts the natural flow and movement of life—and the healing roadmap that takes us from stuck to truly alive. If we've ever wondered why we can reach every external goal and still feel disconnected from our own life, this episode explains why. I share Elena's story, a 45-year-old Chief Operating Officer whose autoimmune diagnosis revealed what her body had been holding for decades. When her thirteen-year-old daughter had thoughts of suicide—and felt she couldn't talk to her mom—Elena finally understood: a part of her had been frozen since before she could walk. We'll explore how nervous system dysregulation shows up as professional success masking emotional unavailability. We'll see how trauma stops our natural movement through life—and discover the six-step roadmap from survival to authenticity, belonging, and flow. In this episode you'll learn: [00:00] Why successful people can still be frozen in survival patterns from childhood [02:15] How Elena's birth trauma created a freeze response before she could walk [06:40] The moment her daughter's crisis revealed decades of emotional unavailability [09:10] Trauma defined: the biggest disruptor of movement in our life [12:45] Why everything inside us is movement—and what happens when trauma stops it [16:05] The healing destination: authenticity, belonging, and flow as what it means to be alive [19:50] Why state shifts matter more than neuroplasticity on your healing journey [24:05] How neuroplasticity wires in whatever state you're in—including overwhelm [26:30] The six-step roadmap: from "I am alive" to connection with others [28:15] How Elena broke the generational cycle with her daughters Main Takeaways: Trauma Is the Biggest Disruptor of Movement: Trauma isn't just an event—it's the shock that stops us. It disrupts movement at every level: physical, emotional, relational, and through our life stages. Successful and Frozen Can Coexist: High achievement doesn't mean our nervous system is regulated. Elena built an impressive career while part of her remained that terrified little girl, hiding and staying still to survive. State Shifts Come Before Neuroplasticity: Whatever state we're in is what neuroplasticity wires in. If we're frequently in stress and overwhelm, our brain builds pathways that make that pattern automatic. We must shift our state first. The Destination Is Authenticity, Belonging, and Flow: These three elements define what it means to be truly alive—free to be ourselves, grounded in connection, and moving with ease through life. You Can't Skip the Sequence: The roadmap follows a specific order: recognizing we're alive, choosing to live, shifting our state, being here, wanting to be here, deserving to be here, and finally connecting with others. Each step prepares us for the next. Healing Breaks Generational Patterns: When Elena addressed her frozen patterns, her daughters noticed changes they never expected. The "resting bitch face" disappeared. Presence replaced absence. Notable Quotes: "Trauma becomes the biggest disruptor of movement in our life." "I can still see myself as a little girl, hiding with my dolls, quiet, still and absolutely terrified." "Whatever state we are in is what neuroplasticity wires in." "Being in calm alive can actually become a habit. Imagine that." "Your body's decision to freeze wasn't a failure—it was survival. But you don't have to stay frozen." "My 12-year-old girl didn't realize that I had grown up and that I am alive—which means that she did it. She made it. We're alive." Episode Takeaway: Frozen doesn't mean broken. Elena's story reveals what happens when trauma stops our natural movement through life—not just physical movement, but emotional presence, relational connection, and our ability to truly arrive in the life we've built. Her freeze response began at birth, reinforced through childhood, and showed up decades later as professional success masking emotional unavailability. Her daughters felt it. Her body felt it. Her autoimmune diagnosis confirmed it. The healing roadmap offers a way forward. First, we help that frozen part recognize we're alive—that survival happened. Then we consciously choose to live, rather than simply existing because we had no choice. We learn to shift our state into calm and aliveness, practicing until it becomes our new default. And finally, we move through the deeper work: being here, wanting to be here, deserving to be here, and opening to genuine connection with others. Neuroplasticity works for or against us depending on our state. If overwhelm has become our habit, our brain has built pathways that take us there automatically. But when we build the habit of calm aliveness first, neuroplasticity starts working in our favor. The destination isn't ...
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    43 min
  • Family Boundaries and Dysfunction: How to Stay True to Yourself Around Family with Jalon Johnson

    Family Boundaries and Dysfunction: How to Stay True to Yourself Around Family with Jalon Johnson
    Dec 1 2025

    What if the hardest part of our healing journey isn't the inner work—but showing up to family gatherings after we've changed and our family hasn't?

    In this raw, unscripted conversation, Dr. Aimie Apigian sits down with her friend Jalon Johnson to talk about something most healing resources won't touch: the exhausting reality of being around family when we're no longer willing to play the role they expect. This isn't a polished teaching episode—it's two people figuring out in real time how to navigate people-pleasing, unspoken guilt, and the mental gymnastics of anticipating everyone's reactions while trying to stay true to who we've become.

    From recognizing the coping mechanisms we didn't know were coping mechanisms, to the practical strategy of getting our own hotel room, this episode gets honest about what it really takes to walk the "healthy lonely road" when our family is still stuck in old patterns.

    In this episode you'll hear more about:

    • The tradition trap and choosing ourselves: Why challenging family traditions makes us the "bad guy" even when those traditions are unhealthy, and how stepping outside the role we're "supposed to play" makes us a threat to people who haven't chosen us—they've just chosen the role
    • The coping mechanisms we didn't recognize: Dr. Aimie's realization that she would start craving numbing foods a full week before family events, recognizing now that overeating specific foods was her way of avoiding the uncomfortable feelings of misalignment and unspoken expectations
    • Titrating our presence—the hotel room strategy: Dr. Aimie's practical approach to family—not disappearing completely, but also not showing up in ways that leave us angry, resentful, and needing weeks to recover. Finding "what is enough" by getting her own hotel to reset her energy and maintain who she is without sabotaging the healing she's done
    • "I'm not going, and I don't owe an explanation": Jalon's boundary of simply not attending when his body tells him rest is needed, recognizing it only has to make sense to him—and the powerful reframe: "I don't want the next gathering of the family to be everybody at my funeral"
    • Boundaries expose, they don't create: Understanding that healthy boundaries will expose the conflict that was already underlying—the dysfunction was always there, we're just no longer pretending it isn't

    Our healing will change our relationships. That's not a warning, it's a guarantee. The question isn't whether our family will be uncomfortable with the new us—they will be. The question is: what boundaries will we set so we can stay true to ourselves without completely disconnecting from the people we love? This episode doesn't give us easy answers because there aren't any. But it gives us permission to get our own hotel room, to say "I'm not coming," and to recognize that choosing ourselves isn't selfish when the alternative is betraying everything we've worked so hard to heal.

    🎧 This is Part 1 of Dr. Aimie's conversation with Jalon Johnson. Part 2 will tackle why saying no feels like pulling the pin out of a grenade and what might actually happen when we set that boundary. Subscribe so you don't miss it.

    🎙️ Check out this week's main episode, Episode 149: Mind-Body Trauma Research: The Truth with Dr. Gabor Maté

    💭 What's the boundary we've been afraid to set because we're worried about what others will say? Sit with that question this week. And if you need the reminder: it only has to make sense to us.

    Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube—it takes two minutes and means more than you know. Thank you for being here.
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    15 min
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