Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

In this chapter, Levine identifies four fundamental components that form the core of traumatic reactions: hyperarousal, constriction, dissociation, and helplessness. He argues that while these responses are normal reactions to threat, they become pathological when they persist chronically after danger has passed.

Levine begins by explaining the arousal cycle—a natural process in which individuals become energized in response to challenges or threats and then discharge that energy and return to relaxation. He notes that traumatized individuals develop a deep distrust of this cycle because arousal has become coupled with overwhelming immobilization. The key to healing, Levine suggests, lies in re-establishing trust in the principle that “what goes up must come down” (128)—that heightened arousal will naturally resolve if allowed to complete its cycle.

The author introduces hyperarousal as the “seed” of trauma, describing it as the nervous system’s automatic mobilization of energy in response to perceived threats. Levine explains that threatening situations produce remarkably similar physiological responses across different people. He emphasizes that these responses are involuntary.

Constriction operates alongside hyperarousal, narrowing one’s focus, breathing, muscle tone, and perceptual awareness to concentrate all resources on the immediate threat. This response, while adaptive in crisis, becomes problematic when it persists after the threat has passed.