Pronking is a behavior seen in nature, where an animal will repeatedly jump high and bound around as if in joy or ecstasy. There is such energy and enthusiasm in its leaps, it almost seems to be trying to leap into the sky to soar away. What possesses them to do this?
After a prey animal escapes the attack of a predator and finds itself safe, it will start to tremble and shake as if still in terror from its close call with death. What actually happens is that its nervous system is discharging the intense energy that was sent to its limbs to help it escape the jaws of its enemy. Once safe, animals in the wild will naturally release the energy from this survival response through their shaking. The release of this energy is one reason they are not traumatized. The trauma is literally shaken off.
Having successfully survived and discharged the trauma, the released energy surges through its body and energizes its muscles with strength and resilience. Its brain has also learned from the experience and now has new resources and neural pathways to help it when it is attacked again. And with this blast of energy, the animal leaps high into the sky over and over again, racing about in what looks like a celebration. It can now soar again.
When animals in captivity and people suffer trauma, they do not go through this energy discharge and suffer later with pain, sleeplessness, trouble eating, sexual dysfunction, etc.–trauma. But people can learn how to allow this natural discharge to take place. They can even learn how to discharge traumas from way in the past. And when they do, they will feel the same strength, resiliency, and surge of energy the animals in the wild experience. People may not pronk, but they can soar again.
