The question isn’t if you have trauma. The question is… where is your trauma? You don’t have to have been abused or abandoned as a child to have experienced trauma. So often we dismiss our pain or our struggle because we don’t feel it’s necessary. Something “big enough” didn’t happen to us to justify our feelings. There is no justification necessary. There is not a trauma competition to be won. We all experience trauma in our own way and in honoring your experience, you will find that your present life feels calmer, richer and more connected. As a child, a simple experience of not being included in a family ice cream party can set off years of trauma healing. I know, that’s me… whose favorite dessert is ice cream to make up for that traumatic exclusion. But it’s not about the ice cream. It’s about what I believed about myself after that experience. “I’m not good enough to be included.” “I’m not welcomed because I am _______.” “I’m in the way.” “I have nothing to offer.” And the list goes on. Sound familiar? It probably does for you too…until we take time to heal it. Here’s the thing… Trauma doesn’t show up in your current life like a memory of the experience, it shows up as an intense response to a different situation that triggers that same original injury. We then find ourselves responding like someone who has been hurt for 30 years rather than someone who has been hurt for 30 seconds. It’s the moment when you find yourself filled with an intense feeling that engulfs you. When this all happens in a split-second, this is a trauma response. Not sure what else a trauma response looks like? Here are a few other examples of where you probably find yourself experiencing your trauma every single day. |
When we can pause, breathe and look deeper at the current situation that triggered us, we can always find the deeper connection to our childhood trauma.
Where did I feel this same feeling when I was a child?
When did I first feel this emotion?
When we can connect the dots, we find the pattern.
When we find the pattern, we can heal the original pain and stop responding more intensely than necessary.
It’s important to understand that it is your 5-year-old self responding to the situation because it is still hurting.
When you heal that hurt, forward healing happens.
Join me for today’s meditation, Healing your childhood wounds, as we once again invite the healing waters of Maui to heal our pain.
See you in meditation.
Much love,
Erin