This lair of our mind holds all of those important events, whether positive or negative...
It leaves its scars as tattoos on the psyche, shaping, altering and traumatizing our experience of the world. We hold our "tattoos" of trauma closely at the core of our perceptual filter for our lives. The scars sit closely to those triggers which call us into patterns of accepted behaviors we have conditioned our lives to be. Sometimes those scars become our comfort, they become our safe place when we need something to fall back on.
So what are these "trauma tattoos" that so many of our minds are covered in?
Events which create extreme stress and anxiety tend to imprint deeply in our persona. These may be echoes of events from early on in life, or of events we experienced just yesterday. The effect of these moments creates that anxiety and stress that permeates every aspect of our being. With one little catalyst we can spiral into our behaviors and coping mechanisms as though we are right back there with the event, as though we never left it. For soldiers, this is a common occurrence when they are engaged in battle. This has been called "shell shock,"combat stress reaction, battle fatigue, and now its most commonly referred to as post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
These scars have trouble being released because they were not fully embraced, however difficult that may sound...
Letting go, while it seems like it should be easy, can be a very arduous task and this is especially true in cases of trauma. Think of it like a sink filled with dirty dishes. Usually, you would just rinse off the dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher, letting go of their filth and releasing the attachment to the dirt that they have built up. The person with PTSD or with traumatic dramas has a damaged faucet and dishwasher. Their faucet won't wash off the dishes and now the gunk on the plates is caked all over the sides of the sink! This gunk just builds up and up sealing the unaltered sink. This sink is like your mind, with the grime being those painful scarring memories of your past. You just can't seem to wash the pain or difficult memories away.
What we need here is something to get the painful memories to release, to let go of their hold on our psychological well-being.
Ok, so here's the hard part, but it can be accomplished in a softer way...
We have to revisit those traumatic events in order to fully free ourselves of their grasp. Did just the mention of this idea send a shudder through you. Don't worry, we are going to do this as gently as possible, it will be tough though.
Just as a good doctor will tell you to let the fever run its course, so it is with our mental disruptions as well. We rob ourselves of the fullness of an experience when we recoil, or shut down, or become unconscious to what is transpiring. This compounds in our subconscious, creating a feeling of anxiety and distress when we remember the experience because we never let the difficulty and pain run its course in our emotional body. Our body is naturally cathartic and will initiate its own fail safe as we process really hard events, but only if we can be aware of all of the emotions that arise. This attention to the pain and discomfort lets it run its course just as a fever needs to.
So this can be really upsetting depending on what your stressor was...
What are some ways to diffuse or release the gunk that has clogged up our perception?
First things first, reliving and really acknowledging and embracing those difficult feelings will be hard to do, but it is truly vital. Once they have been fully expressed they can be seen as what they are, emotions and feelings and nothing more. They lose their power when the light of awareness comes upon them. This awareness can be fostered using some Sedona Method work by asking yourself if you are able to let go of the held emotion or held attachments to the traumas. Then you ask if you would be able to let go, thereby empowering your self confidence. Lastly you would simply ask when you will be able to let this go. What this does is diffuse the emotional energy bomb attached to the trauma and makes it so that it can be released over time in a safe way.
Another way, still requiring some revisiting, but in a more muted way, involves going back to the event or events from a distance and keeping awareness on the event while you do EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as tapping. This will send a vibration accompanied by intention statements and reframing statements to help shift the blockages caused by the held or trapped emotions.
Still another very powerful method involves hypnotherapy work where we go in and replay the trauma from a safe distance. We gently break through to become fully present and aware of it in order to diffuse the power we have given it to control our lives with fear, shame, guilt, or any of the other lower energetic emotions. This still brings us back to it, but in a more distant way depending on the hypnotherapist or program they are working with.
These tattoos of our life experiences are just as permanent as our external ones.
Taking the power out of their control over our emotional lives is how we can stop letting them control our perception of the world. This will free our experience so we can grow and transform into our highest selves in this lifetime.
The memories may never fade, but the power we let them have over our lives is something you have the power to change...
What are you waiting for?
Light for your path...
Just be.
What are some ways to diffuse or release the gunk that has clogged up our perception?
First things first, reliving and really acknowledging and embracing those difficult feelings will be hard to do, but it is truly vital. Once they have been fully expressed they can be seen as what they are, emotions and feelings and nothing more. They lose their power when the light of awareness comes upon them. This awareness can be fostered using some Sedona Method work by asking yourself if you are able to let go of the held emotion or held attachments to the traumas. Then you ask if you would be able to let go, thereby empowering your self confidence. Lastly you would simply ask when you will be able to let this go. What this does is diffuse the emotional energy bomb attached to the trauma and makes it so that it can be released over time in a safe way.
Another way, still requiring some revisiting, but in a more muted way, involves going back to the event or events from a distance and keeping awareness on the event while you do EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as tapping. This will send a vibration accompanied by intention statements and reframing statements to help shift the blockages caused by the held or trapped emotions.
Still another very powerful method involves hypnotherapy work where we go in and replay the trauma from a safe distance. We gently break through to become fully present and aware of it in order to diffuse the power we have given it to control our lives with fear, shame, guilt, or any of the other lower energetic emotions. This still brings us back to it, but in a more distant way depending on the hypnotherapist or program they are working with.
These tattoos of our life experiences are just as permanent as our external ones.
Taking the power out of their control over our emotional lives is how we can stop letting them control our perception of the world. This will free our experience so we can grow and transform into our highest selves in this lifetime.
The memories may never fade, but the power we let them have over our lives is something you have the power to change...
What are you waiting for?
Light for your path...
Just be.
Written by Rev. Brien Egan CHt, CRM, CKRM.
Brien is an author, certified hypnotherapist, a reiki master, karuna reiki master, pranic energy worker, crystal bowl sound healer, EFT practitioner, quantum touch practitioner, sedona method practitioner, chakra cleansing teacher, qi gong teacher, an ordained minister from the Essene New Life Church and has his B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Special Education. He has been practicing and teaching spirituality for over 14 years. He has done a lot of work with children, families and individuals by leading workshops, classes and through individual or group sessions. He also designed and ran a kids spirituality summer camp for 8 years which taught children many quantum physics and spiritual concepts, meditation and mindfulness practices.
Brien's e-mail: nowherebe8@gmail.com
Brien's website: www.beoneherenow.webs.com
Link to Brien's book, The Art of Falling: https://www.createspace.com/6150280
