Moving Beyond Trauma

Trauma can be defined as a response to any situation or event that is perceived as life threatening. Through a great deal of reading and lived experience, I’ve learned that trauma experienced during very early childhood can affect your entire life. It alters your physiological and your psychological response to stress.

In my experience, very early childhood trauma set the stage for placing myself in harms way and therefore living through a number of additional traumatic experiences. I am incredibly lucky to be alive at this moment and am grateful to those who have helped me along the way.

Self destructive and self caring behaviors have both served in preserving my life. As I have aged self destruction has fallen away more and more. I am fortunate to have been able to experience a variety of healing modalities. What follows is a list of things that have helped me survive and thrive:

1.) Running away from home

2.) Discovering the powers of creative expression

3.) Experimenting with altered states of being

4.) Having a true friend

5.) The kindness of some authority figures

6.) Finding my soulmate

7.) Learning about nutrition

8.) Giving birth

9.) Parenting to the best of my abilities

10.) Creating circles of friends with whom I am safe

11.) Finding communities of people who embrace growth and learning

12.) Deepening my relationship to self education

13.) Receiving love and support from family to the best of their abilities

14.) Finding a mentor

15.) Finding a healer

16.) Helping others

17.) Discovering movement, yoga, and breathing

18.) Developing a meditation practice

19.) Travel

20.) Receiving healing touch

21.) Reading about psychology, neurology, and self-help

22.) Relating to nature

23.) Somatic therapy

24.) Talk therapy

25.) Tai Chi

26.) Energy medicine

27.) Consciously changing my internal dialogue

28.) Forgiveness of self and others

29.) Activism!

30.) Focus on what there is to be grateful for in life

31.) Awareness of the fleeting nature of life

Sleep and / or depression can sometimes function as helping states. I continue to search for tools to grow beyond these modes. I choose not to partake of pharmacological options, although these may be right for you. In my experience each Dr., therapist, and healer brings their own complexity and limitations to the work they practice. I prefer gentle and self empowering methods of healing.

Obviously a huge percentage of people worldwide have experienced trauma to varying degrees. May we all learn from our experience and help to make the world a safer place.

 

 

From the Domain of Paula.

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