Meditate on trauma

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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maniture_85
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Meditate on trauma

Post by maniture_85 »

Is it possible to meditate on a trauma in a way it lessen the trauma's effects?
If yes, how can one meditate that way?
befriend
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by befriend »

Tara Brach has teachings on this I bought a cd about healing emotionally from her.
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
befriend
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by befriend »

Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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WindDancer
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by WindDancer »

I will share a little from my experience:

1. I was taught to go slowly, be gentle, loving and kind. Healing trauma doesn't respond well when we use force or make harsh demands on ourselves.

2. A PHD psychologist who is a long term skilled meditation instructor, guided me through various guided visualization meditations which were focused on helping me develop a place of safety and comfort in my mind. Then he guided me in EMDR meditation where he brought up a traumatic event and helped me to desensitize and reprocess the event. When I felt overwhelmed, he guided me to the place of safety that I had developed over the previous weeks.

3. Mindfulness based pain and stress reduction and gentle mindful yoga helped.

4. Meditation on the Brahma Viharas: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity have been a big help, and so has practicing them in my daily life.

5. I have benefitted from developing deeper levels of concentration or samadhi meditation.

I wish you the best. May you find the healing you seek,

WindDancer :anjali:
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Bundokji
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by Bundokji »

Trauma's manifest themselves as uninvited painful memories that arise unexpectedly, or as a reference to justify sub-optimal reactions in the day-to-day activities.

The best way to deal with them is to approach them with a certain mindset. You do not want to end a trauma, but to neutralize it. Our intention to end things stems from attachments and a cause for recurrence.

The best way to neutralize an uninvited painful memory is to willingly invite it in the present moment. When you replay the tape, you would see images of the traumatic experience associated with intense feelings. Keep replaying, stay with the discomfort, and see it as images, perceptions, and feelings. The aim of the practice is to realize that you can live with this painful experience. The act of replaying should not be a game you play with yourself. Once you replay as much as necessary, let go of it and do not revisit it.
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!"

This was the last word of the Tathagata.
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Pondera
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by Pondera »

Bundokji wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 9:05 am Trauma's manifest themselves as uninvited painful memories that arise unexpectedly, or as a reference to justify sub-optimal reactions in the day-to-day activities.

The best way to deal with them is to approach them with a certain mindset. You do not want to end a trauma, but to neutralize it. Our intention to end things stems from attachments and a cause for recurrence.

The best way to neutralize an uninvited painful memory is to willingly invite it in the present moment. When you replay the tape, you would see images of the traumatic experience associated with intense feelings. Keep replaying, stay with the discomfort, and see it as images, perceptions, and feelings. The aim of the practice is to realize that you can live with this painful experience. The act of replaying should not be a game you play with yourself. Once you replay as much as necessary, let go of it and do not revisit it.
I concur with you. If I may add:

Childhood trauma may cause a psycho-somatic block in your memory banks.

The mind, in instances like this, may block the trauma to the extent that the natural flow of the present moment to the past moment is present with a loss of memory.

For me, I knew there was a traumatic experience, but I did not know how harsh it was until I was informed of my experiences by other persons. Thus I was left to deal with this mental blockage. And to be sure, it was a psycho-somatic block of both mind and feeling.

When I investigated this blockage I found things that I did not want to remember - but which I knew were true. Unwillingly, I delved into my memory and relived many unpleasant moments - but, to my advantage I was able to unlock the past.

So, yes. There is a way to uncover trauma. And all you can do, as the above poster said, is neutralize it. You can look at it from an adult point of view. You can forgive your self and absolve your self from the wrongs done unto you.

I don’t particularly want to push my idiosyncratic point of view - however - I am certain that memory lies in the right hemisphere of the brain. My illustrations show this.

With that knowledge in hand, I have been able to successfully remediate the past into a positive position in the present moment. That remediation requires an understanding of the way memory works.

All I can say is that if you wish to delve into your deepest memories, then you are best suited to approach them in the right place. I have made my point clear, therefore - I will leave it at that.
Like the three marks of conditioned existence, this world in itself is filthy, hostile, and crowded
dharmacorps
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by dharmacorps »

Specifically meditating on traumatic experiences can be difficult, especially if you are not well grounded about them. It also depends on the severity of the trauma, and if one has a teacher one can turn to if problems come up.
2600htz
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Re: Meditate on trauma

Post by 2600htz »

Hi:

Meditating on trauma implies putting your attention in the unwholesome (unpleasant past experience). In buddhism you deal with past traumas by placing the mind in the wholesome. So you deal with problems indirectly. We all have experienced endless amounts of traumas in samsara, no point in reviewing and getting confortable with every pain you had in the past.Thats psychology.

Take the case of angulimala, he was a serial killer that became an arahant. The buddha told him to help a woman giving birth.
He didnt needed to review one by one every killing he made in the past, that would make his mind anxious and full of guilt.

Regards.
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