To date, there have been enough studies to show that meditation is not the cure-all for trauma. In fact, it could bring on further emotional distress and even psychosis to those who have a history of abuse. During meditation, there is the danger of spontaneous surfacing of painful repressed memories.
According to Dr. Willoughby Britton, who has studied the adverse effects of contemplative practices,
“Meditation can lead people to some dark places, triggering trauma or leaving people feeling disoriented.”
She released a study that identified 59 different kinds of negative meditation experiences. Their research has also shown that these distressing experiences are not limited to people who have a history of mental illness.
When one has suffered from trauma, one’s mind may be filled with anger, rage, hatred, and self-loathing. You may have negative thoughts spinning your mind into a turmoil. You may want to lash out and scream. Intrusive thoughts fill your days and nights. Forcing your thoughts to stay still and silent is just not possible.
Asking someone with trauma to pay close, sustained attention to their internal experience, we invite them into contact with traumatic stimuli – thoughts, images, memories, and physical sensations that may relate to a traumatic experience. This can aggravate and intensify symptoms of traumatic stress. In some cases, especially without the guidance of trained professionals, it can even lead to re-traumatization – a relapse into an intensely traumatized state.
Zen Mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness.
According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School mindfulness is “not really about sitting in the full lotus… pretending you’re a statue in the British Museum. Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness.”
Today, mindfulness is erroneously associated with stillness, but in Japan it has always been a way of life. Zen is an attitude that permeates every action: bathing, cooking, cleaning, working. “Every activity and behavior in daily life is a practice [of Zen],” This present-moment awareness has been deeply ingrained into the Japanese psyche for centuries.
The Creativity Cure - Happiness is in Your Own Hands
Trauma gets stored in our brains like a time capsule, we think and react like frozen zombies stuck in the horror of our childhoods. Our intrinsic memory, the part of the memory that associates present situations to past experiences, relies on old beliefs and reaction patterns.
The crux of healing traumatic memories is rewiring your brain to think differently. A thought shift happens when we entice our minds to focus on other things. We all know distraction is the best way to stop a child having a tantrum. Same with our minds. What better way than complex, creative, art-making activities like knitting, gardening, cake decorating, pottery or drawing/coloring that require our focus, concentration, and dexterity.
Research has shown that creating or tending things by hand enhances mental health and makes us happy.
Director of the Creativity for Resilience Program at Dell Medical School in Austin, Carrie Barron, M.D. in her book The Creativity Cure: How to Build Happiness with Your Own Two Hands demonstrates how creative action is integral to long-term happiness and well-being.
When you’re deeply absorbed in something truly interesting to you; there’s almost a loss of self and you lose track of time. This is when your thoughts shift from your past traumatic timeframe to being absorbed in the NOW. It happens gradually and gently without undue effort.
The repetitive and complex actions activate our brain's neurons to focus on the present task at hand. Plus, the act of creating something fills one with that euphoric feeling. Just 10-20 seconds shift in our thought process has been scientifically proven to create new neural pathways.
Our brain is designed for action, the hand-eye coordination movement activates our own effort-driven reward circuitry, it squirts a cocktail of feel-good neurotransmitters, including dopamine (the "reward" chemical), endorphins (released with exercise), and serotonin (secreted during repetitive movement).
Healing from trauma is tough, we will struggle and falter. Sometimes we feel like just giving up. It is painful. However, instead of just focusing on the traditional healing modalities, we need to start doing things that give us joy.
Pick an activity that really interests you, it doesn't matter what. It could be painting, candle-making, quilting, cake-decorating, carpentry, knitting, gardening, learning a musical instrument. Find a group or community that shares your passion. There is nothing more satisfying than connecting with like-minded souls.
As one develops mastery in one aspect of life, one feels confident to tackle the difficult parts.
Rather than holding on and remaining focused and alert, we need to get on with living. Keeping our body and minds active helps us move forward. Staying immobile isn’t going to guide us into our healing place. Meditation, while a useful beginning step for some people is not always the answer.
Being in the flow of life is the solution to overcoming our painful past.
This article has been republished with permission from the author, Cheryl Miranda at MindKind Mom.