The Surprises You Might Discover When Peeling Away The Layers Of Trauma
The healing is more manageable when you know what to expect.
Mangostar / Shutterstock.com When working through the layers of trauma, it is not uncommon for us to uncover behaviors, habits and addictions that at one time were unconsciously undertaken with the hope that they would create an internal energy shift that would protect us mentally emotionally, and/or physically.
However, instead of these behaviors healing us, they blocked us from living our most authentic and best self.
When we have experienced trauma, it too often is inflicted by the people we were taught to depend on, or someone we should have been able to trust. The traumatic experience stunts us because the ego forms protective perspectives and many times might form imaginary and false identities to deal with the situation.
Not All Psychic Trauma Comes From Abuse
Psychic trauma is the result of stressful events that shatter one's sense of security, making one feel helpless and making one believe the world is a dangerous place. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm.
It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event.
The mind doesn’t know the difference between physical, mental, or psychic trauma. We get triggered just as much from emotional and psychological trauma as we do from physical trauma.
Not all the time are we aware of our sabotaging behaviors, other times we aren’t ready to let go and work with the raw feelings and emotions that behaviors are suppressing. Other times the fear of letting go can trigger a slew of compounded emotions and OCD behaviors all in itself.
Healing is like peeling an onion. This is why it takes time. We first start dealing with the outer layers Each layer that is dealt with gets down a little closer to the core wound.
We identify and address the “outer” layer first, and when that is “peeled away” the second layer reveals emotional symptoms more clearly. The deeper layers of trauma are physical imbalances and illness.
The first layer of trauma
The first layer of the onion is the core belief that we need something or someone to make us happy. Our core beliefs that have been hidden in the shadow of self usually manifest as severe depression and/or self-destructive behaviorism that help us to become aware of our patterns of self-hatred that stem from abandonment manifest as karmic themes of shame, victimization, betrayal, and self-sabotage.
Purging these lower vibrational energies is the beginning of serious inner growth which leads to spiritual transformation.
The second layer of trauma
The second layer is the belief that we are victims. Life does not happen to us. We are simply experiencing the end result of our decisions, thoughts, and behavior prior to this moment.
All we need to do is become aware of our thoughts and take responsibility for our actions for us to experience lasting happiness.
The third layer of trauma
The next layer is learning from our negative emotions instead of getting stuck in them. When negative emotions bubble up, we have to first create awareness and not dwell on them. If we feel negative emotions, and understand why we are feeling how we are feeling. The peeling process is simply the acknowledgment of the feeling and going deeper to the root cause.
The fourth layer of trauma
The last layer is judgment. Judgment causes most of our suffering because it keeps us blocked from feelings and limitations. We judge something as good or bad, right or wrong, like or not like, and depending on how we judge it we either feel pain or pleasure.
It is probably the hardest layer to peel because it is the basis of who we are and how we perceive the world. If we let go of judgment, we don’t have to do anything, we just are. Once we let go of judgment, we will find ourselves in a natural state which is acceptance.
When we heal we shed old aspects of our character and personality. Like a snake, we shed our skin and transform into yet another version of ourselves.
Healing trauma requires us to visit and re-open old wounds again and again. Layer after layer of imbalances and weaknesses are corrected.
The first layer may reveal that you have a lot of anger and fear. The next layer may reveal how you are a people pleaser or codependent. While a deeper layer may reveal triggers and why you struggle with addictions. Wherever you are still experiencing pain, denial, fear, or anger, that is where you are blocked from growing.
Healing the Mind, Heart & Body
The mind may be in denial of the trauma. Denial must be healed to begin.
journaling helps one to fully acknowledge their pain and see where their mind became disassociated from the trauma and became blocked in a victim's conscious. Healing requires
looking at where and how this identity has taken over in order to reclaim his/her power on every level.
Every person is uniquely different with specific needs. Each and every human being is born with innate intelligence and wisdom which intuitively guides us to identify and address the “outer” layer first, and when that is “peeled away” the second layer reveals Itself more clearly. Sometimes there are emotional symptoms other times physical. The analogy of peeling an onion can be applied to this process.
Forgiveness is essential to letting go of the pain. Forgiveness to others and oneself is necessary to let go of the illusion that one could have changed something or that the victimized individual did something wrong.
Massage and bodywork can be very helpful to release physical blocks created from stress and old karmic conditioning held in the fascia.
Many times an experience unfolds and things happen in our lives that get our attention. Very often a layer will consist of a specific miasm plus another issue, such as a chakra that needs attending to, or a trauma that was never adequately resolved.
Feeling “stuck," or heavy, detached and brain-fogged, are many manifestations of old trauma. Old trauma makes it difficult to move on from the event for a prolonged period of time causing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
While emotional trauma is a normal response to a disturbing event, it becomes PTSD when your nervous system gets ”stuck” and you remain in psychological shock, unable to make sense of what happened or process your emotions.
Healing spiritually, be it body shaming, codependency, depression, self-loathing, etc., have multiple layers, and to fully heal these issues, you must uncover and heal each layer and with each layer, you get closer to the core, of the issue. Once you heal the core you healed the root cause and you are free from that particular wound. Each layer is important and each must be addressed, but until the core issue is revealed, the problem will keep coming up. That’s how Spirit shows us there is more healing that needs to be done!
Ultimately the human body and mind are self-healing organisms and are constantly trying to heal and repair themselves. The way to support this is by reducing toxic and immune burdens to the body, providing vital and energized nutrition, and practicing a lifestyle that respects the subtle needs and rhythms of the body.
Trauma Recovery Tips
1. Get moving.
Do Yoga, body mind medicine, weight training, breath work, or dance! Anything you do in your body is beneficial! Trauma disrupts your body’s natural equilibrium, freezing you in a state of hyperarousal and fear. As well as burning off adrenaline and Releasing endorphins, exercise and movement can actually help repair your nervous system.
Try to exercise for 20- 30 minutes every day. Or three 10-minute spurts of exercise per day are just as good.
Add a mindfulness element. Instead of focusing on your thoughts. Distracting yourself while you exercise, focus on your body and how it feels as you move. Notice the sensation of your body.
2. Don’t isolate.
Create a support system. Get involved in your community, taking up a hobby, spending time with friends, and volunteering are very centering and grounding things.
Spend time with people who make you feel as if you aren’t alone and help you to take your mind off what’s troubling you. This also allows us to get fresh perspectives by taking a step back, to create a better mindset.
3. Self-regulate your nervous system.
Do body-mind medicine and yoga. Practice breathwork to help clear, heal and recondition the body and mind.
4. Create healthy lifestyle practices.
Eat whole foods that are high in vitamins, minerals antioxidants. Stay hydrated. Exercise regularly. Create balance in everyday life that includes fun.
After a traumatic experience, worry or fear may disturb your sleep patterns and create insomnia. Try to get plenty of sleep by having herbs like skulls cap and chamomile in a tea and meditating before bed.
Laura Schwalm is a Master Psychic Healer and Medium who specializes in Healing The Effects of Psychic Trauma. To read about Laura and her services go here. To participate in Psychic Soul Reading Live Streams check out Laura Schwalm's Oracle Page