How To Heal Your Deep Trauma One Layer At A Time

Like so many of you, I’ve experienced trauma in many forms. Over time, those traumas have become layers of experience that weave in and among one another. This has resulted in deep trauma that can’t be ignored if I want to live a full and happy life. Instead, I’ve had to heal one layer at a time.

This process has taken time. I’ll be honest, it’s not always been easy, but it has definitely always been worth it!

I can say that I’m now in a much better place than before I started and I don’t regret the time that I’ve spent on healing.

It’s not always a straight line.

My journey towards healing hasn’t always been linear. As I’ve worked through those layers, it feels like I’ve taken steps forward, backward and sideways. On this journey, I’ve shifted my thinking, I’ve changed how I view the world and I’ve healed past trauma that was holding me back from living fully.

Now, as I share this journey with you, I get to help others begin to heal as well.

You don’t have to do this work alone!

I came across a quote recently that got me thinking about the communities that I live/work in every day. 

“A single sharing of a deep trauma or loss with another can improve health.” – Dr. Wayne Jonas. 

Sometimes I work with people in a one on one capacity. Other times, I’m working with people in groups or classes. Either way, when we gather and share your troubles and difficulties, then your load is just a little bit lighter.  This improves not only your mental and emotional health but sometimes your physical health as well.

In a private session, I’ll hold space for you to share your past trauma and current issues. When we gather in a group setting of some kind, I continue to hold that same space for you but the rest of the group is there for you as well.

Often this space provides a healing place to let go of the past or to figure out what steps to take in the near future.

Now, obviously not each community will be the same.  Some community ties will be more supportive than others. When the intention is to hold non-judgmental space for each other to work through issues or just express your thoughts, then that space becomes a healing space and can improve your life in mental, emotional, physical or social ways. These are the types of spaces to seek out as you start on this healing journey.

Healing deep trauma takes time.

I often get asked how many sessions it will take in order for your trauma to be healed. My clients don’t always like the answer that I give them. My honest answer is… It’s going to take as long as it takes.

Some clients will see tremendous progress in just a few sessions. Other clients will take much longer to make similar progress. Neither way is the right way to heal.

Instead, think of it this way. Your journey to where you are right now is unique to you. In the same way, your healing journey is going to be unique as well.

Stop comparing yourself to other people! Allow your own journey to take as much time as it needs to feel complete and don’t rush the process.

Allow yourself to heal one layer at a time.

Deep trauma often contains parts of multiple traumas. They might all be related in some way and they might be all unique occurrences that happened to you. Either way, your traumas will be layered one upon the other and interwoven as well. Give yourself time and space to heal all of the layers individually. Each layer that you heal will be a small step forward that helps bring you closer to resolving your past traumas.

Bring your body into the conversation!

My own journey towards healing past trauma involved somatic work. I learned how to listen to my own body and allow it to guide me towards what I needed in order to heal.

Why is that?

Well your mind is full of thoughts that aren’t always true. It will often lead you astray when you explore your past trauma.

Your body works differently. All of your past experiences were stored in your mind but they were also stored in your body. So, when you heal trauma somatically, you bring the body into the conversation. While the mind will lead you astray with all the thoughts that run through it, your body doesn’t do that. It often gets to the core of the issue much faster and allows you to process whatever is there.

The wisdom and knowledge that you gain from listening to your body is often deeper and more insightful than what you get from your mind.

Many of my clients have used talk therapy to work through past trauma. When they come to me, they often find that the conversation with their body is much different than the one with their mind. It’s often clearer and they walk away with awareness and knowledge that just talking about the trauma didn’t give to them. When this happens, I encourage them to speak with their talk therapist about what came out of their session with me. In this way, we’re resolving this trauma in a much more complete way one layer at a time.

Have you tried talk therapy and found it wasn’t quite getting your trauma resolved? It’s probably because your body still needs to be heard. Let’s chat about how yoga therapy can be a helpful part of your healing journey. Set up a free call today and learn more about bringing your body in the healing conversation.

Becky is a Yoga Therapist & has been teaching yoga since 2006. She loves to match people with a yoga practice that helps them to feel better every day & believes that there is a yoga practice for everyone. Click here to sign up for her mailing list & get all of the important news & tips first!