Author: Juuth

This is a first post on a topic that is very close to my heart: trauma.

In my eyes, trauma work could save the world. Even if you don’t really have any traumas yourself ;). In my own life, I’ve experienced just how incredibly healing breathwork and bodywork can be. The breath creates space, allows life energy to flow, and softens pain. It’s so deeply reassuring to feel ‘in tune’ again with the rhythms of my heart, my breath, and the nature around me.

I feel whole and connected again, instead of torn apart and separated. And connection means safety, and safety means trust that I can handle ‘life’, no matter what happens. A huge difference from the fearful, avoidant strategies I used in the past just to avoid feeling.

This transformation has been the most meaningful one in my life. At its core, it is the transformation from fear to love. From prison to freedom. From brokenness to wholeness. From chaos to calm. From war to peace. From darkness to light.

Trauma arises when you don’t fully process an event physically, emotionally, and mentally. It’s like the shock gets frozen in your body—often literally in the form of tension or tics. A pattern of fear, disgust, defense, anger, and the like develops, and you increasingly try to avoid those experiences.

This costs a tremendous amount of energy.

If it doesn’t get the right attention, you can remain trapped for years in a pattern of learned helplessness, panic or rage attacks, emotional outbursts, apathy, numbness, and addiction.

What helps, first and foremost, is compassion: loving attention for yourself. And enough awareness in the here and now to start listening to your body’s signals and to get the frozen energy moving again.

Mentally, you can learn to gently focus your attention on the signals of your body. Emotionally, a kind attitude toward yourself and your situation is helpful. And physically, the key to healing is: rhythm. Through rhythmic movement, you allow the stored energy to flow again. There are simple, surprisingly effective exercises for this, which you can read about in the books I recommend below—especially the second one.

The one rhythm that stays with you from birth to death, and is both automatic and consciously controllable, is the breath. Through your breath, you can influence your state of consciousness. It forms the bridge between your body and mind. For thousands of years, yoga and shamanism have included special breathing techniques for various purposes, like generating warmth, improving concentration, or entering a trance. (This healing power of the breath—even for physical ailments—has by now repeatedly and convincingly been proven and is recognized by the medical science, especially the field of mind-body medicine.)

Conscious breathing can stir up strong emotions. That’s why it’s important to go slowly and, if necessary, be guided by someone experienced in these kinds of processes. Such a person might be certified in Somatic Experiencing, or someone else with strong references whom you trust. There’s a risk of retraumatization if you go too fast or are not properly supported.

The creator of the Somatic Experiencing method—a fantastic writer and wise, compassionate man, the leading authority in this field—is Peter Levine. Below are two books that can be incredibly helpful if you’ve experienced trauma yourself, or if you live or work with people who deal with the effects of trauma:

Waking the Tiger
In an Unspoken Voice

These books aren’t just for people with obvious trauma. I believe nearly every human being will recognize the mechanisms of resistance and detachment as an innate part of being human. It’s an inseparable aspect of our experience on Earth, in a body. The Buddha also had a few wise things to say about it ;).

The world would be a different place if we all knew about this. I believe that day is coming. The question is, how much worse will we let things get before we’re ready for transformation?

You can already start today—for yourself.