Picture courtesy of Anna Shvets
Trauma in the body: There are many aspects of yoga which may not be the full picture. Holding trauma in the body is one of those areas where a fuller understanding is needed. Not because it is incorrect but if understood in a different way, trauma can lose its power to inflict pain and suffering.
When we have physical injuries, there can always be scar tissue or weakness in that area afterwards. We can do what we can to create balance once again and become pain free. However, on many occasions we may be advised to stop doing certain things or work around the injury.
What about mental trauma, emotional trauma, painful memories, hurt, betrayal or life situations that upset us or that were not our intentions. Sometimes life just has a habit of causing trouble, pain and strife when we do not want it. However, is this life? Is this karma? Or is this development of our souls? In other words, is this an experience that allows our soul to grow?
This is where yoga comes in or what we should really say is, our own spiritual development. Regardless of what we believe or not, yoga is a form of spiritual development. If we are only taught a portion or bit of the understanding, we can make our injuries worse, unsettle, unbalance or create the opposite of what we think we are looking for.
Posing and stretching was taught by the teacher to bring the physical body into balance with the etheric body, this is the spiritual counterpart of the physical. This is a key concept. This being said, without the spiritual knowledge, lessons, understanding and practice we can make things worse for ourselves.
An example of this is alcohol. It doesn’t work with yoga and never will, it makes things worse. This is another subject we need to discuss at some point!
Returning to yoga or union, we are trying to have union with our own spirits but more than this we are trying to connect to the light that is within all of us. As we keep sharing and explaining, connecting to our own spirits and finding the light within frees us from physical pain.
Finding union frees us from the prison of physical pain.
The prison of mental pain and suffering.
If we are locked into the physical, we lock ourselves into pain and suffering. Regardless of what life has thrown at us, what terrible situations have arisen, whatever pain, suffering and torture we have been through. We can escape. The physical world can become a prison for many, the physical body can be a prison, it can be torture from the moment we wake.
We can escape this vessel of suffering.
So just like our physical injuries we can be in pain. Extreme pain. However, we are not physical beings, we are beings of light and we are only incarnated in the physical shell we call a body. It is our home for this incarnation.
For those of us who practice yoga we feel benefits. Unfortunately, the practice in the West is not what is taught in the East. This is why many benefits are lost, but in the same breath, yoga does not work the same in the West as the vibrations and frequencies are different.
This is why we have always said, just go for the stretch, set your intentions to stretch only. Take the tensions out of the body. Our minds can create and make worse any pain and suffering we are experiencing. It is also important we do not give the wrong medicine, the wrong instructions, the wrong thoughts (poses). If we have over stretched the body, it just needs rest, no different with our minds.
In yoga we are giving unseen spiritual instructions which accompany a pose. These unseen effects can cause disharmony for many. It may not be seen in the class but is felt after. These unseen instructions working on an Eastern energy system disrupt the balance of those operating on Western vibrations.
The reason for this is that the energy from the West teaches from within (so to speak) it does not accept external instruction to force spiritual change as in the Eastern method of yoga. Unless our vibrations and frequencies are of the East, it will not work as it should here in the west.
This leads us back to our article title. Trauma is stored in the physical not just the human form. When we are stressed or worried it can create tension and problems in the human body. We can also create illness and make problems worse by our own physical minds and thoughts. If yoga is so successful in releasing emotions, then there shouldn’t be many who suffer from trauma in our classes!
The answer is in the word yoga, union or connecting to our spirits. If we remain more physical than spiritual, we will never free ourselves from physical pain and suffering. Just as another has no control of our chakras, external poses will never bring around the desired changes. Change comes from within, only when we learn a new way, understand a new way do we become illuminated. The light within creates the changes in our minds and this reflects on the physical form.
It may become apparent that the Eastern philosophies (unseen influences) are making our minds worse! Nevertheless, there is a way to bypass these disruptions and frequencies. We can connect to the source of all these teaching, the source that creates harmony and unifies, union, yoga. The source that yokes us to illumination and freedom, that frees us from trauma.
If we are practising yoga and we are still suffering then maybe it is time to change our pose and by that we mean, change our thinking. Look from a different angle*. For any who are suffering there is a way to free ourselves to which binds us to the physical. If our thoughts are always physical, then we will always feel pain. Maybe it is time to be instructed from within.
We wish you all unity with your spirits.
*We suggest reading the article Chakras 3.
If you wish to know about this subject then please get in touch or come and speak with us. Our next Day of Healing is on Saturday the 26th of April, 10am-1.30pm at Crosby library. If there are any reading this who are suffering, in pain and need help, please come along. All treatments and refreshments are free of charge on the day. We do accept donations if offered as this helps us with the cost of room hire.
To learn more about our healing days and self healing group then please see the links belows.