Most of us, when we hear the word trauma, conjure up images of rape or war, thinking no, this doesn’t apply to me. But a lot of things that we accept as normal can leave us experiencing a trauma response, like accidents, sudden events like an unexpected break up or death of a loved one, being subjected to or witnessing physical abuse, prolonged emotional abuse, etc. If we didn’t have the resources to deal with the trauma response at the time, the mind hides away the pain in the body to deal with later. This can show up years later in our lives and affect our spiritual work.
Reiki is a very powerful tool and can help us reach a state of beautiful equilibrium, this serene tranquillity, even if all of life is crumbling in front of our eyes and beneath our feet, all we need is to maintain a 30 to 40 minute daily practice. But there can be unexpected, unseen obstacles from the forgotten past.
Here are some signs that suppressed trauma could be interfering with your Reiki practice.
You make excuses for not practicing regularly, or you seek shortcuts.
Most of us have enough time. Unless the only option to earn enough to survive is to be stuck in a 72 hours per week job – yes, these are genuinely tough situations – most of us do have a choice, and we use that choice to watch cat videos instead of practicing Reiki. Reiki is without exception, the easiest system to practice, we can do at least a little bit of Reiki every time our hands are free.
When we weren’t prioritised by our parents, we learn not to prioritise ourselves and our own well-being. In such a case, we end up wasting time and seeking instant gratification instead of investing in our long term progress.
Guilt and shame cripple you.
Abusive relationships use guilt and shame as a means of control and when this becomes a habit, we tend to spiral into crippling guilt and shame, repeating erroneous behaviour instead of simply taking action to correct our mistakes. We feel guilty and ashamed of previous behaviour and often we punish ourselves by taking actions which cause us even more guilt and shame. Compulsively seeking approval from others even at the cost of one’s well-being is also a typical long term trauma response.
Autoimmune disorders.
Autoimmune disorders typically develop when the body is experiencing abuse, either physical or emotional. Especially in the case of emotional abuse this can be quite hard to acknowledge and accept because there can be quite a lot of affection and attachment in such relationships too. But a closer look is needed at the nature of these relationships, along with a focus on learning how to draw healthy boundaries.
Disease.
Not all diseases are triggered by trauma, obviously, but in the case of extreme suppression of emotions, trauma can manifest as a big or small disease. When clients tell me something like ‘oh I don’t feel bad about it since this year began’ and their disease began around the same time that they started feeling emotionally better, it is clearly a sign that the emotional upset was converted to a physical upset because the emotions were too much to handle.
Talking too much/ being tongue tied.
If there is unresolved trauma, even if it is decades old, sometimes silence becomes unbearable because it starts to bring up memories that are uncomfortable. This is usually a subconscious thing though and the person might not have a clue. Such people can end up talking too much, completely oblivious to the disinterest of the listeners. This could be a general pattern or even something that only shows up during stressful moments.
Others are terrified of being noticed, especially if remaining invisible was the key to avoiding the traumatic experience, and being in any situation where they get a lot of attention can feel intimidating and unsafe. The same way as talking too much, if there is a milder trauma response then it can also happen only in select stressful situations where the subconscious memory is being triggered.
Inability to pay attention/ participate in life
Energetically speaking, the root chakra gets damaged during a severe trauma, or as a result of prolonged stress thanks to an emotionally abusive relationship. When this happens, one can space out a lot, and paying attention becomes very hard, reading more than a few lines at a time is very difficult, and maintaining a discipline is impossible. If there is neglect related trauma, the sacral can be damaged, which leads to eating disorders, emotional eating and addictions, either to things or people.
What can we do?
Unresolved trauma can cause many reactions, and I have skipped the obvious ones like depression, anxiety or panic attacks, being dysfunctional, trust issues, addictions, repetitive nightmares of being in danger, because in these situations people are typically already aware that help is needed. We have lived in a difficult world, and a lot of abuse is normalised because everyone does it, or is going through it. Reiki self-healing alone also helps to heal a lot of unresolved trauma, but if the above aspects ring true for you, getting sessions can also speed up the process of your healing and spiritual growth.
Overall, I’ve observed that a twice a day Reiki practice – even as less as 15 minutes in the morning and maybe 25 minutes in the evening, optimizes the impact of Reiki, giving people more benefit than even 3 hours of continuous practice. This combined with listening to the hands and healing based on the sensations can release a lot of blocks over time.
Article by Ashwita Goel, Reiki Master
Free eBook download: We’ve created an eBook with our best articles on this topic, and offer it for free to all our newsletter subscribers.
Having learned Meditation as a child, Ashwita incorporated Reiki into her life during her early teens. After a decade of witnessing the magic Reiki, she felt compelled to take up Reiki professionally, and ended her corporate career in 2007, taking up Reiki full-time. She eventually incorporated EFT, hypnotherapy and past life therapy into her work. Apart from her healing work, she teaches Reiki and meditation, and her book ‘Healing Through Reiki’ is available on Amazon. She holds regular full moon and new moon meditations at @AshwitaGoel. Her website is www.reiki-bangalore.com and her blog www.ashwita.com
Leave a Reply