If you have experienced trauma or acutely stressful events, you may experience a number of different physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms. These may include intrusive thoughts, rumination, emotional dysregulation, nightmares, hypervigilance, flashbacks, anxiety, rage, numbness, or feeing disconnected from your body. Please know that trauma is not just “in your head”, and it is not your fault. Trauma is a physiological issue. Trauma is stored in your body, and you cannot think your way out of it.
While mindfulness can help build skills that are essential to healing from trauma, such as self-regulation, self-compassion, and present-moment awareness, some people find that mindfulness meditation may exacerbate the symptoms of traumatic stress. Holding a sustained focus on your internal experience may bring up images, memories, thoughts, or sensations that relate to a traumatic experience and trigger symptoms of traumatic stress.
For survivors of trauma, it may be beneficial to start with mindful actions and everyday mindfulness practices rather than more quiet and contemplative mindfulness meditations. The options for mindful action are wide and varied but can include such activities as yoga or martial arts, rhythmic drumming, walking, running, craft-making, gardening, dancing, or playing a musical instrument.
If you are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder or complex trauma (also known as C-PTSD), or have experienced childhood abuse, neglect, maltreatment, or sexual abuse, I strongly suggest you initially explore mindfulness with the help of a trauma-informed mental health provider.
*This post is excerpted from my book Mindfulness Workbook for Panic Attacks: Healing Strategies to Reduce Anxiety, Manage Panic, and Live in the Moment, published by Rockridge Press.