Why Compassion is important in trauma healing
I have a teacher who says that where ever there is compassion there is healing. Over multiple years of meditating, this one phrase has been, perhaps, the single most helpful in actually finding connection to my true self as well as finding my own healing and transformation. With a dense history of trauma, sometimes it is a challenge to even understand what it means to feel compassion toward self or find a sense of connection with the deep inner Self.
How to Practice Self-Compassion
How do we learn how to practice compassion for ourselves when we have been deeply wounded? Sometimes when we have been traumatized early in life, we do not even know what it feels like to fully inhabit our bodies or connect to spaces in our bodies, like our heart space or to “ground into the belly,” as many meditation exercises instruct. Know that it is sometimes a time intensive journey to find the Self, and that your True Self is worth finding! That’s the place where peace and healing both are born.
How do we develop self compassion? The way to find the heart and cultivate compassion is to begin. It takes courage and also a child like curiosity based state of mind. Sometimes the instructions therapists give to help you find connection to yourself may sound strange or feel awkward. “So what,” I say, “it may feel dumb, but I’m going to do it anyway. What can it hurt? And, it might help.”
What does Self-Compassion feel like?
What does the heart feel like? Find your heart and you will find a felt sense of your humanity in your body. It has a softness, but also can be like an open and alive place in your chest. John Welwood, PhD, a renowned psychologist and Buddhist teacher, says the heart is the place in the body where we feel the most tenderness and also can connect most with our humanity. It can help us find our way through treacherous places where our mind can be confusing and create more anxiety.
Next Steps
Where do I go from here? Call or write an email to me or another therapist that you feel you have a good resonance with and start the courageous journey of working toward healing and uncovering the best version of yourself. Pay attention and listen to what is inside your heart and your guts. Those will never steer you wrong.
