Meditation, much like CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), has become the “go to” solution given by doctors and therapists for folks seeking support for mental and physical health. Stressed? meditate. Anxious? meditate. Sad? meditate. Deeply traumatized? meditate. Sore throat? But, have you tried to meditate?
Every time something becomes the supposed answer to the end all be all, I am weary. Nothing, is the answer to everything. As lovely and as helpful meditation can be, based on numerous studies that have been conducted on it - it is NOT my answer for many folks who are actively living in the traumatized state of fight or flight. Look, some therapists and yoga enthusiasts may be dropping their jaws at this statement. However, here is my rationale.
Trauma survivors who are early in their trauma healing and discovery often do not feel safe in their bodies. Our bodies have often experienced abuse and un-safety for many years and in some cases, are a source of pain for us. many survivors struggle with self-harm, whether that is in the form of addiction, mutilation, eating disorders etc. Forcing ourselves to “tune into” our bodies, may genuinely trigger us into disassociation or immense discomfort which can activate other trauma responses. We need to feel safe in our physical bodies and in our surroundings before we can sit with ourselves and “simply observe”.
When we are living in fight/flight, like many survivors do, it means that we have a heightened or sensitive nervous system. If we grew up experiencing chronic un-safety and abuse in our lives, the chances that this altered our brain and nervous systems perception of danger, is more likely than not. Especially if the abuse occurred before the age of 25. What does this mean? It means that our bodies often are on the lookout for danger, even when none may be present. This leads to hyperactivity such as fidgeting, higher cortisol levels and a faster heart rate (just to name a few of the impacts). In fact, ADHD symptoms often mirror Complex PTSD/trauma symptoms.
When our nervous systems are constantly heightened, it is more efficient and helpful to release the fight/flight energy to signal to your body that it is not needed. This is NOT done through meditation. In fact, if your body is interpreting you’re in danger and you are forcing it to sit down and be still, how is that potentially not re-traumatizing for folks who grew up in abuse they could not escape? Activities like jumping, throwing rocks, yelling, punching a pillow, going for a fast walk or running are much more effective at regulating and calming an overactive and dysregulated nervous system because you are expelling the energy you don’t need as opposed to sitting and doing nothing with it. Imagine the feeling of your abuser being in the home and being a kid unable to protect themselves. This is often described by folks as, “the feeling of walking on eggshells”. Thats how I view meditation when we are actively in fight/flight. It is denying the experience of our body interpreting we are unsafe. We need to acknowledge that our body is seeking a way to expel that energy, before we force ourselves to “sit quietly”. Meditation will come more naturally and easily if we have signalled to our body that we are safe, before forcing it to be still.
Meditation can invoke disassociation for survivors who coped with abuse through disconnection from their bodies and surroundings. Meditation can feel too similar to a trauma response for folks who are early on in their trauma healing journeys. This can be dysregualting and counter productive, leading the person to feel more stressed than before they meditated.
If meditation really was the cure, i’m pretty sure most survivors would be doing it. They aren’t. Let’s ask ourselves why, before recommending it to folks as a catch all solution for healing trauma.