The Do's and Don'ts of Meditation and Trauma

The Do's and Don'ts of Meditation and Trauma. Written and Narrated by the author, Marianne Bentzen. Although a traumatic event or life experience often leaves us with a painful or even devastating personal aftermath, it can also be a hidden gift, a doorway into deeper and wider levels of consciousness that are only now beginning to be explored by science. Some people who have survived severe and ongoing trauma report that in their darkest hours they found the deepest resource—an unshakable feeling of great meaning, or a sense of spirit, or of God. This feeling often stays with them, as a sense of faith or gratitude, or as a constant reminder of the preciousness of life. For this reason, trauma can sometimes be experienced as a gateway to spirit, or to the discovery of an indestructible part of our being. Despite their differences, spiritual openings and traumatic responses seem to have a great deal in common at the level of brain function. At the deepest level of brain organization, the autonomic nervous system, trauma often activates the highest arousal levels and the deepest immobility at the same time. In formal spiritual training systems, the same spontaneous emergence of arousal and immobility in the organism instead heralds deep experiences of spiritual opening... Continue Reading this article at InnerSelf.com (plus audio/mp3 version of article) Music By Caffeine Creek Band, Pixabay Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission. Publisher. Healing Arts Press, an imprint of Inner Traditions Intl. Article Source: Neuroaffective Meditation Neuroaffective Meditation: A Practical Guide to Lifelong Brain Development, Emotional Growth, and Healing Trauma by Marianne Bentzen Drawing on her 25 years of research into brain development as well as decades of meditation practice, psychotherapist Marianne Bentzen shows how neuroaffective meditation--the holistic integration of meditation, neuroscience, and psychology--can be used for personal growth and conscious maturation. She also explores how the practice can help address embedded traumas and allow access to the best perspectives of growing older while keeping the best psychological attitudes of being young--a hallmark of wisdom. The author shares 16 guided meditations for neuroaffective brain development (along with links to online recordings), each designed to gently interact with the deep, unconscious layers of the brain and help you reconnect. Each meditation explores a different theme, from breathing in “being in your body”, to feeling love, compassion, and gratitude, to balancing positive and negative experiences. The author also shares a 5-part meditation centered on breathing exercises designed to balance your energy. For more info and/or to order this book, click here. Also available as a Kindle edition.