Hello and welcome.
My name is Pratika.
This meditation is called When Trauma Returns.
Finding ease.
This meditation is for those who may be reliving the effects of a painful experience.
There can be times for no apparent reason.
And the memory of that experience returns.
And when it does,
The nervous system can react.
Emotions can return.
And for a moment you can feel as though you are back.
Reliving the trauma If this is your experience,
Please remember there is nothing wrong with it.
The body-mind can unexpectedly return.
To the emotions and stresses associated with it.
With what you have experienced in the past.
You don't have to judge or question yourself.
When this occurs.
They simply return.
Remember you have a choice.
You do not have to return emotionally to any experience that causes imbalance.
Feels uncomfortable.
Or is unpleasant.
For now you are here,
Sitting,
Following your breath.
And enjoying returning to the quiet peaceful state of quiet rest.
In real time,
Whatever happened in the past is not happening to you now.
You are here.
Sitting.
The experience happened then.
This moment is now.
And there is something else that can support you at these times.
Memory is not a perfect recollection of what occurred.
Memory is something that the mind reinterprets from what was experienced at that time.
So when a stressful memory returns,
You don't have to assume that every feeling,
Image,
Or reaction.
Is an accurate representation of what happened then.
Or what is happening now.
The mind is simply interpreting.
That which was experienced.
This does not suggest that what happened was not real.
It does not mean that your pain was not filled.
If you felt unsafe or frightened.
Those feelings are valid.
There is no need to minimise any of this.
The body and mind have simply created a protective response.
They've done their job.
The body is programmed to protect you.
Yet sometimes those protective responses can unexpectedly return.
Even when your current circumstances are totally different.
The present moment can be saved.
While the body-mind is responding to an earlier experience.
This is not a failure.
It is nothing to be embarrassed by.
So healing does not have to mean questioning what happened.
It doesn't mean forcing yourself.
To dismiss or to forget.
It can begin with something much simpler.
Allowing the nervous system.
To gradually discover.
That this moment is very different from then.
It can begin by simply following your natural breathing,
Of opening your eyes,
To be witnessing all that is folding.
So naturally and effortlessly around you.
By forcing the fear away,
Not by telling yourself that you will be fine.
But by gently noticing what is here.
In the immediacy of now.
The room where you are sitting.
Light flooding in through an open window.
The breeze moving the curtains.
The sounds of nature outside.
The affection of a much-loved pet.
Nothing from that past moment is present here.
You are,
In this moment,
Through each calming breath.
And open awareness here.
Let the body begin to slowly register this.
Observe the rhythmical flow of your breathing.
Allow the body to gradually unwind and relax.
There is nothing you need to force or make happen.
All is naturally and gently opening in the flow of this present moment.
Remain this quiet awareness.
You are here.
That experience was then.
And with each moment of simply remaining present,
The body can begin to recognise a little more calm,
A greater sense of space and ease.
And if unpleasant memory from the past arises.
You can simply observe it.
From a distance of being here.
Not there.
Then thought is simply noticed from the awareness of clear seeing before it becomes a story in the mind.
Feeling is noticed before it becomes something you identify with or as.
Memory is noticed before it becomes something to relive.
And in that simple noticing,
There can be found a profound calm.
A softening,
A lightness.
You see,
Healing is not about forgetting what happened.
It is learning that remembering does not have to mean reliving any particular experience.
That an intense feeling.
Does not necessarily mean there is intensity now.
The past can be remembered without it becoming the present.
And there may be days when an old feeling returns.
If it does,
Quietly acknowledge it,
As it is.
A temporary appearance only,
That will pass.
From the space of distance.
From a deeper calmness.
Notice the feeling,
Notice the memory.
Be aware if the body responds.
The experience was then.
Your awareness is now.
You don't need to solve the past.
You can simply remain as awareness with clarity.
A kind of wisdom.
And their discernment.
What happened is part of a life of countless experiences.
You are here with everything that you have learned.
And with all the awareness you have realised.
So just rest here now.
Calm and free.
Nothing needs to be solved.
Nothing needs to be proven.
There is nothing to become.
You are this moment of peace.
And when you are ready,
Open your eyes and quietly notice the room around you.
The atmosphere that nurtures and supports you.
Now take one long,
Slow,
Deep breath.
And take this clarity and awareness with you as a reminder.
That even after difficult experiences,
There is still joy.
And space to appreciate.
The Creator.
To be inspired.
And there is still a calmness to be experienced.
And there remains a peace.
Behind the movement.
Of thought.
