Hi,
I'm Jenna,
Owner of The Yogi Nest.
We offer alternative and holistic healing through mindful movement and mindset coaching in Los Angeles and online.
This is part two of the four-part trauma series I created that encourages healing through Earth's natural elements.
In part two of the healing trauma through natural elements series,
We'll be focusing on fire as a healing element.
If you have not completed part one,
Where we focused on air as a healing element,
I would highly suggest starting there first as these meditations connect to one another in order.
These meditations will utilize visualization and will also provide some sound healing.
As I mentioned in part one of this series,
I know that trauma healing can be very triggering,
But as a trauma survivor myself,
I know that the healing process is integral to moving forward with your life in a healthy way,
Shoving it down,
Bottling it up,
And pretending it's not there will only make matters worse.
I know because I tried that first and it didn't work.
My best advice for you as you work your way through this series is to allow feelings and emotions to come up.
Don't force them down.
Let them flow freely.
This is your body's way of releasing trauma.
It's detoxing.
If at any point your feelings and emotions do become too much to handle,
Try to bring yourself back to your breath,
Following your inhales and exhales over and over again.
Think slow and steady,
Nice and calm.
Try to remember that you're in a safe space and these meditations aren't asking anything of you other than for you to be yourself and to meet yourself wherever you are today.
If you need to pause or stop the meditation and come back to it,
That's fine too.
It can be really helpful to journal about your experience when you've completed or ended the meditation.
Writing about your experience and what came up for you both physically and mentally can be incredibly healing.
This was a major part of my healing journey.
Lastly,
Be kind,
Gentle,
And patient with yourself.
The healing journey is long and it's hard,
But I promise it's worth it.
So find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and let's get started.
Once you've found a comfortable place to sit or lie down with little to no distractions,
I'd like you to take a moment to observe your surroundings.
This is a place that feels safe for you.
Look around.
You know this place.
It's comfortable,
Calm,
And safe.
If at any time you don't feel safe,
Come back to your surroundings.
Now take in the sounds around you.
Once you're familiar with the space around you and you feel safe,
Close your eyes.
You can always come back to these familiar comforts if you get scared or overwhelmed.
If it doesn't feel safe to close your eyes,
Gently turn your gaze down towards the tip of your nose.
Now shift your focus to your breath.
Is it slow,
Calm,
And relaxed?
Is it fast,
Short,
Nervous,
Or anxious?
See if you can slow your breath down.
Long inhales and exhales through your nose,
Filling the whole space between your belly button and collarbones.
Slowing the breath down will make you feel calm,
Relaxed,
At ease,
And in control.
Take a moment to notice any physical sensations that might be coming up for you.
How do you feel mentally?
Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings without any judgment or trying to change the way you feel.
Just notice it.
Let it be whatever it is and then move past it.
Now take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Do this a few more times,
Filling the space between your belly button and collarbones on your inhale and emptying the space between your collarbones and belly button on your exhale.
Now come back to normal breathing,
Inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
Allow your body to fully relax.
Notice if there's anywhere in your body that's holding,
Gripping,
Or feels tense.
Take your full attention to those places in your body and ask them to let go,
Relax,
And release.
See if your inhales and exhales can help your body find relaxation.
Allow your face and jaw to soften.
You can open and close your mouth a few times if you'd like.
Let me hold a tremendous amount of stress and tension here.
Just as we did in part one of this series,
I'd like you to take a moment to recall the trauma that brought you to this meditation.
I know it's hard,
But I'm here for you.
And never forget that you have your breath and familiar surroundings to bring yourself back to safety and comfort.
You may stop and start this meditation as many times as you need to in order to feel safe.
Now I want you to remember how your trauma made you feel once it settled in,
Once you understood and made sense of what happened to you.
In part one of this meditation series,
We focused on the initial moment or the moment immediately after you experienced trauma that may have felt something like floating in the air.
But once the wind placed you back down,
And you could finally make sense of the who,
What,
Where,
When,
And how,
How did it make you feel?
At the end of part one,
The air part of this series,
We visualized our hands releasing the trauma we'd been holding on to.
We allowed the wind to pick it up and gently place it back down wherever it felt it could freely move on to the next stage of healing.
Bring yourself back to that place and meet your trauma in this next stage of healing,
The fire stage.
Anger,
Frustration,
Rage.
Why did this happen to me?
This is the fire stage.
You feel full of fire.
How could this possibly happen to you?
Why?
Why you?
It's this moment where you just feel so angry and you know that your life has forever been changed,
And you have forever been changed,
And all you want is for your life to go back to the way it was before.
You didn't ask for this.
You didn't want this.
You didn't deserve this.
This is your moment to feel everything.
Feel all your feelings.
You deserve this moment to feel full of fire and anger and rage.
See it.
See the fire before you.
See the yellow,
Orange,
And red.
Feel the heat on your skin.
Notice its power,
Its fury.
Watch it glow and burn and rage just like your feelings,
Glowing,
Burning,
Raging.
Notice your trauma in the flames before you.
If you're alone and you feel safe doing this,
I want you to scream.
Scream into a pillow,
Blanket,
Whatever,
But imagine yourself screaming into those flames.
Yell at it.
Tell it how you feel.
Tell it how it made you feel.
Get it out of your body.
Alternatively,
You can audibly exhale your feelings,
Or you can cry,
Or do all three,
But find a way to let it out.
Even if it's just silent and visual,
Let it out.
Have your moment,
A moment of full release.
Don't bring yourself back to your breath and your body,
And let's find some calm.
We're going to do a breathing exercise together.
I'll walk you through it step by step,
But first,
I want you to notice how that experience made you feel.
Find your body from the top of your head all the way down to your toes.
Take note of any physical sensations you might be experiencing.
Do you feel warm?
Tingly?
Itchy?
Light?
Heavy?
Tense?
Or shaky?
Now notice any feelings or emotions that are coming up for you.
Do you feel invigorated,
Angry,
Scared,
Sad,
Anxious,
Powerful,
Courageous,
Or strong?
Try not to judge yourself or change the way you're feeling at this moment.
Just let it be.
You're only taking note of these things.
You can come back to this later when you journal about your experience after the meditation has been completed.
Let's begin our breathing exercise to help you find balance,
Calm,
And comfort.
You'll be inhaling and exhaling through your nose as I count to four.
Your inhales and exhales will each be four counts.
Begin your inhale now.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now return to normal breathing in and out of your nose.
This four-four breathing exercise is great to come back to anytime you're feeling triggered,
Stressed,
Or full of the fire we spoke about in this meditation.
Now do your body scan again from the top of your head all the way down to your toes and notice if you feel any different.
Have your thoughts,
Feelings,
And emotions shifted.
I'm so proud of you for sticking with this meditation and standing face to face with the fire stage of healing,
For standing face to face with your anger and disappointment.
I know this wasn't easy,
But the fire stage of healing is important and it's okay to be angry.
Fire is interesting.
Think about fire in nature.
It's destructive,
Hard to control,
And dangerous.
It changes landscapes.
It can ruin homes,
Businesses,
And take lives.
But fire is also incredibly cleansing.
Fire can act as a reset button in nature and in our personal lives.
When land has been burned by fire,
The nutrients from dead trees are returned to the soil.
The forest floor is exposed to more sunlight,
Allowing seedlings released by the fire to sprout and grow.
Post wildfire landscapes have been known to explode into thousands of flowers and a striking phenomenon known as a super bloom.
You just faced your trauma head on.
You set it ablaze,
Releasing feelings and emotions that longed to be set free.
You are now a post wildfire landscape.
You have cleansed yourself of painful feelings and have cleared a space which will allow you to find clarity,
To flourish,
And to thrive.
Just as we did in part one of this series,
I'd like you to gently lie your trauma down right here in the middle of this burnt landscape.
It is here that your trauma will start the next phase of its healing process.
We'll meet it here in part three of this series.
To close this meditation,
I'd like you to take a few deep breaths,
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Inhale cleansing fire and exhale painful feelings and emotions.
Inhale clarity and exhale blinding anger.
Inhale a new version of yourself that is flourishing and thriving as you exhale disappointment and rage.
Now return to normal breathing,
Inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
You're amazing,
You're strong,
You're worthy,
You matter,
Your story matters,
And the world needs your fire,
Your strength,
Your courage.
You can turn your painful experiences into a powerful support system for those around you who have been hurt too.
Your story could save someone else's life.
Bring some small movements back into your fingers and toes and gently open your eyes.
I'll see you back here for part three of the healing trauma through natural elements series where we'll be processing the water stage of healing.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
I'd love to know how this went for you.
So please leave me a message and shoot me any meditation requests that you think would be helpful for you.
Take care.
