Overcoming PTSD

Embark on a transformative journey with this guided audio meditation, designed to initiate profound healing of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) through heart coherence breathwork and meditation. As you gently synchronize your breath with the soothing rhythm, the meditation invites you to acknowledge past traumas as events of the past, yet acknowledges their lingering presence in the present within your body. By fostering heightened awareness, the meditation empowers you to choose between reacting and responding to these experiences, encouraging the cultivation of unbiased awareness and a spacious mindset before gently releasing the burdens of the past.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Ryan Bean and today I would like to lead you through a meditation about dealing with or how to move trauma through the body.

There's a term that's been known clinically as PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder.

What this really is saying is there is a trauma,

A stress,

Or something that happened significant in your life that is showing up in your present.

Something that happened maybe years ago,

Maybe days ago,

But things that feel the same chemically in the body are reminding you of that incident,

That time,

Or that place of discomfort.

I'd like you to find a way to sit down or lay down and just a place that you'll feel comfortable.

Don't drive while listening to this or don't try to be distracted while doing this.

I'd like your complete attention.

If you feel comfortable,

Close your eyes.

If you don't,

That's okay,

But I'd like you to see if you can turn your attention inward to tune into our space of healing,

Usually our heart.

I'm going to ask you to take several breaths in what is called the heart coherent breath.

I like to do these as a way to tune in to my emotional center rather than my thought center.

You see,

Post-traumatic stress is most of the time we get a sensation,

Maybe it's a sound,

A smell,

Or a similar scenario,

And our mind then recreates the chemicals and frequency of that particular time when we received the trauma.

When we tune into our heart,

Our heart then goes into an emotional place where we can process on a vibratory level and maybe even remove.

Now keep in mind the word and phrase letting go is not a one-time event,

But you can begin to create space between what is felt and what is thought by moving into this particular breath.

I also like to use a hand mudra.

I bring three fingers together,

The thumb,

The pointer,

And the middle.

As you bring these fingers together,

It reminds you of something,

And for me,

I always use the phrase nothing but love and resources can come in,

Thus creating sort of a shield or a safe space.

So as you bring the fingers to one of your hands together and possibly close your eyes,

Take a giant breath in through your nose.

Nothing but love and resources can come in.

I am protected.

As you exhale,

Release slow,

Creating the heart coherent pattern.

Breathing in for four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Now exhale for six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two.

Breathe in for four counts.

Exhale for six.

As you breathe in using your nose,

Letting the belly inflate all the way to the top,

And then release it for six counts,

Slower than you brought it in.

As you follow this pattern of breathing in for four and releasing for six,

I'd like you to bring your awareness towards your heart space,

And maybe that is resting your hands even with the mudra upon your heart.

As you exhale,

Feeling the body being supported by the surface underneath you,

Breathe in for four counts,

Releasing for six.

Nothing but love and resources can come in.

You are protected.

As you breathe,

I want you to imagine you're breathing in and out through the heart space as though there were nostrils right on your chest.

As you breathe in,

That oxygen,

That vital energy,

That prana coming directly to your heart,

And as you exhale,

Relieving or releasing tension,

Space through the heart.

As you breathe in,

You're opening space to receive,

And as you exhale,

You're removing things that may cause congestion.

Breathing in for four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Now exhale for six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two.

Breathe in one more time like that,

Four counts in and six counts out.

You can continue this cadence for the rest of the meditation if you'd like,

Or just be cognizant of lengthening your exhales.

Now with your hands,

Maybe it's your heart space,

Or perhaps you bring them to somewhere that feels tender to you,

A space in which maybe you have felt trauma in the past.

Don't bring your hands there as a way to shield,

You are safe,

But it's a way of bringing recognition to that which is being called for.

As you bring your hands to your heart,

Your throat,

Your hips,

Your legs,

Your head,

Wherever it is that's calling to you as a place of tenderness,

Breathe in.

Create some space here,

And then let go fully.

You are a conscious and unconscious being.

There's two of you,

And yet they're the same person,

But we must realize that the unconscious being has a mission to always help you survive.

This is through early warning and detection systems.

It produces chemicals within your body,

And as you see,

Feel,

Or experience something of the world using your senses of your physical body,

Your mental body then produces the vibratory results of the stimuli.

This may not be real,

But it certainly feels real in the present moment.

As you take your next breath,

Hold it at the top just for a moment,

Creating space between what is thought and what is felt and let go symbolically with a long exhale sigh.

What's not important is the specifics of your trauma,

What happened to you,

Where it happened,

And whom was there.

You see,

The body responds the same nonetheless,

Whether it was a person,

An animal,

An event,

Or a location that caused that trauma.

The body responds the same,

As though it's trying to protect you.

In this moment,

Should you feel that stress or anxiety,

Thank your body,

Thank your mind for being an early warning and detection system for you.

It may not feel good,

It may even feel uncomfortable,

However,

Transformation thrives in discomfort.

Sometimes we have to move through the places that are uncomfortable to come through the places that are transformational.

As you say,

Nothing but love and resources can come in,

I am protected.

You may feel a shift in your body's stature or positioning,

I can release.

This is available to me.

As you breathe in,

As though you had nostrils in the middle of your chest,

Feeding the pranic forces within you,

The vital energy,

I'd like you to bring your awareness down to where your tailbone is hitting the surface underneath you,

Offering the mantra with your three fingers together,

Nothing but love and resources can come in,

I am protected,

I am safe.

Bring your awareness now to your lower abdominal.

Knowing that this is your creative center,

Place in which you create.

You may not feel creative all the time,

But you are constantly creating,

You're also bringing in new ideas,

Feelings and thoughts.

Feeling gratitude for the space is a great way to honor it.

You can also bring in the thought of this is my power center,

Where I can really thrive and offer who I really am.

You may feel stuck in this area,

And that's okay,

I'd like you to bring awareness here,

And almost as though you were drawing a smile from hip to hip,

Offer that feeling of happiness through your lower abdominal.

Don't tell any stories,

Don't offer any suggestions,

Just say,

I'm happy here today.

As you bring your awareness up your body,

Past your heart and into your face,

Relaxing the areas in which you sometimes hold tension,

Stress,

Relax your eyes,

Relax your jaw,

Relax your thoughts.

Nothing but love and resources can come in here.

The event,

The person or the place that created the trauma in which you are engaged,

Maybe daily,

Cannot be changed.

You're very aware of this,

But what can be changed is your reaction or response to what is felt,

Thus giving space,

But also empowering you to make the decision to be a reactor or a responder.

As the thoughts begin to wander,

Maybe even into that scenario,

I'd like you to begin to offer this word,

Thinking.

As the thoughts come in,

Your mind is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

Bring awareness,

Bring thoughts,

And protect you.

You can subscribe to these and follow the thoughts like you've always done,

Or give it space just by saying,

Thinking.

You can move into your breath as an anchor just by saying,

Inhale,

And as you release the breath,

Saying,

Exhale.

Every time a thought or story comes in,

Utilize these words as anchors to bring you back into presence about what's really happening here and now.

Inhale,

Thinking,

Exhale.

Each time you take a breath,

Labeling it,

And maybe noticing where you feel the breath.

Should it be in your belly?

Maybe your chest?

As you exhale,

Notice how you're settling in,

Letting go.

Each thought does not need to be disabling.

Each thought is the same by one characteristic.

They are all temporary.

Just like your breath that rises and falls.

Just like the ocean waves that roll into the shore.

Just like that disturbing thought.

It is temporary.

Nothing but love and resources can come in.

You are safe.

Knowing that a thought is temporary also means the chemical response to the thought is temporary.

Give the thought some space by offering a breath for four counts in and six counts out.

Four counts in,

Six counts out.

Keep moving this breath with your fingers in the mudra,

Offering the words inhaling and exhaling.

You can always nurture yourself by bringing another hand to your belly,

Your heart,

Your leg,

Your head,

Or wherever it feels tender.

Receiving this time as a place of recognition,

I recognize what's coming up as I sit in and focus on that thing that happened to me.

I notice the emotion.

That's a present moment thought.

It will rise and fall with your breath.

I notice the frustration.

Let it rise.

Without reaction,

Let it fall with your breath.

I recognize the loss of freedom.

Whatever it is that you're feeling,

Recognize and allow it to be part of this scenario.

The way I like to do that is imagine you had a giant flashlight right at the forehead,

Right between your brows.

And as that disturbing thought,

That uncomfortable thing rises,

Shine the light of awareness upon it as though you were watching someone,

As though you were observing in a way of reconnaissance.

This temporary phenomenon rising and falling,

And as you shine the light of awareness upon it,

I see you.

You cannot hurt me.

Only love and resources can come in.

I am safe.

You take its power away.

There is a story of the Buddha on the day of his enlightenment underneath the Bodhi tree and the Buddha had a person in his life named Mara,

Who did not want to see the Buddha enlightened or transcending his human form.

Mara was disturbing the Buddha by throwing things at him,

Sharp objects and rocks.

The Buddha's followers were quite upset and said,

Buddha,

What shall we do?

Shall we stop Mara from doing these things?

The Buddha did not move from his moment of meditation under the Bodhi tree,

Did not find himself disturbed.

And as the time passed,

Finally the Buddha opened his eyes with compassion and love,

Shining the light of awareness upon his attacker and said,

Mara,

I see you.

Come,

Let's have tea.

As you see your attacker,

That moment,

That person,

That place,

Shine the light of awareness upon it and say,

I see you.

Nothing but love and resources can come in.

I am safe.

I see you.

And take its power away.

By reacting,

It empowers that.

By responding,

It disempowers.

Offering a breath in,

I see you.

And then letting it fold away just as though over a rolling wave,

Temporary in nature,

Temporary in thought,

Breathe in,

I see you,

Thinking,

Exhale,

Letting it go.

Breathe in,

I see you,

Exhaling,

Letting it go.

As you continue to breathe and as you continue to empower yourself,

Come back to this tract often.

You'll notice that that unwanted visitor may stay less time and that you'll create more space between what is felt and what is thought,

Empowering you to move forward and not be defined by the personality of what happened to you,

But yet the talents and the creativity and the way that you can thrive as you move forward.

You are a powerful creator.

Nothing but love and resources can come in.

You get to decide how you feel today.

No event,

No person,

No place gets to change your alchemy.

As you feel your alchemy disturbed,

Come back to bringing the three fingers together and breathing in for a count of four,

Releasing for a count of six,

As long as you need,

Empowering your vibration to be that of the responder,

Not of the reactor.

You are not defined by your past experiences.

You have so much more to live.

You got this.

Namaste,

My friends.

Reviews

Another very helpful meditation, thank you— have intellectually let go of these traumas again and again, but it needs to happen within the body✨✨🙏🏼🙏🏼✨✨

That was really beautiful and extremely helpful tools were given thank you thank you thank you with the full heart I thank you

This is a very helpful meditation to help deal with trauma. I can feel the shift within. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙏🏽

I cannot thank Ryan enough for this extremely helpful mediation. It is beautifully worded, comprehensive, well paced and effective. I am finding it very grounding while I meditate, and also very fortifying for the day that follows. I hope that stating how comprehensive it is highlights that there are lots of helpful observations that enhance the main focus of the breathing regulation. I highly recommend this track to anyone who needs helps feeling comfortable and safe within their own skin.

This session was very powerful. I have a manager that I have let inflict tremendous pain, by triggering my past. I feel as if I am child again being physically hit for some transgression. I find myself rolling up to protect myself. At other times she is fine. I didn't realize this is exactly how my past played out. The trauma is a repeat.
Nothing but Love, Kindness and Resources can Come In.
Thank you - I will return to this.

Finding this meditation is helping me greatly with my grief PTSD trauma trigger. Thank you.
Namaste
Nikki

Really gentle and supportive. Definitely useful in this season of my healing practice. Thank you.

Thank you so much for this powerful, yet soothing meditation 💛

So comforting and soothing right when I needed it. Thank you 🙏🏾

Once again an awesome meditation by Ryan. I highly recommand it to everyone who has scares that need healing. I will revisit this one often. Ong namo guru dev namo 🙏

Thank you for that beautiful, powerful and helpful meditation. 💜🙏💜✨🕊️😊

I really enjoyed this what a wonderful practice with doing the Mudra’s,Breathing & incorporating the words into the breathing made me feel so anchored & very calming Thankyou Ryan 🙏