Spiritual Awakenings
Mastering Trauma Reactions Can Offer Lasting Change
By Brent Baum I
WE DO NOT INHERIT THE EARTH FROM OUR ANCESTORS, WE BORROW IT FROM OUR CHILDREN.
- NATIVE AMERICAN PROVERB
n a time of global and personal upheaval, the capacity to master one’s states of consciousness is
paramount, even critical for continued health. In the age of reality TV and live reporting, there are no filters for sensory input. With the unfolding of events on
9-11, we saw the capacity for images to “hypnotize” us. In fact, a trauma such as 9-11 is a type of trance state that the body enters into to protect itself from being overwhelmed. Karl Pribram, one of the world’s leading neurophysiologists, says that the body stores memory in a way similar to holograms, in which any portion reveals the whole image. In your body, this works to both advantage and disadvantage as one learns to master the various states of consciousness. The “holographic” nature of
memory leaves us vulnerable to triggers that resemble trauma imprints already stored within us. Human memory storage is built on this principle. The color, smell or sound of a beautiful scene in nature can be moved or “breathed” through
Brent Baum, Author
the body and used to transmit the experience, restoring calm to the whole system. Similarly, a negative trigger can pull one completely into the physiology and pain of another place and time. The freezing or holding of breath at a moment of feeling overwhelmed contributes to the pausing of consciousness -- supporting the need for yoga and daily breathwork to better navigate the challenges of daily life. This pausing of consciousness is the natural self- trancing ability of the “bodymind.” But trauma is not simply the acute moment of physical or sexual
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Tucson
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