Quiet meditation isnt for everyone, do this instead

Meditation can be difficult for trauma survivors as it can trigger anxiety and pain. Mindfulness can be useful for healing, but it's important to start with baby steps and go at your own pace. Some trauma survivors feel disconnected from their bodies, making traditional meditation exercises feel unsafe. Instead, engaging in activities that require concentration and creativity can provide the same benefits. Remember to be patient with yourself and don't rush the process. Creating something with your hands can bring happiness and fulfillment. Meditation is not for everyone, so find what works best for you. Hello my sober souls, this is episode 3 of Rethink Recovery podcast, a show to level up your sober superpowers, tap into the abundance of happiness your life has to offer, and live your recovery on your terms. I'm Sarah, your sober host, and I'm so happy you're here. Let's get started. So pretty much the ultimate goal of meditation is to be self-aware and have moment-to-moment presence with ourselves. But for some people, sitting quiet and sitting still for a period of time to meditate can be very, very difficult, even impossible. Something interesting that I've learned within the last few years is that for people who experience trauma, quiet, still meditation can actually induce unnecessary anxiety and pain in those that have experienced trauma, especially sexual abuse trauma. This is how it works. In meditation, you're asked to pay attention and focus on your internal experiences, right? However, you guys, trauma survivors can become overwhelmed by internal experiences, causing flashbacks and heightened emotions. So paying attention to internal experiences can be like throwing survivors into the heart of the wound, and this can be torturous because these wounds usually require much more than meditation to heal, right? I heard this one story where this girl was having a really hard time connecting during meditation, and it was just so frustrating, so stressful, and just sitting there. And she worked with a specialist, and they were able to find out that she was having those issues because she was being triggered by listening to her own breath because of a past sexual abuse that she had endured, and it was the breathing she was listening to with herself that was triggering back memories that she had as a child. But mindfulness, it can be useful for healing because it doesn't cause the trauma, but it does reveal it, allowing yourself to see what you need to be working on. And what doesn't get resolved does resurface. Start with baby steps into your meditation process. Work on just one minute at a time, just 60 seconds. If that seems difficult, that's okay. Reduce it to 30 seconds. You can do this, and little by little, you'll be able to sit with your own presence. Remember baby steps. This exercise is for you, so don't rush or beat yourself up about not being able to sit still or be quiet. Meditation should be a space to feel valued and safe. You should be doing this at your own pace. This is no time limit. There's no time limit to meditation, guys, or a concrete way to achieve a meditated state. This is all about making you feel comfortable. Mindfulness is a great practice to enhance present moment awareness, increase self-compassion, and the ability to self-regulate your emotions. Tapped in and in flow of life is what keeps us moving. Some of us can't sit still mentally right now, and that's okay. Our memories and emotions from trauma are stored in the body, and mindfulness meditation is based in connection and feeling with the body, right? However, some people with the history of trauma tend to feel disconnected with their bodies. This is called disassociation. It's a fight-or-flight response, and this is your body's natural defense mechanism, and it's more than likely something that you've had engraved in you from childhood. So when trying to connect with sensations of the body, listening to your own breath for instance, while trying to be still and quiet your mind, these exercises could make you feel unsafe, causing increased anxiety and mental torture. But this is a great way of checking your brain into meditating without the quiet and without the long still exercise, right? Initially, when trying to reach meditation and self-awareness, a great technique is to create something with your hands. Instead of sitting there and being quiet, various exercise techniques that involve your hands, as well as mental concentration, has been proven to be a key factor in long-term happiness and well-being. This hack, we can call it, is to get yourself deeply absorbed into something that you can find interesting, and when you're in that groove of creating and in your vibe, you'll lose track of time, and that's when your thoughts, which is from anxiety and overwhelm, to now you're able to settle your nerves and find clarity because you are releasing some of the pressure around your anxiety that's taking up space in your mind, allowing other thoughts to wander and feel ease when doing your activity. This is meditation, friends, moment-to-moment awareness. When I'm feeling anxious and know that it would be beneficial to meditate at that time, this is when I find it extra comforting and working with my hands. So for me, I love to draw, making my own skincare. Those are two activities that provide instant gratification that I did a lot of during my early years of sobriety. I enjoy pairing soap scents, watching art tutorials, and really immersing myself in physical and mental projects that require my full concentration. Engaging in such activities not only help me overcome anxiety, but also bring a sense of fun and fulfillment for myself, which also boosts my self-confidence, right? So before we go, let's remember the key takeaways for today. Don't beat yourself up. Try to at least sit for a few seconds so you can start to get your body and mind used to that state. Mentally and physically, remember you can start with 60 seconds or reduce down to 30 if you need to initially. Go easy and slow down. Remember, meditation is not for everyone. Sitting still and recognizing our internal presence can be triggering for those of us with trauma. Nothing is wrong with you. There is no concrete way to heal. Creating something with your hands is a proven factor for long-term happiness and well-being. So go research some fun projects to get into. Alright guys, thank you so much. That's all I got for today. Please comment and let me know what you think of this show and what you would like to hear more of. I want this to be a community of sober superstars because we're all connected by a common thread. Please subscribe and comment so we can make it easier for other friends in recovery to find us and connect. Thank you. Have a great weekend. Bye.