BROKEN SWORD
Teaching martial arts and internal work (nei gong), which includes and is similar to qi gong, yoga, ‚meditation‘, I was forced to learn about the mechanics of trauma and healing of trauma, as the release, that happens within internal work, can allow traumatic material to emerge. I wrote this essay, because I think, that it is essential to be informed about the mechanics of trauma, if practicing or teaching any kind of internal work. The aim was, to at least superficially touch on all the points where internal work and trauma therapy potentially overlap. I chose the English language, because it is the common language of my students, other teachers and people I converse with about that theme. Reading time is around 45 minutes. Probably I will post smaller bites about trauma and internal art in the future.
The Broken Sword
An essay on trauma, Internal Martial Arts and spiritual paths in general.
Some swords are broken at the hilt and almost useless, some are broken into many shards, some only at the tip, and almost intact, but those are not many. Some have unnoticeable fissures, and when they are needed, they will shatter.
Brokenness
In many spiritual Traditions exists the idea, that we are inherently broken, and need to awaken to our real nature, that we are not, per se fully, who we are. (From the perspective of the absolute, the human is already the absolute or in Buddhist terms (a) Buddha. But before the work is done, to realize, that one already is who one is, it remains a potential.) In Christianity we find the idea of the original sin, which is a similar dogma, but on another level.
This brokenness can be described as trauma (wound). On one level the trauma of being in the ever changing world, identified with thought and a transient body, on another level, to be traumatized within the body, within the brain, the nervous system, the psyche. The second definition is the one we refer to usually when we speak of trauma in this day and age. From here on the word trauma will be used in that meaning. There are differences and similarities between the need to heal trauma (psychological, physical) and the urge to engage in some kind of spiritual exercise.
The essential difference can be clearly defined.
1 Being able to live a fulfilled live, but realizing the conditioned, transient nature of existence. The ’suffering‘ (dukkha) of not having awakened to reality, of not having realized the potential of the human being, in Buddhist terms, the “Buddha nature”, independently from being currently happy in life or not. (The Pali term Dukkha means not suffering in the usual sense, it means to realize, that even a fulfilled life is a form of suffering. Dukkha is considered, to be a spiritual achievement.)
2 Brokenness, Trauma on the physical level(psychological, central nervous system), that makes a fulfilled life in the world impossible. Being unhappy and developing the urge, to find happiness.
These different forms of suffering induce different motivations, to enter a spiritual path, like Internal Martial Arts, and Internal Arts (Nei Jia) that have often been called “Chinese Yoga”.
(Internal Martial Arts, (Tai Ji Chuan, Xing Yi Chuan, Ba Gua Zhan a. o.) are always also a spiritual path. Real internal power (Yang) derives from total stillness (Yin). Traditional Martial Arts can be a source for healing and (martial) power, but are built on metaphysical principles, all their teachings derive from the ‚absolute‘ (principium principiorum) and can lead there. Internal Martial Arts can be a preliminary and accompanying path to a direct spiritual path as for example Zen, but are also in themselves a spiritual path.. They are in a sense a shaktic path, similar to many yogic, tantric paths. While at least Traditionally the teacher of a direct spiritual path, like most Buddhist paths, needs to be enlightened, there exists no such prerequisite for teachers of Internal Martial Arts. Even though the exercises of the various paths, differ from each other, they are common enough in their effect, especially concerning trauma, to talk here about spiritual paths, spiritual exercises in general.)
The main motivations, to enter a spiritual path can be formulated as the following: freeing oneself from physical symptoms and problems in life, becoming powerful, which one could interpret as another expression of trying to free oneself from symptoms and finding a way of spiritual cultivation. The above mentioned different forms of suffering and motivations, usually overlap and are often confused. There is nothing wrong about these mixed intentions. But, to avoid possible unnecessary damage, and to address every problem at the root and with the right tools, the motivation needs to be clear and differentiated.
The hope is often enough, that by learning some internal (yogic) methods or meditation (which can´t really be learned), all kinds of symptoms, all trauma will be resolved and one will live freely and happily ever after. Spiritual exercises are in that case used like a better pill or drug, but they wont help on the long run and in every case. Theoretically it seems to be possible, to awaken to the true nature of being and by that dissolving all kinds of suffering, including trauma. Some people have succeeded on that path, but for the majority it does not work, or works detrimentally. Roughly spoken, on can succeed, if the main driving force is Dukkha, and the wish, to change ones life within life, is only the inductor to spiritual cultivation. In most cases trauma needs to be taken into account.
Meditation (only) is the wrong tool for the healing of trauma. It is like trying to cut firewood with a spoon, shunning the axe as not delicate enough. One may get it done with sheer willpower, but far too often one will fail and freeze, or get injured in the process. It is easier to use an axe for cutting the wood, the spoon is fine for the soup, that will be cooked later above the fire.
Unresolved trauma leads often to stagnation, in the worst case to madness and sickness on the spiritual path. (More to the concrete mechanics later in the text.) Many traditions say, that one shall only do spiritual exercises, when one is in peace with the world and lives a fulfilled life. It is not necessary, to walk a spiritual path for everybody anytime. It is possible, that if the worldly traumata are resolved and one can live a fulfilled life, be in peace with oneself and with others, one will not have the urge to realize the true nature of being.
‚If these highest principles (of the spiritual path) are misunderstood or if these cultivation methods are misapplied, the final result could be tragic. Why not, then give up meditation and enjoy a natural life?‘ (Nan Huai Chin, Tao and Longevity, P. 26, Nature of Meditation)
A Contemporary Overview on Trauma
Broken down one can say, trauma means, that ones body, ones feelings and mind are stuck in a life threatening situation from the past. By constantly suppressing emotions, sensations, memories, and by projecting the danger of the past into the present, and acting according to the internal information, not according to the actual information of the present situation, one creates an internal hell, and often an external hell, for oneself and often others.
There are different kinds of trauma. Important in this context are situational trauma, or shock trauma and attachment, developmental and/or complex trauma.
Shock trauma means that one singular event in life is so overwhelming or perceived to be so overwhelming, that the autonomous nervous system freezes the overwhelming feelings and states, to deal with them later. This happens in case of an intense life threatening situation, combined with the real or perceived incapacity to change that situation. A bombardment in war, for example, or a car accident could be such a situation. The ‚decision‘ to freeze the feelings and the state of the body, is an automatic unconscious reaction. The problem is, that the nervous system, stays in that frozen state, does not ‚digest‘ and release those intense feelings, perceived to be deadly dangerous, if it would, there would be no trauma. Even long after the traumatizing event, the traumatized person is split off from the reality around them, because internally they are still in the overwhelming situation. An enormous amount of energy is used, to suppress these feelings and internal states, that are connected to the past situation. To make reality coherent, those feelings are transferred onto other non dangerous situations and people, which will then be perceived as life threatening. When the survival system kicks in, there are basically three extremes of possible reactions, to run away, to attack or to freeze. The actual reaction can be in very extremes cases a literal flight, attack or freeze, but usually an action more coherent to the present situation, which expresses one point on the spectrum of the survival system (fight, flight, freeze), like for example ignoring someone, isolating oneself from others, insulting someone, or ‚fawning‘, meaning, to become unable to set boundaries. In any case suffering will be the result. The internal turmoil does also abate, if one seeks situations, that are really dangerous. In that way the internal state of being in immediate danger to ones life, that permanent red alert, becomes coherent with the present outside situation. Entering a dangerous territory, a war zone, or another threat to life can then cause a release and a kind of joy. The problem is, that it does not go well on the long run, one may ruin ones own life and health, endanger others and cause new and more trauma. That is how trauma engenders trauma in a vicious circle. Certain impressions, can especially trigger the frozen feelings, thoughts and states of the body and the person can internally be transported back into the traumatizing situation. A typical example are fireworks, or the smell of gasoline, that could lead someone traumatized in war, to zone out of the present, back to the traumatizing event. But it could also be the crying of a child that triggers a parents trauma. (In Bessel van der Kolks book “The Body Keeps the Score” these mechanics are described very precisely)
There is a growing awareness for situational or shock trauma in society. It can be addressed and it can at least partly be healed by releasing the body. There are other layers of trauma, that are not necessarily connected to a singular event and are imprinted into the nervous system on a much deeper level, affecting every aspect of the person. Shock trauma can be seen as a wound in a plant, that needs to be treated and healed locally, while attachment trauma can be compared to a plant, that was already infected with a fungus, when it was a seed, or a seedling. So that plant and fungus grew up together to a plant, whose existence is thwarted, it may not be able to bear fruits for example. A plant that exists, but cannot live and thrive.
Attachment trauma can usually not be released through physical exercises (therapy) only. It begins in early childhood and defines the way we relate to ourselves, to other people and to the world in general. Almost all of us had to distort ourselves to a certain degree, to be able to attach to our parents. Attachment, which means in the optimal case a loving connection, is necessary for the survival of an infant. In most (modern) societies, it is very difficult for parents, to be good enough parents. As an example there could be a mother who is permanently stressed, seemingly because of her full time job. (Of course the life choices of the previous generation are themselves trauma informed.) The needs of the infant could be perceived by her to be overwhelming, resulting in her ignoring and avoiding it, as far as possible. Or a primary caregiver could feel so sad and helpless, that he does not let his child take any distance, keeping it near in a symbiosis, not capable to allow any autonomy of the child. In one case there is a lack of intimacy, in the other case a lack of autonomy, a `’too near‘, or a ‚too far‘. These are, roughly spoken, the two poles of attachment and developmental trauma. In both cases, the child is not seen, is alone with his feelings, as in the second example, the child cannot be itself, as who it is, but as a function for the care giver. Not only an overwhelming situation, constitutes trauma, but a feeling becomes overwhelming, if a child is alone with it. For the child it is actually life threatening, to lose the connection (attachment) to the mother (the primary caregiver). It will do everything to keep at least a semblance of connection, it will suppress either the need for more contact, or the need for autonomy, to make even the thinnest and most destructive attachment possible. In reaction to the two extremes of `too near` and `too far‘, the child may develop either no boundaries, or walls without windows and doors. It will suppress the according feelings of anger and sadness, but also, depending on the circumstances joy and love and so on, or feelings altogether. By that suppression, the child’s nervous system is molded into a shape, that allows it, to survive in its environment. A survival system is created. The unconscious ‚thought‘, that the learned way to deal with the world is the right one, because any other is life threateningly dangerous, becomes deeply ingrained into the nervous system, and a defining part of the personality. The problem is, that by growing up, the nervous system stays in that form. As a grown up in a grown up reality, the survival system, which allowed the infant to survive, is not appropriate, and depending on the severity of the distortion, and compatibility with societal norms, can make the life of the grown up nearly impossible, resulting in the traumatized person and others suffering greatly.
It may be, for example, that a child’s parents could not deal with anger and ignored it, or even punished it, when it expressed anger. Anger in itself is constructive, the child expresses anger, because it needs something to change in that moment, quench hunger, needs contact etc., or to signal, that it has enough of something. If the anger, the crying does not work, or works detrimentally, the anger will very likely be suppressed. It is common experience and knowledge, that in early age, we cannot see our parents as humans with all their faults, but we see them as nearly half gods. If they did us wrong, we thought we were wrong, that our feeling, our needs were wrong. Because, if the parent would be wrong or ‚bad‘, then the child could not attach to it, and that would mean, to die, so the child makes itself ‚bad‘. The child will ‚learn‘, on an unconscious level that anger is bad and life threatening. As a sentence this could sound like ‚If I feel anger, the parents will leave me and I will die.‘ or ‚if I feel anger, and set my boundaries, or voice my needs, the parents will attack and kill me.‘. Theses permanently active unconscious projections, allow the child to act (behave) in a way, that does not disturb his parents and the child will keep some form of attachment, it will survive. The projection will still be active in the nervous system of the grown up person. If feeling and need, that created a perceived life threat in childhood, emerges into the grown ups awareness, the body would signal a life threat, which will be perceived to be dissonant in grown up life, creating an extremely uncomfortable, crazy making situation. In that way, the suppression will be perpetuated. ‚The parents‘ become(s) ‚the other(s)‘. The way to relate to the parents, will be the only way, to relate, as all other ways would trigger a life threat and are avoided and prevented. But in the grown up mind, to avoid dissonance, the archaic sentence will be made coherent with grown up life. If anger, and the setting of boundaries, are deeply suppressed, there often is an idea developed, that one is inherently peaceful, altruistic, caring, maybe very spiritual, does not have any needs, being beyond needs. These deeply ingrained projections and identifications, deriving from the suppression of needs and feelings, become personality defining. We easily think, that we are that survival program of our nervous system. And Mostly there will be pride invested in that persona, which was built as a result of childhood trauma. Like thinking, to stay with above given example, that one is very advanced spiritually and a very good person, instead of realizing, that one is currently simply incapable of setting boundaries.
The suppressed emotional energy does not dissipate, by dissociating from the internal feelings and states. It will emerge in form of symptoms. Problems in life, like the inability, to have a meaningful relationship, not finding a suiting job etc., to all kinds of addictions, like alcoholism, workaholism, lack of money etc. to all kinds of physical symptoms.
The traumatic childhood setting will automatically and mostly unconsciously be reenacted. The above mentioned example of someone, who can never say no, and believes himself, to be a very spiritual person, who developed beyond anger, will make most people angry in short time, and probably chase them away. For example by always saying ‚yes‘, and being sooner or later incapable, to own all that responsibility, and like that being bound to disappoint people again and again, or by expressing anger indirectly by being passive aggressive. In what ever way, that anger will be projected somewhere. It can also and will eventually be causing physical symptoms. This is just one example, the suppression and the rationalization can show in different ways. The suppressed feeling could, for example be sadness, which would create different problems. The survival program could be the other extreme, to attack everyone, who is perceived to be too near, for example. It is different for everyone, but the principle is the same.
Shock trauma is in most cases intertwined with developmental and attachment trauma. Attachment and developmental trauma influence also, how the nervous system will react to an overwhelming situation. It can lead to someone experiencing an intense situation, as more overwhelming then it actually is and like that freezing and becoming (shock) traumatized. We know, that children, who experienced a shocking overwhelming event, but where in a loving connection with their parents, were not very likely to develop PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), children, who where more or less left alone with their experience, where very likely to develop PTSD. (for example studies about 9/11 by Bessel van der Kolk and others.) It can and often does lead one to seek out possibly overwhelming situations, that would have generally been avoidable, or to create these situations. It is obvious how trauma plays out on the societal and political level, if one thinks of avoidable wars, the rat race of unnecessary and inhuman jobs etc.. But here is not the place, to expand on that theme.
Containing Trauma
The purely mental realization of ones unconscious survival mechanism, can help to avoid triggering situations, but does not dissolve the compulsive behavior, does not heal the trauma.
Concerning the physical level, it is valid to say, that if the pent up charges in the nervous system, can be released, the nervous system will rearrange itself and the trauma will heal. Many physical methods work like that. The charges are more or less moved, shaken and sweated out. There exist exercises in Internal Martial Arts (Chinese Yoga) with that effect. The release through the body, may work to a certain degree for situational trauma, but not sufficiently for attachment and developmental trauma, and even if it works for situational trauma, layers of complex trauma, attachment trauma will most likely be touched in the process and will have to be contained too.
Containing can mean to be able, to experience the thoughts (the projections, introjects), the feelings, the physical sensations, that are connected to, constitute and derive from the trauma, without identifying with the experience, just simply being aware of them, contain them within the space of awareness. Containing can also mean, and usually means, if used referring to trauma, to contain these internal states in the presence of, and together with another person or persons. Our nervous systems attune to each other automatically, and have the capacity of ‚healing‘ each other. That makes it much easier to contain difficult states in a safe dyadic or group setting. (It works also the other way around, we can drag each other down.) In a safe non solitary setting, the internal states and the projections, those thoughts, that project danger into the other, can be communicated in some way or the other, and it can be experienced, that the other is not a danger, that the projections are not valid anymore in the present and they can be disidentified with. Thereby the body will also relax and the nervous system release. Basically it is a principle, that works not only in therapy, but in relationships and friendships, most of us know instinctively, that difficult situations become suddenly much easier, if one is not alone. Or as the German proverb goes: ’shared pain is half the pain, and shared joy is doubled joy‘. (More precise information to the function of the nervous system, one finds in Stephen Porges book about the ‚The Polyvagal Theory‘.)
Solitary containment happens usually within meditational exercises. For a traumatized person, it does almost never work, or even creates more stress. As it means the recreation of the isolation, abandonment and loneliness of a traumatizing childhood, in short the recreation of the trauma, which is very difficult to be contained. Solitary meditation, yoga, nei gong etc. may seem a a very coherent and wholesome solution initially, if drawing back from people, and dissociating from ones body and feelings, had been an efficient survival strategy in childhood.
Containment and disidentification generate each other. If there is full identification with a thought-feeling complex (projection etc.), there is only that, the person becomes that, if there is disidentification, there will be space (of mind) around that thought-feeling complex, within which it can be contained. And if there is space, a thought-feeling complex happens within, there would be no need to identify with that.
The non solitary containment is the easier or more natural way, to contain trauma, especially attachment trauma. Attachment trauma is, by definition about contact, and is most likely to heal within contact. The ability to contain difficult states within a non solitary setting, eventually leads to the capacity to contain difficult states in a solitary setting too.
The principle is very simple, but in practice, it seems to be difficult, because most of the survival system, as described above, is made coherent in many layers of rationalizations, of believes about oneself and the world, which are mostly unconscious. The survival system, was once life saving, if one begins to contain the projections and free oneself from the compulsiveness of the traumatized nervous system, it will on an unconscious almost instinctive level, receive that as life threatening, and do everything, to validate the projections. But if the other (the therapist) is not easily identified with mental and emotional processes, does not react to the client in the way his survival system expects her to react, it is possible to communicate layer by layer, until the deeper running projections, feelings and states emerge and can be contained. That is roughly how trauma therapy works, maybe together with body work and so on, but in the core it is about containing the feelings and states in a non solitary situation, that had to be suppressed before and allowing the present to be seen as what it is, and to allow the body to release. The actual individual healing can not be grasped, it works on an unexpected level, can even have almost a mystical character. A certain spiritual angle comes into play: What is that space, that can contain the body, the feelings and (certain) thoughts? Who is it? Not the body, not the feelings, not certain thoughts.
(There exist different therapeutic approaches. I refer mostly to the ones, that are based on the Polyvagal Theory. There are other comparable treatment modalities building on the principle of transference. Like the approaches from and around Otto Kernberg. )
Hitting the Glass Wall, Kundalini or Worse
In Internal Martial Arts, one is literally rebuilding the body. The perception of the physical form changes, which in turn transforms the actual body. In that process one learns exercises (Qi Gong, Nei Gong a. o.), that allow the body to relax deeply, but stay stretched, and upright and to enter a state of relaxed attentive awareness almost like when falling asleep, but being wakeful at the same time. These exercises have a balancing effect on the nervous system, allowing the body to release tensions. To a certain degree that is very helpful, if one is suffering from trauma, and can help in the process of containing and healing trauma. But the exercise itself does not heal the trauma, the change, the release in the initial phase of learning is not lasting, and one may become dependent on the exercises. Much better than to be dependent on a substance, but still not a lasting solution. It can become a more sophisticated method of suppression. After a period of time, if it is ignored, or unconscious, that the root of most symptoms, is trauma, then the symptoms, which one tries to cure through spiritual exercises, can reinstall themselves, or other, often more severe symptoms can emerge.
If one intensifies the exercising and the one pointed concentration a bit, the deeper layers of the body will relax, open and be vitalized. The body goes into a state, that has not been experienced since the trauma took effect. With this deep relaxation and flow of vital energy, also the suppressed and ‚frozen‘ emotions and in some cases memories, in short the traumatic material emerges. It is not possible, to suppress a feeling, without creating overtension and blockages in the body. If the body releases, the suppressed feelings are also released. If that begins, to happen, in many cases, the practitioner simply cannot continue the exercise. The body begins to tense up again, as soon, as the point of relaxation is reached, where the traumatic material is triggered, before it could overwhelm the person. It feels like hitting an invisible wall, one cannot get through, no matter how much one trains, how many new approaches and techniques one learns. That is the main reason why exercises may have no lasting effect, even if training for years, until the trauma is healed.
It is possible, if the willpower is strong enough, to will oneself a bit forward through the ‚glass wall‘. If that happens, the suddenly released pent up unconscious material, will most likely cause an overwhelming experience. But it is not only traumatic material, that one becomes suddenly aware of, but also deeper layers of reality, which in itself can be a very intense and demanding experience. Often, especially if the practitioner is unprepared and makes that step on the path too quickly, the intensity is too much for the body mind system, panicking, crying, vomiting can happen. The penetration of overwhelming information into consciousness, can unfold in different ways. After that cathartic experience one may be in a state of bliss for several hours, even days, or sometimes the panic, the overwhelming goes on for a while, may even severely destabilize the practitioner. Sometimes the bliss comes first, stays for a while, and then the overwhelming happens. If the trauma is already sufficiently contained, even if not fully healed and one is ready for that step, it is simply an intense experience, and the real exercise is, to neither identify with the bliss, nor the more uncomfortable states. In that way these exercises again can help on the path of healing trauma. When one becomes aware of a much wider scope of reality, a hint of something, that is wider and more intense than feelings, thoughts and states of the body, containment (of traumatic material) becomes much easier. Some minutes of a certain exercises can already cause that deep relaxation. These experiences are not a healing of trauma. The trauma remains, because the projections remain, it is an opening for a restricted amount of time. One should only enter into such exercises, when one has a clear awareness for the mechanics of trauma and an awareness of ones feelings and states of body and one has reached a certain grade of integration.
With even more will power, one can push through these kind of exercises, through the ‚glass wall‘ and experience some variation of ‚Kundalini awakening‘, as it is widely called. Which means not an awakening to ‚true nature‘, but an activation of the energetic potential of the body. Actually one simply becomes more attuned to before invisible layers of reality. If that energetic awakening process happens, everything is far more intense than before, feelings and projections included. It is few who will themselves up into that intensity. It needs willpower, alertness, and mainly ripeness, to contain the awakening of these intense experiences and powers, even without the interference of trauma. One can imagine what happens, if someone activates that higher energetic potential, but the trauma, the survival system is still active and projecting unconsciously permanently danger into the world. It is an absolute horror trip. The body is (forcibly) opening up, an intense flow of energy happens, at the same time the mechanism of suppression is still active in the nervous system, which puts an enormous pressure onto the body, onto the blocked nervous system, intense pain can appear, or existing symptoms can become more severe. On the other hand, as the suppression of feelings, does not work sufficiently, the traumatic material rushes uncontrollably into awareness, becoming magnified through the newly acquired sensitivity and intensity, endangering the person (ego) to be simply washed away, which can lead to psychosis. Most people tend to rather suffer physically then to loose their mind. There is one more option, how that process plays out. It is possible, that one experiences a joyful energized state for a prolonged time, for many years even, being able to suppress all traumatic material, even forgetting about it, until one day the barrier breaks, with the above described intensified effects. All mentioned problems arise when it is a perturbed Kundalini process. Kundalini is perturbed, if it is activated forcibly. Force produces necessarily friction. There is only a need to force that process, if there is a feeling of helplessness, smallness, sadness etc., usually because of unresolved trauma and the idea in the mind, that bliss and/or power can heal that feeling and make one efficient in life. A ‚Turba‘ in the mind, forces a still not purified energy through a forcibly but not sufficiently opened body. It is self violation. Pure Kundalini awakens from the stillness of mind and peacefulness in the body naturally, it is not overheated, penetrating, messy, but warm and permeating like sunshine. Kundalini is nothing special, it is a necessary side effect of and preliminary stage to spiritual development. On a spiritual path, all kinds of powerful, blissful states, are also to be disidentified with (sanskrit, neti neti – ‚I am not this, I am not that‘). Not only, because otherwise the road to liberation would be blocked, but also because of the direct danger.
There is huge power in this Kundalini awakening, and often bliss, it is very enticing, and seems to be ‚the solution‘, but the bliss will end, and, as Jiddu Krishnamurti puts it, ‚this state gives more energy and time, to do more bullshit.‘ Kundalini awakening, is never the aim, just another experience to be contained. Internal Martial arts, ‚Chinese Yoga‘ in general, has a very grounded and safe approach to the awakening of the energetic system, but it is still a shaktic path, where one experiences necessarily such kind of openings rather sooner than later. If we differentiate three areas of cultivation, body, energy or subtle body and mind (jing, chi and shen), the energetic, subtle body cultivation, is the most triggering for trauma, as the sensitivity for energy is very similar, if not the same to the sensitivity for feelings. Methods, that favourize the cultivation through mind or consciousness (like self inquiry, or some zen methods) can seem to be safer in the beginning, as it allows to dissociate from body and feelings for a while, but on a certain point of cultivation, the other areas (body, feelings) will release and the suppressed material rush into consciousness. The body can not really be separated from mind and as soon as the mind begins to become quiet, the body will relax, energies will rise. Deep Yin produces real Yang. Even if one is not aiming at opening the Kundalini, deep meditation will most probably have that effect on the body.
Solutions (Trauma sensitive Training)
Some ways to deal with the dangers of trauma, on the path of spiritual cultivation have been suggested already in the passages above.
Of course everyone who enters an Internal Martial Arts school, is responsible for oneself, it is not a therapy setting. And most teachers are not therapists. But that does not mean to ignore trauma. To be informed about and sensitized to the mechanics of trauma is crucial. Also to offer that information to all participants of the training is important. As a result one will naturally modify the training process. If, for example, one realizes, that for someone Qi Gong is very triggering, I would not encourage him, to do more of it, but emphasize exercises on the ground or Zhan Zhuang (standing exercise). In general exercises, that allow more intense physical involvement. Trauma sensitive training does not mean to not train hard, in the opposite. For most people an intense training, will not resolve the trauma, but can have a balancing effect and be a strong resource on the path of healing. It allows to activate anger in a constructive way, to balance the body, release blockages temporarily, to give confidence and physical, mental and emotional strength.
There are some exercises in Internal Arts that are not as triggering and cathartic as others. The Zhan Zhuang (standing exercise) for example, if not combined with certain Nei Gong (internal work) can be even very beneficial. In the standing exercise the body is very involved, shaking will occur sooner or later, with the shaking comes a physical and emotional release. Sometimes hardly noticeable, sometimes stronger. Usually the process in the standing exercise goes layer by layer, and one does not risk an overwhelming experience. Zhan Zhuang seems to be similar to some modern trauma release methods. Of course, with enough willpower, also Zhan Zhuang can be a trigger for overwhelming states.
Sparring and partner work can also trigger trauma, but in my experience to a far lesser degree. When I entered martial arts as a youth, we had no knowledge about trauma, but we all knew, how it looks, when someone zones out (dissociates) and how to bring them back. We knew we have to talk to them and ask very concrete questions about planning in time and space. We had other methods too. But sparring and partner work in general is for most people much less of a trigger for traumatic overwhelming, than the above mentioned internal exercises. For most people sparring exercises, have a very empowering and balancing effect. Through the non solitary setting regulation happens to a degree already automatically. Often a more external martial training can have ironically a more relaxing and empowering effect on someone, than more internal martial training, that emphasizes releasing the body and (stretched) relaxation.
It can happen, that a teacher gives a push to the students will power, to go into a process, which lands him in a difficult place. The simple presence of an advanced practitioner, who had opened the energetic system already, as our nervous systems are attuning to each other, and students try to imitate the teacher instinctively, can also contribute in inducing energetic process unwillingly.
I think it is essential as a teacher of Internal Martial Arts, Yoga etc. to seek healing of ones own traumata. There is nothing to lose, when one also heals the trauma. If the teacher is informed about trauma, he can much easier evaluate the state his students are in, and act accordingly. As it is recommended, to know something about (Traditional) medicine if one teaches Chinese or Indian yoga, I think it is a good idea, to have a connection to a good trauma therapist, as it may be sometimes necessary for students to complement the training with therapy, or leave training temporarily, because therapy is the better option in some cases.
Traditional paths and trauma therapy:
A perspective from the standpoint of Metaphysical spiritual Tradition.
Healing trauma aims mainly at freeing a person within life, at allowing someone, to be able to live a fulfilled life, by dissolving (containing) the self made unconsciously staged difficulties. A certain degree of readiness to die, a heroic act is needed, to really contain trauma and heal from trauma. The similarity to spiritual initiation, is obvious. One can only take a hair out of the soup from outside the soup, but not while swimming inside of it. The process of containment and healing of trauma, corresponds with the realization of a certain stage on the spiritual path. (One could clearly investigate how certain qualities and principles necessary for the path of awakening are developed in the process of healing trauma. If we take a Buddhist perspective, it would be qualities like sati (Pali, – often translated as mindfulness),, samatha (Pali, – ’serene awareness‘, ‚calmness‘), a pre-stage of vipassana (pali, – ‚higher perception‘, ‚clear unclouded perception‘) and others, but that would be a theme on its own.) Even the most serene, fulfilled life, does not go beyond transient life. If one wants to continue, to walk on the spiritual path, beyond the healing of trauma, an even more heroic act, a more encompassing dying would be necessary.
There are hints, that many Traditional Metaphysical, spiritual systems contained psychological methods, that seem often to be lost. In the Tibetan Tradition parts of that seem to be still alive. One finds hints in the many stories about Chinese Chan and Daoist masters and their conversations with students. In the esoteric Islamic Tradition, a good example is the path of Rumi and Shams, which was more than a therapy, but seemed to have included a healing on the worldly level, as part of the spiritual path.
There are many examples for principles in different Metaphysical Traditions, that are also to be found in trauma therapy. Some of them had been mentioned in this text. Actually one could say that all the main principles of healing in modern trauma therapeutical approaches, can be found within, or deduced to principles of spiritual Tradition. These principles go beyond the healing of trauma, but encompass the healing of trauma. The non identification with experience, for example, to contain feelings (states), perceived to be life threatening, in the context of trauma therapy, means in a spiritual Metaphysical context, to contain actual dying itself. The great achievement of modern therapeutical approaches is, to revitalize the potential of existing methods for spiritual cultivation. To make clear how the principles of spiritual Tradition also apply to heal trauma in the present-day world. The formulation of the polyvagal theory, and methods to heal trauma deriving from the polyvagal theory, have been greatly influenced, and would probably have been impossible without an experiential knowledge of meditational exercises and Metaphysical Tradition, mostly Buddhism and Yoga (Tantra).
It is dangerous, to ignore the significance of trauma on the spiritual path, it is even more dangerous, if the context and function of Metaphysical, spiritual principles and methods is ignored, in the process of healing trauma. Great care is necessary, to not engage in uninformed arbitrary sycretism.
The greater danger is, that on the long run, the methods would with time be watered down, the principles and the Metaphysical Traditions they derive from, be distorted. In that case, they would be lost to humanity, as a source for liberation and healing.
On the direct personal level the danger of misused spiritual methods is similar to and overlapping with the above described dangers of ignoring the significance of trauma on the spiritual path. Yogic and meditational exercises, if used out of their context and function, may, even unintentionally open up layers of reality to the practitioner, that are simply overwhelming, maddening, even able to cause physical damage. The physical and psychological damage caused, by a misuse of spiritual methods, would only be treatable by someone, who has a higher spiritual accomplishment, then the one, who had introduced these methods. The function of such exercises is to lead beyond life.
In that context I find it interesting to note, that the term ‚Vajra‘ in the Buddhist (yogic, tantric) Tradition of Vajrayana represents originally the ‚indestructible thunder weapon of Indra‘. A car becomes a weapon easily, if one does not know how to drive, or does not know the traffic rules, or neither the one, nor the other. So can spiritual methods, if their function, and their Metaphysical context is not known. If from there on, to avoid damage, the car is used only for driving in walking pace, it becomes useless. One could even go further, if there is no one, who knows how the mechanics of a car work, the car will be useless, as soon as it would need major repair. The only solution is an experiential and a Metaphysical theoretical knowledge, to apply spiritual methods without peril.
Márton Nagy 2023
(martonpeternagy.com, reforged sword: telegram, facebook)
Further reading
‚The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation‚ by Stephen Porges,
‚The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma‚ by Bessel van der Kolk,
‚Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship‚ by Laurence Heller and Aline LaPierre
‚Der Vagus-Schlüssel zur Traumaheilung: Wie »Ehrliches Mitteilen« unser Nervensystem reguliert‚ by Gopal Norbert Klein,
‚The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture‘ Gábor Máté and Daniel Máté
‚Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving‘ by Pete Walker
‚In An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness‚ by Peter Levine
‚Tao and Longevity‘ by Nan Huai Chin
‚Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on T’ai Chi Ch’uan‘ by Cheng Man Ching
‚Mind Over Matter: Higher Martial Arts‘ by Shi Ming and Siao Weijia
‚Oriental Metaphysics‘ (La metaphysique orientale) by René Guenon
Dao De Jing
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Early Buddhist scriptures (Pali Nikayas)
‚The Flower Ornament Scripture (Avatamsaka Sutra) translated by Thomas Cleary
(‚ The Daoist Classics‘ and ‚Classics of Buddhism and Zen‘ by translated Thomas Cleary)
‚Moonbeams of Mahamudra‘ by Dakpol Tashi Namgyal, translated by Elizabeth M. Callahan
‚Taoism, An Essential Guide‘ by Eva Wong
‚Scientia Sacra‘ by Béla Hamvas