“When we come into the experience of the body and accept everything we find, as it is, we can start to notice the habitual patterns of our minds.”
An experienced insight meditation teacher and psychotherapist, Anton Eastick carries a wealth of information about the workings of the mind and the effect trauma has on our lives.
Coming from a Buddhist philosophy Anton offers unique insights about understanding trauma and how we can begin to move through this trauma using meditation and mindfulness techniques.
I’ve experienced huge benefits in well-being from meditation and remaining aware of the thoughts and emotions I feel in my body. But I wanted to dive deeper with Anton to find out how the practice of meditation and mindful ‘watching’ actually works to heal our past traumas and brings us into a space where authentic action is possible – responding solely and uniquely to the moment in front of us.
Show Highlights and Takeaways
The Nature of Trauma
- Trauma can be caused by an experience that was too much for us to handle. We deal with those experiences in a way that allows us to move on and remain functional in life.
- Trauma can be caused by a big event or smaller subtler events which could be ongoing.
- Being able to express ourselves after a traumatic experience can prevent us from holding onto the trauma in our bodies.
- A traumatic experience doesn’t necessarily lead to an internal holding of trauma.
- Animals don’t often carry trauma within their bodies as they shake off intense experiences which is a form of expressing the feelings within the body.
- Dealing with past traumas, we need to find a way to access the original feeling and express it.
Anger and Aggression
- Anger can be separated from Aggression.
- Anger holds a lot of energy which can be expressed in constructive ways.
- Aggression is destructive and usually involves trying to overpower someone – “I’m right, you’re wrong.”
Meditation and Mindfulness for Healing Trauma
- When meditating on our breathing we can include the whole body in the experience, instead of remaining in the head.
- There is nothing permanent about our thoughts and ideas about life.
- When we come into the experiences of the body and accept everything we find as it is, we can start to notice the habitual patterns of our minds.
- The body has it’s own wisdom. It will tell us know what foods to eat or not to eat, how it likes to be treated or not.
- There’s no set process for dealing with our trauma. It’s a unique process for every individual.
- Staying within our bodies at the sensation level and accepting what we find as it is we give these feelings the space to express themselves.
- Over time, watching our thoughts and feelings leads us to dis-identifying with the habitual reactions we have and weakens the hold they have on us.
- The healing process is not just about the impersonal watching of our thoughts and feelings. It’s about responding (expressing ourselves) in a way that is true to the moment from the unconditioned space that impersonal watching provides.
Mentioned in this Episode
- The Dharma Path (Anton’s Website) Retreats and Psychotherapy
- Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- Peter Levine (biography) – A deeper understanding of trauma
- Definition of Dharma
- Dharma Seed – A good starting point for Dharma talks and resources
- Hakomi Psychotherapy
