Meditation for Trauma Recovery

Trauma can bring about a number of neurological changes, but meditation can help in overcoming a traumatic experience, making a person calmer, peaceful, and relieved of stress. 

Meditation helps to calm a mind affected by pain and deep stress which a disaster inevitably brings. A study on war veterans affected with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has revealed that meditation-based techniques like Sudarshan Kriya have healing effects. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger outbursts, emotional numbing and social withdrawal have considerably declined.

How Meditation Heals the Effects of Trauma

1. Insomnia. The mind tends to hold on to the memories fraught with negative emotions. The mind cannot relax, leading to insomnia. Meditation calms the mind and removes these stressful impressions, helping one to get a sound sleep.
2. Nightmares. Gruesome memories of a PTSD patient flash across as nightmares during sleep. Meditation removes the emotional baggage of these memories, diminishing the frequency of these nightmares.
3. Anxiety. During anxiety, breath becomes shorter. Meditation increases one’s awareness on the breath and as the awareness heightens, calmness ensues.
4. Depression. In Ayurveda, it is said low prana (vital force energy) manifests as depression. Meditation escalates prana and helps overcome depression. Studies also show the healing effects of Sudarshan Kriya on depression patients.
5. Social withdrawal. Studies show the practice of Sudarshan Kriya augments the release of prolactin, a hormone responsible for the feeling of belongingness. This reverses the feeling of social withdrawal, making a person feel more connected with the surroundings.
6. Anger outbursts. Meditation makes a person calmer and more resilient, thereby reducing emotional upheavals like anger outbursts and aggression.

Trauma relief is strengthened when the knowledge of meditation is disseminated among victims. Meditation, breathing techniques can reverse the impact of trauma, relieving many of the stress and PTSD.