Treating PTSD: Tapping Into Joy
Friday, December 25th, 2009 • Uncategorized •
Before I dive into today’s post let’s take care of business. The holidays can be tough if you have PTSD. If you’re feeling the pinch of this time of year check out these 5 Tips for Holiday Stress Management Tips.
And now, on with today’s post…
Right off the bat let’s admit: joy is an awkward topic for PTSD. We live in a world that seems inhospitable to joy. I myself was certain joy did not, could not and would not exist in my universe.
And then there is that other awkward fact: It does, it can, it will if you seek it.
The truth is joy is an inherent trait. Like laughter joy is involuntary. It can pop up and out at the most unexpected moment. Joy — and the capacity for joy — lives in you.
The sad part of PTSD is it makes us unrecognizable to ourselves, so we lose parts and pieces of our true nature as they get buried beneath the junk of fear, trauma and sadness.
It will take some digging, but now’s as good a time to begin thinking about tapping into your joy.
Tip #10 for Staying on the Healing Path: It’s a scientific fact that the mind cannot hold 2 opposing emotions at once. Building on that then, you cannot be horribly depressed and joyful at the same time. One will push out the other. If you begin in depression and elicit joy then… that’s right! Joy will oust depression — even if only for an hour. In my own healing shifting my focus to the pursuit of joy not only allowed me to tap into a much better place, it also allowed me to actively build my post-trauma identity. You can do the same. Tapping into joy is a choice you make. There’s also this: feeling joy — that surge of endorphins, that release of serotonin – is very healing for a body. Whether you’re into the effects of healing on the mind or body, joy delivers on both counts.
Accessing your joy (in however small a way at first) is a very good healing goal. And sure, you won’t oust the darkness forever in one day, but each step you take to shed some light at all will bring you one step closer.
If you were in a dark room and wanted to find the door to get out you would try to make some illumination to light your way path. Joy is that illumination out of the PTSD dark.
Healing is a victory of inches. You can do that; you can move forward just one inch. Really, you can. I believe in you.
Feeling like you just don’t even know where or how to begin tapping your joy? Chill out and check out our The Healing Power of Joy series. Begin here.
BRIDGE THE GAP Exercise:
It would be ridiculous and unreasonable to think you could just dive into joy head first. No, you’ll have to get used to the idea before you can actually use it.
Your assignment today: Just practice accepting the idea that joy does exist somewhere inside you. At various moments throughout the day stop everything, focus your mind, close your eyes, imagine you are on a mission to discover where your body holds joy. It’s in there; you just have to find it.
Pretend in your mind you can see your body. Somewhere a small light blinks or flickers. Give the light a color. Focus on that. Isolate it. Pinpoint it.
Now, zoom in on it and just acknowledge the presence of the light. The light is joy. Your body does have this (sometimes tiny) flicker.
For the rest of the day and tomorrow and the day after that get into a habit of doing this exercise. Acknowledge the flicker. Allow it to increase in brightness. Allow it to get bigger. Allow yourself to own this small victory.
NOTE: Don’t be discouraged if you cannot immediately find the light. Repeat the exercise as many times as necessary until you do. It’s there. I promise.
(Photo acknowledgement on Flickr.)
Tags: Joy, ptsd, Staying on the Healing Path
Loading ...
Joy to me is like finding that fragrance in the wind. Every once in a while I get to smell it and then its gone. I sometimes think I am bi-polar. I sometimes have moments of Euphoria, I do mean moments. It feels so wonderful then all of a sudden I plunge to the bottom of the preverbial pit. At 62, it is getting much harder to keep trying but I always find the will to do so. Its Christmas morning and all is still asleep. Just having you to speak about these things has helped me rise up. Since you replied to my message, I feel there is a real person who understands and can offer real advice instead of just adding to my pile of pill bottles. Have a Joyous day. I’m going to try.
@ Wayne — That’s VERY exciting — I love the imagery of joy being a fragrance in the wind. I love even more that you already know it visits you, which means it’s close enough for you to reach out and grab and work with in your post-trauma evolution. What a gift.
I am always here so let’s do keep up the discussion!
I just want to give a shout out to all who suffer with PTSD, BPD, and Shock (which I recently learned is a more severe form of trauma).
Keep on hanging on everybody–I know the agony–especially if you are in circumstances which continue to dole out more trauma and shock. But we can encourage eachother, smile for eachother, and love eachother.
I am sending out blessings, light, and a spiritual embrace.
As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us everyone.”
@ Donna — Thanks for the communal shout out! The more light, encouragement and support we give each other the more we each tap our healing potential.