Healing From Trauma Through Holistic Medicine & Art
Two days ago I found myself at the scene of a horrible car crash that resulted in a series of rather unfortunate events. I won’t go into detail as I am sure you can paint the picture on your own but just before 3 am I woke up startled due to the sound of one of the loudest crashing and crunching noises I ever heard with quite the scene right outside my front door. While I am not an EMT or Paramedic on call, I am aware that I have extensive medical training so whenever I witness something like this occurring, I always do my due diligence to try my best and be a Good Samaritan and help someone in ways I know how. Whether it is comforting someone through conversation to keep them calm amidst the overload of stress or giving straight up CPR to keep someone alive, I have found myself in some very interesting situations but each one I have learned more ways I could serve my community. This experience from a couple days ago inspired me to write a bit more on the topic of trauma as it is such a common word thrown around these days but I wanted to provide some ways that we can help trauma through holistic medicine and art. Trauma & PTSD Traumatic experiences or having been through some type of trauma creates certain types of impulses in the brain to change our perception. This often could create something such as PTSD known as post traumatic stress disorder for example. PTSD is something I see in my clinic often and I treat with acupuncture. Often I will refer them for further support with resources such as therapy, counseling, energy work or spiritual council-depending on what most resonates with them. The beauty of the holistic medical world as a whole is trauma and PTSD can absolutely be improved naturally with the correct resources, in my practice, acupuncture is particularly at the top of this list. How can we use art to heal our traumas? Art helps us let our soul out onto the paper or the canvas. We have the ability to express whatever we want to simply let it out. By doing so it provides a sense of relief by working through the pain, suffering or shock of the experience. This is what makes art so crucial in healing. We can create a diary of our experiences that are our own and truly use it as a mechanism to heal. I personally always encourage my clients to get in touch with their artistic side and let themselves feel whatever it is they need to feel. This way they do not bottle it up which often leads to greater suffering later. Healthy Outlets Finding healthy outlets such as holistic modalities and art in particular help an individual release their conscious and subconscious feelings in the most powerful and primal way possible. The physical manifestation of the trauma into the art can be transformative for an individual and ultimately the experience of creating it will be the ultimate victory, no matter the result. Everyone Has An Artist Within Everyone has the ability to be an artist, it is about the journey of making the art and the reason for making it that matters much more than the final product. It may be surprising to us when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable how many others can actually relate to our experiences. Trauma is not something that goes away on its own with time, it takes work and self discipline to process consciously. However, the more we practice and exercise our own healing, the greater benefits we create as time moves on. Let It Out By letting out our truest emotions, we actually become healthier as a result. In TCM we often talk about latent emotions leading to disease that shows up later. Therefore by letting the emotions out in a healthy way, through natural healing through something like art as an example, we literally make ourselves healthier for the future. I Used My Art To Heal Too While my personal art does not necessarily derive from my own traumas or traumatic experiences, there were times in my life that it did. It helped me to process what I needed to on my own and as a result become the artist I truly wanted to be and create art that is medicinal for my clients. This is exactly why I created my new Community Acupuncture Clinic that is within a Gallery I Curate based on my book, “How To Design For A Healthy Mind & Body.” If you are curious about visiting the clinic or purchasing the book, the links are below.
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