How Can Reframing Spiritual Practices Support the Healing of Trauma?
Introduction to Section II of Trauma in the Pews 2.0
Section II: Supporting Your Healing of Trauma with Spiritual Practices
Regulate to be Calmer
Pause to Consider
Use Agency to Choose
Emily sent an email to share how her work in therapy was going. She now understood how trauma had impacted her body. She was also reframing negative things she had come to believe about herself. Emily now knew God truly loved her, but she still struggled to feel loved.
Where would Emily feel God’s love? Was that even possible in a traumatized body that had learned not to feel? Could she grow closer to God without accessing feelings? Probably not. The very thing most survivors like Emily avoid—feeling body sensations— is what is needed to feel loved by God.
Like many, Emily was taught to ignore negative emotions. This was a form of positive spirituality, and it caused her to distance herself from any feelings that weren’t positive. She subconsciously learned to ignore the dysregulation in her body and now struggled to name her feelings or identify where she felt them. Like me, she had become completely disconnected from her body.
Believing that spiritual practices were the answer, Emily had been diligent in her church attendance, daily praying, and Bible reading. She took the admonitions to discipline herself very seriously. She wanted to believe that she would find joy by keeping these practices. As the years went by, doing these practices became increasingly difficult and failed to bring the joy she hoped for.
Emily wondered why her efforts still weren’t working. She was sure that the difference healing made in the rest of her life would also change how she felt when doing spiritual practices. She continued to force herself—fearful of making things worse if she didn’t. Her concerns that she was somehow doing the practices wrong did make things worse.
Controlling herself to find joy and peace was never going to work. Why? Because joy and peace are the result of a regulated nervous system. She was enjoying life more through self-regulation but then ignoring her body’s dysregulation while continuing to participate in spiritual practices.
I asked her, “Have you ever thought about stopping your traditional practices and finding different possibilities for drawing closer to God?”
She answered, “Sometimes I try to do something different, but it feels wrong. I think I understand what you are saying though. There are moments while walking or watching a sunset that I know God is there with me. That feels so much better than how I feel when praying and Bible reading—or even going to church.”
“Ah!” I said, “Your faith journey doesn’t have to feel this way. It should feel the exact same way that healing has helped you feel in the rest of your life. We need to talk about finding the pause and using agency.”
What Emily was discovering is that regulating the nervous system doesn’t automatically change faith experiences. She was approaching healing and spiritual practices as two unrelated things. When the two are not integrated, many walk away from faith after feeling the difference healing makes and how difficult spiritual practices continue to be.
What Emily needed was a calm space to consider choices in how to practice her faith—this is the pause that is explained in Part Two. Without pausing and reflecting, she would probably continue to do what wasn’t working. Finally, after pausing she could choose (use agency) to integrate spiritual practices that support healing. This is explained in Part Three.
Before beginning an in-depth look at the spiritual practices, it is important to look more closely at what neuroscience has taught us about our bodies. Based on this information, each chapter in Section II will approach a spiritual practice either through the lens of self-regulation, finding the pause, or using agency. The intent is to empower you to forge a spiritual path that supports healing. These chapters will build the foundation for Section III which explains how to create a lifelong spiritual practice of healing that has the power to transform your faith and future.
Note: Section II: Supporting Your Healing of Trauma with Spiritual Practices includes three chapters that explain the principles behind a trauma-sensitive foundation. These will be posted as paid content and a series of practical applications along with discussion questions will be available for paid subscribers. There will also be an opportunities for Zoom conversations for paid subscribers. Supporting my work through paid subscriptions will help me stay ahead of the rising cost of being an author and encouraging others on their healing journeys—both my WIX website and Zoom have upcoming cost increases!