Let’s Go Inside
“It’s dark, and I can barely see. I sense a path before me. It’s long and winding. I’m lost. This all feels so familiar. I know I’ve been here before. Many times. Each time a door has appeared, as if by magic, bursting open with light. I know I can find my way into the light.” - A client getting in touch with her Self
Trauma robs our nervous system from a sense of self, agency, and capacity to be at ease with what is. We don’t feel at home in our bodies and minds. Quite the opposite is true–our bodies and minds become home to the most violent of battlegrounds. At our best, we’re simply sidestepping our inner landmines through useful distractions on the “outside.” At our worst, we’re playing hopscotch with our landmines, exploding into a million fragmented pieces, rupturing even deeper our relationships (whether to ourselves or our loved ones). We have spiraled downward into the chaos of our Unique Underworld and fallen asleep to the true essence of Being. We are in the dark, cold and untethered.
As a trauma therapist, I’m interested in exploring the wounds that make us aliens, enigmas, riddles, and strangers to ourselves. I’m curious about the traumas that have plunged us into darkness. Perhaps there’s always been a part of me that has had an inner knowing–the darker the darkness, the brighter the light. The deeper the shadow, the greater the light. Like a moth to a flame, I’ve been attracted to the shadows–the unseen, the unheard, and the unsung within myself and others.
Healing from trauma is not about overcoming the darkness or getting rid of the shadow, it’s about reconnecting to your Self (capital S), who can navigate your personal Underworld while staying awake to the true essence of your Being. No matter what abyss you find yourself lost in, there’s always a door, a portal, a crack of light waiting for you to gather the courage to cross the threshold.
Accepting this call to adventure is to risk bringing forth the darkness within you in order to discover what you are made of. No longer in the dark, cold, and untethered, you have ascended with elixirs in hand to the heights of your Psychic Heavens. You are armed with the knowledge that you can bear your own darkness. You belong to both the deep shadows and bright lights. You can make your way through the inner labyrinth, metaphorically sleigh the monster, and carry all that was unseen and unheard within you into the light.
“The deeper the wounding, the lower you must descend into your Unique Underworld, and—mercifully—the higher you can ascend to discover your Psychic Heaven, the state of being you can call Home.“
So how do we do it? How do we reconnect to that Heroic Self? How can we meet again (or for the first time) the Self who can guide us through chaos, cross the threshold from Underworld to Psychic Heavens, and make us feel at home in our bodies and mind? The first step is to reframe the darkness, the wounds, and the shadows that lurk in the background of your psyche. Acknowledge that these parts of you–these aspects of our collective Being–as threatening as they appear are vehicles for transcendence. The obstacle is the way. Period. Because transcending trauma is not simply about healing wounds. It’s about transcending the limitations, the constrictions, and the burdens of existence we’ve been forced to carry by this dense, material world. It’s about perceiving and embodying what lies beyond. It’s a mysterious, mystical process that returns us Home.
You know you are reconnecting with that Self when you feel a sense of curiosity, a spark of hope, and an urge to “go inside” and understand even (or especially) your inner landmines. Perhaps with a little compassion, the landmines will transform into seeds exploding into bloom with all the hidden potential of your Life Force.
Questions
Do you feel at home in your mind and body? Under what circumstances?
Do your mind and body feel like battlegrounds? Under what circumstances?
What are your “inner landmines”? What useful distractions on the “outside” do you use to sidestep them?
What happens when you step on one of these landmines? How do fragmentation or disconnection from yourself and others manifest in your life?
How could reframing the darkness, wounds, and shadows lurking within you transform your life?
What does transcending trauma mean to you? What if you could wave a magic wand and “transcend,” who would you be? What would be your experience of "going inside"?
More from Sofia
Embody the Hero Within: How 5 Ancient Greek Myths Can Help Unlock Your Healing Potential / workshop
My new free workshop series in collaboration with the Trauma Research Foundation, and co-created with my dear colleague and friend, Depy Ploussiou, is now available in its entirety. Here’s an overview of the program:
Traumas, or wounds, are initiations that demand of you to cross the threshold between light and dark, order and chaos, oneness and separation, ordinary and extraordinary worlds. Myths are maps meant to help you navigate the crossing from the descent into your personal underworld, your subconscious, to the ascent up to your Mount Olympus, home to the gods and your conscious mind.
Deep-seated wisdom is encoded in the ancient Greek language of these myths and preserved like a time capsule over thousands of years. We have combined this ancestral wisdom with cutting-edge, healing modalities that include but are not limited to Internal Family Systems, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Mindfulness.
The Odyssey of Healing: A message to trauma therapists and wounded healers / a recent article
Every time a client walks through your doors, an invitation enters your office. You’re invited to witness their inner odyssey of healing, become an ally to their hero’s journey, and take on an integral part of their mythical system.
Invitations for Exploration
I'm Attending:
A 2-Day Intensive Virtual/In-Person Masterclass with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of the global bestseller, The Body Keeps the Score. He will take us on a deep dive into the world of trauma and healing. Our institute, Trauma2Therapy, will be hosting Dr. van der Kolk as our inaugural event, introducing his work and legacy for the first time to the Greek public. The event is available virtually and in-person.
I'm Reading:
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday. This book is a breath of fresh air. It puts into words how to craft a life in which obstacles are calls to adventure. They are opportunities to transcend preconceived notions of who we are and where we're going. Obstacles are opportunities to thrive, even (or especially) when we're plunged into survival mode.
I'm Watching:
Don’t Chase Happiness: Become Antifragile, Our muscles strengthen under pressure. Why should our psyche be any different? We are an anti-fragile system. Pain and suffering, if we allow it, can lead to growth and transcendence that could never have been possible otherwise.
I'm Listening To:
How to set and achieve your goals, Huberman Lab Podcast, A great podcast worth a listen to (or multiple listens) if you're yearning for change. How can we use our knowledge of neuroscience to hack our capacity to reinvent our lives? This podcast will open your eyes and invite you to tap into your nervous system to transform from the inside out.