Feeling Informed ~ How the Wisdom of Trauma and Compassionate Practices Create Resilience

I signed up for The Wisdom of Trauma movie documentary featuring Dr. Gabor Mate that premiered on June 8. It wasn’t an uplifting experience. In fact, it was quite difficult to witness how pervasive and far-reaching an issue trauma is. But we must become informed if we are going to create much-needed change. It is essential that awareness of what and how vast trauma is gets put in the spotlight. We need to learn as societies how to treat and support people suffering with the varied ways that trauma-response manifests, including in the arena of addiction, where the numbers of people diagnosed is only increasing. 

In my opinion, Mate is nothing short of brilliant, a pioneer in his field. An outlier and visionary, still going strong at 76, he’s never backed away from expressing his often-controversial views. Trained as medical doctor, with years of experience and research to back up his assertions, Gabor insists that addiction is not something we inherit, nor is it a weakness of character. It is in fact, quite the opposite; it is one of many different coping responses to trauma.

When emotional pain caused by trauma is repressed, it can also manifest as a chronic illness. Furthermore, addiction is not limited to drug and alcohol abuse. People who suffer from unresolved trauma are more prone to becoming addicted to gaming, eating, sex, exercise, and risk-taking behaviours that can lead to mental, emotional, and bodily harm.

In the events following the movie, one of the special guests was the children’s performer, Raffi. He has always been a champion for children, who advocates our responsibility to honour them. I loved Gabor’s suggestion, that one of the most crucial directions we need to take as societies is to begin the support process at conception, when a newly formed human being is still developing in the mother’s womb. Gabor suggested a prenatal mindset that wasn’t only about providing excellent physical and medical health, but that focused on the mother’s total well-being, including her emotional and mental wellness and her perceived levels of support.

If we shift our perspective like this, we can move from a reactive, judgmental response to an informed, compassionate response. If we choose to honour the gift of life with loving support, every person would begin their life with a better chance for success, of reaching their highest potential. 

I would like to apply this attitude of love and understanding to all situations, not only trauma. I’d like to expand my ability to examine all negative behaviours that human beings inflict on themselves and others from the lens of inquiry, to go deeper, from observing what is, to the question, what lies beneath?  

On the Fit for Joy platform, Valeria Teles interviewed author Kathryn Den Houter, who spoke about seven resilient qualities for happiness. I’d like to share and expand on her ideas and suggest that if individuals who demonstrate resilience achieve greater happiness and success, imagine how our world could transform if entire societies across the planet focused on developing resilience?

The seven qualities that Kathryn identified were: solace in nature, a mindset for adventure, dark walking, creativity, connecting with others, reflection, and mission. I’d like to take a moment to consider each of these qualities in greater depth. 

Nature as a healer is a concept I’ve explored in other blogs, interviews and conversations. In my novel, The Healing, it is acknowledged as one of Cate’s primary tools. And yet, as a global community, we continue to degrade and disrespect nature. We tear down forests, pollute the environment, cage animals in inhumane conditions, all in the name of advancement. We pave over the planet with cement and steel, covering her healing energy with impenetrable surfaces that keep us detached and have us feeling separate instead of part of the whole of creation. If we want to heal as people, we need to follow through with initiatives that honour all life on planet Earth. We need to support nature to receive her healing energy.

A mindset for adventure, an excitement for life and an enthusiasm for the gift of being alive is the second quality that creates resilience. I think some of us have personalities that are more conducive to creating this mindset, but I also ascertain that when people are in survival mode, whether that is from poverty or other limiting conditions, it is difficult to feel enthusiastic for life. That’s why a supportive, loving, global community is the first step. I believe people have to feel a modicum of hope to apply a positive mindset, to know that doing so can make a difference.

What Kathryn refers to as dark walking is the ability to examine the shadow sides of life and ourselves. We have to be aware and accept the things we don’t like and aren’t proud of if we want to change. Ignoring our problems by putting our head in the sand doesn’t make them go away. Which is why work like what Dr. Mate is doing is so integral. We need to grow our awareness of the issues and the causes to create informed and effective strategies for change.

Creativity involves the ability to transform, to problem solve, and to invent. It requires us to use our imagination. We have to first believe in the possibility of a loving, compassionate world before we can create one. We can apply our creativity to our outlook on life, to our beliefs and values, and to our actions. We can use it to find the solutions that we need to make our world a better place to live, for everyone.

Connecting with others is another tool that I have often espoused as integral to the healing process. I believe that all of us can accomplish so much more when we are supported by loving and compassionate family, friends, and community. If we spent as much time lifting one another up as we do focused on ourselves and our individual livelihoods, or worse, tearing each other down, we would witness transformation for both, as one affects the other. The outer work transfers inward and vice versa. 

Reflection is an important tool, but it is also an art that requires mindfulness and balance. If we are too focused on the past we strangle our ability to move forward, but if we ignore the lessons we don’t move forward informed. In my opinion, the lives we’ve created in our western, supposedly more advanced culture, are so full of doing, so production and success-oriented, we miss out on this important piece of the puzzle. When you practice mindfulness daily, it doesn’t have to be a large time commitment, nor does it tether you to the past. Sitting in silent contemplation for five to ten minutes at the end of every day can create an opening for awareness. What worked, what didn’t? How will you choose or act differently next time? What will you do the same?

Having a mission or life purpose gives meaning to our lives and enriches our experience. It gives us direction and helps us make decisions that support our authentic gifts. There is only one you, only one me, and we contribute to the whole by honouring our uniqueness. All gifts have value, and part of our path forward as human beings is to recognize this interweaving and stop judging one as more or better than another. The discrepancy between the financial rewards doled out to entertainers and sports-figures, CEO’s and the business elite is far too high compared with that given to cleaners, cooks and care-givers. This divide contributes to people making decisions that don’t honour their skill set or purpose because they desire to be successful and enjoy the abundance that life has to offer.

So yeah, I’m feeling informed; how the wisdom of trauma and compassionate practices create resilience.