At the time these substances seemed like lifesavers. My life has been formed and informed by trauma, and trauma healing has become my central teaching. Not everyone has the kinds of early traumas I did. But I've found that most of us suffer from more traumas and traumatic conflicts than we're aware of. They are cultural and universal.
Traumas can be dramatic or subtle.
We are traumatized whenever our life force, passion, curiosity or love is stomped on. Their effect on our entire organism is one of the major causes of disease. They pose emotional and physical challenges to all our relationships with others. Repressed trauma annihilates relationships. Pardoxically, it is also a portal that can lead us to awakening and freedom.