Experiences build up over a lifetime.

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Being bullied, made fun of, abused, or just plain harassed.

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They all affect us in ways we don't realize.

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And over the course of time they cause a shift inside of us.

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It is a shift inside our nervous system.

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Our bodies learn not to feel safe.

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Because we weren't.

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Our nervous system learns to shut down, be hypervigilant, or some other form of PTSD.

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When we suffer enough, and we can no longer stand the pain, we seek help.

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Whether it is professional help or some kind of alternative help, we just know we need to do sometime.

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For we can no longer live the way we have been living for many years or perhaps decades.

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We seek healing, therapy, or something more extreme.

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Sometimes the treatments we seek help quite a bit.

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And sometimes not.

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Yet when the cause of the suffer comes from a deep sense of being unsafe, there may be a much simpler solution.

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One that is easy to overlook.

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For when we come together in a safe, intimate space with an open hearted community, our nervous system can respond quite profoundly.

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When we are in a group that supports being vulnerable with each other, and we share our own traumas, something magical happens.

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As we hear others share their pain and their tragedies, we no longer feel so alone.

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We can relate to others and they can relate to us.

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For a strong and safe energetic group container breeds intimacy and vulnerability.

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And in those intimate and vulnerable moments, we suddenly feel safe.

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Safe to express ourselves.

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Or safe enough to connect to others without being defensive.

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An accepting and support group that creates this kind of space, immediately helps us to release the feeling that we are not safe.

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The connection we feel and the generosity of listening to our pain can help us to release all kinds of symptoms.

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It gives our nervous system a positive experience to counteract the negative ones.

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Whereas when we seek individual treatment on our own, we do have a sense of community or safety in the same way.

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Yes, we may find healing that way.

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Yet the healing we find in a safe community can be far deeper and more long lasting.

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This may not be true for everyone who is suffering, but it is true more often than we realize.

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It is not a magic bullet.

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Yet it is truly magical.

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So when we struggle with pain of our past traumas, sometime the best help we can find is in the community we feel safest in.

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Do you have an accepting community that you feel safe enough to share your pain with?

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If not, can you find one?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant

Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour