Ancestral Trauma

As we head into the holiday season, many of us are thinking about our families, where we come from, and maybe even where we are headed. This can bring up a lot of feelings, some of which may be hard to name. Perhaps even the image of sitting together at a table with some relatives brings up conflicting sensations. All of this is normal.

All families carry their histories and no member of a family is separate from that, which is why when folks ask me about connecting to their ancestors, my first response is that they already are connected. Many of us feel disconnected because of ancestral traumas that we haven’t wanted to face. However, hiding from the pain of ancestors inflicted or suffered keeps us also from being able to access their joy, warmth, and resilience and cuts us off from parts of ourselves. 

When we do the work of reconnecting to our ancestors and our ancestral trauma, we learn about ourselves, why we are the way we are, and have the patterns and reactions we do. We are also able to heal, and in that healing, shift our patterns so that ancestral trauma isn’t carried on through our bodies to others and the next generation, cycling, as it so often does. This is the work of repairing the world and the kind of work all yogis should be invested in.

1. Collect some photos or personal items from the family members you wish to connect to. (If you don’t have these you can substitute a symbolic item that stands in for it.)
2. Sit quietly with the item(s) in your cupped hands.
3. Notice any feelings or sensations, images, memories, or energies arising.
4. For a few minutes, simply take note of what they are.
5. Choose one and breathe into it, inquire about anything it might want to reveal to you. Register any connections you make and continue to ask if you’re getting it right, before moving on.
6. When you feel complete, give thanks to your ancestors as well as your body for sharing and supporting this connection.
7. Write down anything that came to you and anything you want to revisit.

Let me know in the comments how your practice is going and reach out for coaching when you are ready to go even deeper. Healing ancestral trauma is a process. Go slowly and move with self-compassion as things arise. 

This blog was especially inspired by Michelle Casandra Johnson. You can learn about her work here and listen to her on the Beyond Trauma Podcast episode 15.