Healing the wounds that separate, alienate & marginalize us.
Trauma: the Invisible Pandemic
Awareness, Integration & Post-Traumatic Healing
Healing means releasing yourself from the version of you
that you created for survival.
Alice Miller
Trauma: the Invisible Pandemic
Awareness, Integration & Post-Traumatic Healing
Healing means releasing yourself from the version of you
that you created for survival.
Alice Miller
There is a hidden pandemic that affects us all. We don’t often recognize it because it has been normalized and remains difficult to see clearly despite how pervasive it is in our culture. We are swimming in a sea of personal, familial, collective, and ancestral trauma. It is the most misunderstood, avoided, belittled, denied, and untreated cause of human suffering on our planet. If we look at the most critical personal and collective challenges we face today, they can all be traced back to unintegrated trauma. The most significant impact of trauma is that it fractures our ability to genuinely connect and relate with others, reinforcing our sense of being disconnected, defensive, and separate from life itself.
Trauma isn't about the events that occurred 'to' us but rather about what happens 'in' us when faced with overwhelming situations. It's like a psychic wound lodged within our nervous system, body, and mind. While it might be tempting to judge our responses to trauma and label them as a disease, pathology, or brokenness, that's inaccurate. These responses are an inherent intelligence within our nervous system, honed over hundreds of thousands of years to protect us. When we have threatening or overwhelming experiences, our nervous system, working faster than our minds, reacts by fragmenting, freezing, tensing, and constricting a part of our essential self. These fragments manifest as body tension or numbness, often leading to pain and discomfort. Recognizing this dynamic helps us approach our trauma responses with more compassion and a new lens. It guides us in integrating these fragmented experiences, offering a path to healing and resolving past injuries that linger within our bodies, hearts, and minds.
Trauma isn't about the events that occurred 'to' us but rather about what happens 'in' us when faced with overwhelming situations. It's like a psychic wound lodged within our nervous system, body, and mind. While it might be tempting to judge our responses to trauma and label them as a disease, pathology, or brokenness, that's inaccurate. These responses are an inherent intelligence within our nervous system, honed over hundreds of thousands of years to protect us. When we have threatening or overwhelming experiences, our nervous system, working faster than our minds, reacts by fragmenting, freezing, tensing, and constricting a part of our essential self. These fragments manifest as body tension or numbness, often leading to pain and discomfort. Recognizing this dynamic helps us approach our trauma responses with more compassion and a new lens. It guides us in integrating these fragmented experiences, offering a path to healing and resolving past injuries that linger within our bodies, hearts, and minds.
People must become aware of their physical sensations and how their bodies interact with the world around them to change. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.
Bessel A. van der Kolk
Bessel A. van der Kolk
When we experience physical tension or numbness in our bodies, it often signals the presence of trauma. Initially, our responses to trauma might encompass feelings of exhaustion, grief, anxiety, panic, agitation, confusion, dissociation, hyperactivity, and apathy. If left unaddressed, trauma can potentially lead to various health issues such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, long-term stress disorders, and gastrointestinal problems.
A significant portion of our trauma originated during the formative phases of our development when we were vulnerable children relying on caregivers to provide emotional security. As mammals, receiving emotional support—being felt, seen, soothed, heard, held, nourished, guided, and protected—is crucial for our growth, development, and evolution. When this support is lacking from caregivers, it impedes our ability to regulate emotions, thoughts, and actions effectively. To develop the capacity for self-regulation, we need the foundational experience of co-regulating and forming bonds and connections with others. When we allow another person to witness our pain, it supports us in integrating, evolving, and healing the hidden, dissociated, and painful parts that have been suppressed and numbed.
A significant portion of our trauma originated during the formative phases of our development when we were vulnerable children relying on caregivers to provide emotional security. As mammals, receiving emotional support—being felt, seen, soothed, heard, held, nourished, guided, and protected—is crucial for our growth, development, and evolution. When this support is lacking from caregivers, it impedes our ability to regulate emotions, thoughts, and actions effectively. To develop the capacity for self-regulation, we need the foundational experience of co-regulating and forming bonds and connections with others. When we allow another person to witness our pain, it supports us in integrating, evolving, and healing the hidden, dissociated, and painful parts that have been suppressed and numbed.
From early infancy, our ability to regulate emotional states depends upon the experience of feeling that a significant person in our life is simultaneously experiencing a similar state of mind.
Daniel Siegel
Daniel Siegel
Some years ago, my path led me to establish Trauma Integration & Meditation Circles. In these sanctuaries, I witnessed a quantum leap in post-traumatic healing among individuals who were previously only focused on individual trauma resolution. What truly touched my heart was witnessing the powerful healing when people realized recovery isn't solely an individual journey but flourishes with shared experiences. When we have a safe environment to share challenges, difficulties, addictions, and dysfunctions, we begin to recognize that we are not alone in our struggles.
Within these closed committed circles, running for 4-6 months with weekly sessions, we build a cocoon of trust and mutual understanding. This space becomes a safe haven where genuine conversations unfold, embracing authenticity and vulnerability while making sense of what didn’t make sense when we first encountered the overwhelming experiences we call trauma. Here, we learn and build the courage to feel the things that haven’t felt safe, let alone talked about in the past. Many of us walked solitary paths, lacking someone to confide in during our darkest moments, especially as children. But within these circles, our stories interweave, creating a tapestry of healing through shared compassion and empathy. It's remarkable how we find solace, strength, and a renewed sense of connection by embracing our shared struggles.
In our programs, we introduce embodied, awareness-centered practices that foster individuals' experience of feeling felt, seen, held, and heard within a supportive group setting. Our circles begin with a grounding, centering, and 'presencing' meditation designed to expand inner spaciousness and deepen external awareness. This intentional practice aims to create a safe space to meet, embrace, and integrate personal, familial, collective, and ancestral traumas. From this place of connectedness, we open the circle by exploring practices, encountering challenges, and embracing opportunities for trauma awareness, release, integration, and achieving post-traumatic healing.
Within these closed committed circles, running for 4-6 months with weekly sessions, we build a cocoon of trust and mutual understanding. This space becomes a safe haven where genuine conversations unfold, embracing authenticity and vulnerability while making sense of what didn’t make sense when we first encountered the overwhelming experiences we call trauma. Here, we learn and build the courage to feel the things that haven’t felt safe, let alone talked about in the past. Many of us walked solitary paths, lacking someone to confide in during our darkest moments, especially as children. But within these circles, our stories interweave, creating a tapestry of healing through shared compassion and empathy. It's remarkable how we find solace, strength, and a renewed sense of connection by embracing our shared struggles.
In our programs, we introduce embodied, awareness-centered practices that foster individuals' experience of feeling felt, seen, held, and heard within a supportive group setting. Our circles begin with a grounding, centering, and 'presencing' meditation designed to expand inner spaciousness and deepen external awareness. This intentional practice aims to create a safe space to meet, embrace, and integrate personal, familial, collective, and ancestral traumas. From this place of connectedness, we open the circle by exploring practices, encountering challenges, and embracing opportunities for trauma awareness, release, integration, and achieving post-traumatic healing.
“Trauma fundamentally means a disconnection from self.
Why do we get disconnected? Because it is too painful to be ourselves.”
Gabor Maté
Why do we get disconnected? Because it is too painful to be ourselves.”
Gabor Maté
We invite you to visit one of our Monday evening donation-based Open Circles in Nevada City or set up a 15-minute introductory call with Michael. When we do this kind of healing work, it ripples out into our families and our descendants and amazingly heals the repetitive trauma of ancestral trauma. We like to say, “We’re healing the world, one nervous system at a time.” We welcome you to join us in healing the wounds that separate, alienate, and marginalize us…
At Well of Light, Michael Stone offers various transformative healing and personal growth opportunities. The Trauma Integration & Healing Circles, conducted in closed groups over 4-6 months, provide a nurturing space for weekly healing sessions. Due to high demand, these programs have a waitlist—apply via the Well of Light website to secure your spot. Additionally, the Weekly Drop-in sessions, held at Inner Path Studio, 200 Commercial St., Nevada City, from 5:30-7 pm, offer collective meditation, integration, and healing circles on a donation basis.
Michael Stone's services include Private Counseling and Guidance, specializing in Somatic witnessing, Trauma Integration, and facilitation for individuals and couples. Tailored movement and meditation Experiences are also available to promote holistic well-being. As part of his offerings, Michael Stone, a seasoned spiritual guide, is available to speak at your organization, church, club, or gatherings, sharing wisdom and insights.
For further details and inquiries, please visit www.WellofLight.com or at 530.277.0937.
Join us at Inner Path Studio, 200 Commercial St., Nevada City, for transformative programs.
At Well of Light, Michael Stone offers various transformative healing and personal growth opportunities. The Trauma Integration & Healing Circles, conducted in closed groups over 4-6 months, provide a nurturing space for weekly healing sessions. Due to high demand, these programs have a waitlist—apply via the Well of Light website to secure your spot. Additionally, the Weekly Drop-in sessions, held at Inner Path Studio, 200 Commercial St., Nevada City, from 5:30-7 pm, offer collective meditation, integration, and healing circles on a donation basis.
Michael Stone's services include Private Counseling and Guidance, specializing in Somatic witnessing, Trauma Integration, and facilitation for individuals and couples. Tailored movement and meditation Experiences are also available to promote holistic well-being. As part of his offerings, Michael Stone, a seasoned spiritual guide, is available to speak at your organization, church, club, or gatherings, sharing wisdom and insights.
For further details and inquiries, please visit www.WellofLight.com or at 530.277.0937.
Join us at Inner Path Studio, 200 Commercial St., Nevada City, for transformative programs.
Resilience is not a trait that people either have or don't have. It involves behavior,
thoughts, and actions that can be learned and practiced!
Arielle Schwartz
thoughts, and actions that can be learned and practiced!
Arielle Schwartz
About Michael
Michael Stone embodies various roles, including being a spiritual author, mentor, guide for the transformative 5Rhythms moving meditation practice, radio host, producer, and trauma integration facilitator, as well as being deeply versed in the timeless traditions of shamanism and mysticism. His impact spans over five decades, as he's been the driving force behind many transformational groups and programs that have empowered countless individuals in their journeys of growth and healing. He is the author of Living A Shamanic Way of Life and is on the faculty of the Shift Network, where he hosts the yearly Shamanic Wisdom Summit.
His upcoming book, "Traumatized: A Love Story," serves as a beacon of hope as it chronicles his journey through trauma and how it metamorphosed into a spiritual odyssey—an avenue of healing he's devoted to sharing with others. Scheduled for release in 2024, this book is not just a memoir; it's a testament to resilience, a narrative of a personal journey turned into a profound calling. Through sharing his story, Michael Stone extends a heartfelt invitation, beckoning readers into a realm where personal turmoil becomes a catalyst, a spiritual healing path in service to others ready for an evolutionary jump in what it means to be a fully functioning adult.
Michael Stone embodies various roles, including being a spiritual author, mentor, guide for the transformative 5Rhythms moving meditation practice, radio host, producer, and trauma integration facilitator, as well as being deeply versed in the timeless traditions of shamanism and mysticism. His impact spans over five decades, as he's been the driving force behind many transformational groups and programs that have empowered countless individuals in their journeys of growth and healing. He is the author of Living A Shamanic Way of Life and is on the faculty of the Shift Network, where he hosts the yearly Shamanic Wisdom Summit.
His upcoming book, "Traumatized: A Love Story," serves as a beacon of hope as it chronicles his journey through trauma and how it metamorphosed into a spiritual odyssey—an avenue of healing he's devoted to sharing with others. Scheduled for release in 2024, this book is not just a memoir; it's a testament to resilience, a narrative of a personal journey turned into a profound calling. Through sharing his story, Michael Stone extends a heartfelt invitation, beckoning readers into a realm where personal turmoil becomes a catalyst, a spiritual healing path in service to others ready for an evolutionary jump in what it means to be a fully functioning adult.
Note: Although this practice can be deeply therapeutic, it is not a substitute for therapy. Somatic witnessing is a method to enhance our emotional, physical, and relational awareness. This practice involves meditation, contemplation, and sharing to integrate trauma and foster spiritual awakening.