The #1 Reason You Shouldn’t Meditate

It was my second day studying with a renowned meditation master when she shared something that the meditation community usually stays silent about. It’s well-known but not mentioned in most traditional meditation courses.

Not knowing about this issue endangers the most vulnerable meditators, leaving them worse off than they started and shuddering with self-blame.

What if I told you this single issue is predictably the number-one cause of mental breakdown during meditation courses and people quitting Vipassana retreats? (I don’t mean to call out Vipassana, but it’s a perfect example of what I mean.)

It’s something most of us face at one time or another, yet meditation teachers don’t want to talk it. It’s a well-known fact among meditation teachers, but rarely shared outside these circles.

What Meditation Teachers Don’t Talk About

It's trauma.

People with active Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD) or other types of trauma should not meditate the way that other people meditate.

People with active trauma symptoms or who are easily triggered into flashbacks need to create alternative pathways to meditation that work for their brains and bodies.

Trauma changes the brain and our ability to close our eyes and meditate. For those with active trauma, closing your eyes and trying to sit still, like you do with traditional meditation, is not recommended.

Forcing someone with active trauma to meditate can be downright harmful, because of the risks of flashbacks. Most meditation teachers are not trauma-informed and don’t know how to handle traumatic flashbacks in a group class or even one-on-one.

The teacher may instruct the meditator to power through the flashback or try harder to force it away. If you are meditating with trauma and you start having a flashback, please don’t do that!

If the meditation teacher or solo practitioner doesn’t understand what’s happening, they can make it worse.

After the meditation session is over, they are likely to still be in the flashback, although they may not realize it, and this mental state can last for quite some time. 

The worst part is, the survivor blames themselves for how they’re feeling and for not being “able” to meditate. But it’s not their fault.

Meditation is Different with Trauma

If you have active trauma of any kind, there are alternative ways to practice meditation that don’t risk your well-being. 

With care, time, and attention, survivors can find a way to get the benefits of meditation in a way that strengthens post-traumatic growth and healing.

You have to know what you're navigating, though, because trying to force yourself to meditate when you have active trauma can directly damage your health.

This has been true for me in my own practice. In my wellbeing programs, I have always offered trauma-informed ways to adapt a yoga or meditation practice.

I’d been teaching for over a decade, but this was the first time I’d heard other teachers talking about it.

That day in class together, my teacher told me that she screens for students with active trauma who come to her meditation courses, because their needs are markedly different from the needs of other students.

For people with active trauma, the disciple of closing your eyes and keeping them closed can trigger flashbacks.

A Little About Flashbacks

Because the first step to getting out of a flashback is realizing that you're having one, a student needs to understand the basics of trauma to be aware when one is happening. This is harder than it seems and takes training.

For Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD) survivors, which is a kind of trauma that happens after an isolated incident, flashbacks are often visual and vivid. For developmental trauma survivors, who experienced chronic trauma at a young age, flashbacks are often emotional and the felt-state is overwhelming.

Both types of flashbacks engulf the meditator in a world of past-tense pain and danger, which is often paralyzing.

The feeling of powerlessness can be amplified in traditional meditation classes, where participants are encouraged not to move, speak, or get up.

Often, a survivor will suffer a flashback in silence, hesitant to ask for help, feeling like there is something wrong with them. This is the opposite of the sense of self-mastery that trauma-informed meditation practices can create and develop.

My teacher once had a student who didn't disclose their PTSD status and experienced a psychotic break during an intensive meditation course. She spent several days following up to support their process, but it was clear to her that in their case, traditional meditation approaches were inappropriate and ill-advised. 

Coming from a teacher with more than four decades teaching Buddhist practice, this confirmed my experience.

Trauma-Informed Meditation

It’s not that meditation isn't ever appropriate for trauma survivors. How to practice depends on the severity of the trauma and how adept someone is at navigating it.

Many types of meditation are well-adapted for trauma survivors and can be used as part of a trauma-informed practice.

Being trauma-informed means that a meditation approach is based on our scientific understanding of the impact of trauma. A trauma-informed approach creates safety (physical, psychological, and emotional) for the survivor and the provider. A trauma-informed approach also creates opportunities for the survivor to rebuild their sense of control and empowerment (Hopper, Bassuk, & Olivet, 2010).

Trauma-informed meditation is where the survivor navigates in real-time what feels good and works for them. If that means stepping out of a yoga or meditation class to self-care during a flashback, that is exactly the right thing for that moment — no matter what the teacher or the group thinks.

That is easier said than done, but it’s essential to be in charge of your own recovery. It’s your health. You know what’s best for you.

If you've had a hard time meditating and are a trauma survivor, I hope helps you to see that you're not alone in this.

Finding your own way to meditate and adjust as needed will help you be easier on yourself and help your recovery. Traditional meditation practices aren't for everyone, at least not all the time.

Next, I’ll write about specific trauma-informed meditation practices and share in detail how to set yourself up. 

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