Learn how to attend to your well-being in every facet of your life with a brief overview of the seven ancient aspects of life. We will dive into these seven key life functions and how we can balance each part to help alleviate trauma symptoms and enhance our health on all levels
The ancient Eastern Vedic system astoundingly encompasses what modern psychology has been missing. This system originated around 500-1500 BC in the oldest sacred text called the Vedas. Exploring the seven energy centers, whether you want to view them as literal or metaphorical, has profound implications for the advancement of psychology to treat our whole being and account for every detail in life. Adventure with me through these 7 aspects of our lives and feel free to grab a pen and paper to answer the questions that will arise!
The Seven Key Functions for Total Psychological Well-Being
It is no mystery that trauma can impact our sense of self in profound ways. Looking at our 7 main areas of life and exploring them in depth can help bring back parts of ourselves that we may have neglected or paid too much attention to. Below are very simple examples of each of the seven functions of life pertaining to this ancient system which we will draw upon for all-inclusive health.
The Seven:
Root, our foundation and survival.
Sacral, our creativity and sensuality.
Solar, our personal power and career.
Heart, our relationships and connection.
Throat, our communication and expression.
Third Eye, our intuition and foresight.
Crown, our spirituality and interconnectedness.
Exploring the Seven Key Areas of Life
In modern psychology, the focus is typically on the presenting problems. It's not as preventative as ancient systems have been, nor is it as comprehensive when it comes to the entire person. Like many Western theories, parts are greater than the whole. In the East, the whole is greater than the parts, though the parts are still accounted for. Psychology, and trauma-informed therapy specifically, can help regain a holistic way of viewing a person instead of seeing people as a cluster of symptoms to be fixed. We do not need fixing, we need balancing and harmonizing. We need compassion and understanding. This is where the Eastern view of self really shines.
Begin Your Journey!
Together we will go through each aspect of the seven areas of life to ponder and I will introduce questions for you to answer.
Root: 1st Life Center: Survival and Foundation!
This area of our lives revolves around everything related to our survival. What are the 4 essential things we need to survive on a basic level? We need water, food, shelter, and companionship. But if we only stick to the bare minimum of survival, we will not be adequately nourished! We also need to include a solid foundation for our lives that includes a sense of safety, security, groundedness, comfort, physical health, stability, routine, independence, self-sufficiency, and a lived sense of being capable in this world.
Deficient Root Life Center:
If we have too little of this life center, we may experience hunger, houselessness, poverty, and feelings of being unsafe, insecure, sick, ungrounded, or too dependent. This is where trauma hits us hard. Whenever we experience something traumatic, I often hear phrases like, "It felt like the ground fell out under me," "I just don't feel safe anymore," and "I was shaking and vomiting because I couldn't cope." What we need to cultivate here are resources for this life center.
Things that can help include:
Somatic therapies of all kinds (connecting to our bodies so we can feel safe and grounded)-- emotional freedom technique (tapping), progressive muscle relaxation, somatic experiencing, yoga, etc. Find what works best for you!
Evidence-based therapies such as EMDR, DBT, Trauma-Focused CBT, and PET. (Feel free to reach out to me about these therapeutic modalities and how you can reap the benefits!)
Having a safe and comfortable home and living space, eating healthy and adequate meals, exercising to get in touch with your body, as well as establishing a routine to enhance a sense of security, reliability, and self-sufficiency. (Resources for the houseless in Hawaii) (Resources for food in Hawaii)
Other examples include grounding activities like gardening, growing your own food, having your bare feet on the earth, walking, hiking in nature, being in nature, being held by someone safe, hugging yourself, and anything you can think of that will help you connect with your body in safety.
Excess Root Life Center:
Having too much of this life center can actually create problems as well. Some of these can be hoarding, having too much physical security that laziness sets in, health issues due to overabundance, eating excessively, focus on having so much yet feeling like we never have enough, greed, and ultra independence where we cut ourselves off from others.
Things that can help include:
Decluttering, letting items go, traveling, eating a balanced diet and not overeating if able, learning to rely on others for some things, being spontaneous, learning to let go of control and have fun.
Most of my clients suffer from having too little of this life center, as trauma tends to erode our sense of safety and feelings of existence in this world. Yet, it is also important that we are mindful not to swing the other way into excess. Balance is always key to a healthy life!
Read about the next article in this series here: https://www.malamatrauma.com/post/part2
Join me to explore Part 2! The second life center of pleasure, sensuality, creativity, and balance!
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