Healing past traumas Suryani's way<\/p>\n
By Rani Rachmani Moediarta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Past traumas make us unhappy, prevent us from
\nadapting to new situations and cause psychological or social
\ndisorders. Healing these traumas involves editing the memory
\nthrough spiritual meditation, instead of just prescribing
\nchemical medications, Ni Luh Ketut Suryani believes.<\/p>\n
As a physician and professor in psychiatry, she is authorized
\nand capable of prescribing modern medicines for her patients.
\nAlthough she still does so when needed, she does not believe in
\nthe efficacy of chemical medicines as much as her colleagues in
\npsychiatry.<\/p>\n
"I am a doctor and as so I use medical stuff. But I am also a
\nspiritual believer and as such, I know medicines only work well
\nto reduce symptoms, but are ineffective on the causes of mental
\ndisorders or even spiritual problems like past traumas," she said
\nin an interview to discuss her method of healing, which combines
\nher scientific notions of psychiatry and ancient Balinese
\nspirituality.<\/p>\n
Forgotten spirit<\/p>\n
"Probably, I am notorious among my colleagues for using this
\nmethod. Some of them despise me for being unscientific, some
\ndisagree with me directly and others are just skeptical. But my
\nown experience as a doctor in psychiatry has shown me the
\ndrawbacks of modern medicine," she revealed.<\/p>\n
Modern medicine considers patients only as functioning bodies
\nand minds. That, according to Suryani, is incomplete. "As a
\ndoctor, I gave my Balinese patients medicine but they did not
\nfeel well afterward. The medicine probably helped them recover
\nfunctionally and socially, but they continued feeling empty in
\ntheir minds before they went to a balian (Balinese spiritual
\nhealer) to get a ritual healing to return to feeling well and
\nalive."<\/p>\n
Being Balinese, she believes that in every human being there
\nis ruh, or spirit, or soul, or life or divine energy, or whatever
\nyou call it, which is integrated within us from the time of
\nconception. Her theory of the spirit is that it is our source of
\nlife, inspiration and ability. It influences our physical and
\nmental development in numerous ways to prepare us for real life
\nin the mundane world. Many scientific books in the West have
\nexamined this early influence of the spirit.<\/p>\n
The theory goes that the fetus in the womb is under the
\ndominant influence of the spirit because it is always in a
\n"trance", or homeostatic condition. This condition is maintained
\nby the monotonous rhythm of the circulation of the mother's blood
\nsurrounding the fetus. It can feel stimulation coming from
\noutside the mother, but what it feels the most is the mother's
\nfeelings. These interactions form the basis of the child's
\npersonality.<\/p>\n
The influence of the spirit is continued in a newborn. A baby
\nis also always in a "trance". (That is why sometimes we find a
\nbaby smiling or laughing on her own or while sleeping). But as
\nthe baby grows up and starts learning new things, the influence
\nof the spirit, or intuition, or the sixth sense, is replaced by
\nlogic.<\/p>\n
"So, in my opinion, being healthy is not only being well
\nphysically, mentally and socially, but also spiritually. While
\nthe spirit is the source of the highest knowledge and the energy
\nof life, it is not yet included in modern medicine because it is
\nthought to belong to the realm of religion or belief, and it is
\nempirically difficult to prove. This significant part of human
\nbeings has been ignored and not explored in modern medicine,
\nwhich focuses mainly on the mind-body instead."<\/p>\n
Hidden traumas<\/p>\n
In modern psychology, the first five years are seen as crucial
\nin the stages of child development. According to Prof. Suryani,
\nthe crucial period is much, much earlier, that is, when the child
\nis still in the womb.<\/p>\n
Most people don't believe the things that happen to a mother
\nduring her pregnancy are maintained in her child's memory.
\nNegative feelings such as fear and anger, and positive feelings
\nsuch as happiness, love, joy and peace experienced by the mother
\nare absorbed by the fetus' subconscious memory, forming a data
\nbase for her or his personality.<\/p>\n
How much and how deep the data depends on how intense the
\nfeelings. This data base is updated automatically and
\ncontinuously with every new experience. Suryani has an analogy
\nthat our brain is like a computer with a very vast memory. Any
\nnew experience is processed and becomes a new entry in the
\nmemory. So, depending on how we process the experience, we always
\nhave new memories.<\/p>\n
Suryani explained: "In the healing process hypnotherapy that I
\nuse, I never touch deep, hidden memories of early fetus
\nexperiences, unless t is so disturbing to the patient that it
\ncomes up. Since the memory of the brain is like the memory of a
\ncomputer, we have to be careful not to damage the data. What I do
\nis call up a disturbing memory, help the patient review the
\nparticular experience and then reprocess or edit it before
\nputting it back in the memory bank. I do not erase it."<\/p>\n
She said anyone undergoing hypnotherapy should caution the
\nhypnotherapist in advance not to erase, but only to edit any
\ndisturbing memory. "Erasing the memory is similar to damaging the
\ndata in a computer and should not be done."<\/p>\n
Meditation<\/p>\n
Suryani believes everybody can return to the "trance" state of
\na fetus through meditation. She defines meditation as the
\nconscious process of concentrating our busy mind to a single
\nfocus so that the spirit can take over the mental or logical
\nfunctioning of the mind. It is similar to yoga exercises or
\nmantra chanting.<\/p>\n
Since its goal is to let the spirit dominate, Suryani stresses
\nthat it is important while meditating not to use the mind or
\nmental activities like visualizing or imagining.<\/p>\n
Her method is very simple and she claims to have discovered it
\nas a gift from God during her spiritual search. It is as simple
\nas the following:<\/p>\n
You sit down in the Buddha position, arms resting on your lap.
\nPick out a point on the floor a meter in front of you and focus
\non it. After your eyes begin to feel heavy, close them slowly,
\nchecking your position -- back and head straight. Focus on your
\nnose and feel the air coming in and out. Continue to feel the air
\nflow in and out through your nose. After some time, along with
\nthe air being taken in, feel the energy from outside enter
\nthrough your nose and go through to your feet, your hands and
\nfinally through your whole body. Do not be worried if you do not
\nfeel anything, just focus on breathing in and out.<\/p>\n
Besides its many benefits to the mind and body, spiritual
\nmeditation can help us find our true self. It can be used to heal
\nhidden early traumas, as early as in the womb. That was
\ndemonstrated during Suryani's workshops Basic Meditation and
\nHealing Traumas Through Meditation, held in a hotel ballroom in
\nJakarta last month.<\/p>\n
About 100 participants were guided through meditation and came
\nto the "trance" condition, found their true selves, recalled
\ntheir traumas, drew them with crayons on a piece of drawing
\npaper, reviewed the experiences, reprocessed or edited them and
\nput them back into memory.<\/p>\n
Some participants could recall traumas going back to early
\nchildhood. Among other things shown from the pictures drawn,
\nthere were sibling rivalries, the loss of a parent, child or
\nother loved one, violence and drug abuse.<\/p>\n
After the meditation workshop, Suryani said her intention in
\nintroducing her meditation technique went beyond helping the
\nsick. "I want everybody to be physically, mentally and
\nspiritually healthy, at little cost. The health benefits of
\nmeditation can make one more productive and creative in living
\nlife."<\/p>\n
She said: "This method, you can call it Suryani's method of
\nhealing, is more sustainable, much cheaper and safer than using
\nmodern chemical medications with their adverse side effects. But
\nit is not widely used here because we never believe something so
\nsimple can be good. We tend to look up to the western findings.
\nWe are still followers, not pioneers. We will turn on when the
\nWest starts popularizing it."<\/p>\n
She added, "I really want to help those victims of rape. I
\nwish I could meet them and heal their traumas."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/healing-past-traumas-suryanis-way-1447893297",
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