Are Generational Trauma Wounds Holding You Back?
Most people are unaware that one of the reasons why they feel stuck in life, no matter how hard they try or how much effort they put in, is because of unconscious agreements and generational wounds they carry in their ancestry.
These agreements impact how much you can show up as your authentic self in the world, vs. your conditioned self. I think you’d be surprised as to how much your lineage impacts your development as a person, since we’re taught in the Western world to value individual identity, over our ancestor’s impact.
The greatest impact of generational trauma wounding centers round worth, money, success, expression, and relationship.
I know how challenging it is to fight against generational patterns, especially as a woman where we likely didn’t have many examples of fully liberated, embodied women in our lives.
What’s beautiful is how loving these wounds, and working with them can be much more effective. It becomes a way of honoring yourself and your lineage, instead of further disconnecting.
Understanding Generational Trauma
Generational trauma can stem from historical events, cultural experiences, and familial dynamics.
Common manifestations of generational trauma, can include anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, relationship difficulties, and self-limiting beliefs. Trauma can be passed down through generations via epigenetic inheritance, family narratives, and learned behaviors.
Recognizing Subconscious Patterns
I invite you to reflect and identify subconscious patterns and behaviors you have that may be rooted in generational trauma, such as fear of abandonment, perfectionism, scarcity, or people-pleasing. This isn’t about shaming ourselves, or cursing our ancestors for ‘making’ us feel and be this way. It’s about self-honesty with the purpose of healing the root cause of what holds us back.
Where do you put in the work, but you don’t get the outcomes reflective of this? You may not know why you feel stuck, but no matter what you do, you make little to no progress in some areas of life. Do you do a lot of personal growth work but neglect addressing ancestral healing? It could be in your career, relationships, or personal goals.
You may have had a very risk-adverse family, I find this is especially common with immigrant families: ironically they take a massive risk, but end up clinging to security and safety and passing that down.
You may have never had examples of feminine empowerment or authentic expression in your family, in fact it may have been encouraged to deny any sense of self outside of the family unit. You may feel like you’re betraying your family by moving forward and beyond the previous limitations, I find this is so common yet challenging to navigate.
If you’re not feeling supported by family in what you want to do in life that falls outside the scope of the ‘approved path’ and their ideas of what’s possible, it’s likely you aren’t! In stepping out, it may bring up your own lineage’s fears that they project onto you.
This is what it means to be a cycle-breaker - to move beyond the cycle and be the example of what is possible when you do this sacred inner work.
So many people think you have to do intense healing for ancestral work, like plant medicine ceremonies, intensive therapy, etc. — that’s not true! It can be a very gentle, soft, and simple process.
I hate seeing people internalize their generational patterns and not even realize it’s not theirs to hold or burden to bear. Own your role as a cycle-breaker instead of living out the victim identity and role, and this will empower you to move past your lineage’s previous limitations.
The Healing Journey
These are the steps you can take towards healing generational trauma at a high level:
self-awareness
self-compassion
multi-dimensional healing modalities that work with the subconscious & spiritual realm
The most important piece is bringing awareness to your own patterns, breaking the cycle of silence and shame surrounding trauma by acknowledging and validating your experiences.
Healing practices such as mindfulness, meditation, somatic modalities like breathwork and movement, shamanic journeying, and sound healing are most supportive in processing and releasing generational trauma. These modalities move beyond talking, the 3D, and the mental realm, and into the subconscious and energetic realms to heal the pattern for good.
My Ancestral Healing Retreat mini-course can support you on your own ancestral healing journey, and give you the awareness of the most prevalent generational wounds and how to heal them, using journaling, breathwork, essential oils, and sound healing.
Cultivating Resilience and Empowerment
Ancestral healing allows you to reclaim your agency and rewrite your narratives by releasing inherited traumas and embracing your own innate resilience.
The best part is this work doesn’t just heal you, it impacts your lineage, both forward and backward. Your liberation impacts the collective whole, and the women around you.
What are your own experiences with ancestral patterns?
With warmth,
Emily Grace
This is the work I support clients with in my 1:1 program, which you can learn more about here.
