Community

I created a Facebook group chat for more serious conversations around trauma. ⚠️ Trigger Warning: This space may include discussion of trauma, abuse, and difficult experiences. This is a space for those who feel ready to go deeper—sharing, processing, and being witnessed in a more direct way. Please be mindful, respectful, and aware of your own capacity before engaging. You are always allowed to step back. Your safety comes first. https://m.me/ch/AbYbAxMysbHkQ1E5/?send_source=cm:copy_invite_link

Welcome to Chakra Pathways Practice! Please introduce yourself with the following: (Nick)Name Location What's your familiarity with chakras: curious, cognizant, or competent? Curious: What's one question you want to ask? Cognizant: What's one experience or evidence you can share? Competent: What is your favorite practice? What is your reason for joining us? I'll go first! I'm Dazzle, and I'm in Indiana in the USA. I'm competent with the chakras, though I've struggled with consistency. I think my favorite practice changes with the seasons I grow through, but I always enjoy color therapy and creative work! I'm here to practice my material for my future career calling!

What archetypes are overactivated or suppressed in you? I’ve been diving into the work of Carl Jung and doing some real shadow work lately. Not the pretty kind—the honest kind. Looking at who I actually am vs. who I’ve been comfortable being. I’m starting to notice which archetypes I live in… and which ones I’ve buried. Quick breakdown: Innocent (hopeful), Seeker (searching), Sage (wisdom), Everyman (belonging), Lover (connection), Jester (play), Hero (courage), Outlaw (rebel), Magician (transformation), Caregiver (nurturing), Ruler (control), Creator (expression), Mother/Father (guidance), Child (vulnerability), Trickster (disruption), Warrior (boundaries), Orphan (grief), Mystic (spirituality). If I’m being real… Overactivated: Caregiver, Mystic, Creator, Lover, Seeker → I feel deeply, give a lot, search for meaning, and try to create connection out of everything Suppressed: Ruler, Warrior, Outlaw, Jester → structure, boundaries, power, play… harder for me → I soften too much, overgive, stay in depth instead of stepping into authority or lightness And then there’s the Shadow—anger, control, selfishness, instinct. The parts I was taught weren’t acceptable… but are actually necessary. I’m realizing this isn’t about becoming one archetype. It’s about integrating all of them. Becoming whole. So I’m curious— Which archetypes feel strongest in you? And which ones are hiding in your shadow? 👇

“I can create safety, piece by piece” 🪺🕊️

Has anyone seen the umbrella academy I just started the series

Free support circle for trauma survivors Sat April 4 @ 7 pm EST: There are parts of you that learned to stay hidden. Not because they’re bad— but because it wasn’t safe to be fully seen. Your anger. Your needs. Your intensity. Your voice. Those parts don’t disappear. They go underground… and start showing up as triggers, patterns, and reactions you don’t always understand. This circle is a space to turn toward those parts. Not to judge or fix them— but to meet them. Through guided discussion, we’ll explore questions like: – What part of you did you learn was “too much”? – What triggers you—and what might it be pointing to? – What do you judge in others that you might carry too? – What would it feel like to stop fighting yourself? This isn’t about becoming better. It’s about becoming whole. Come as you are. ☯️ https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5546111406?omn=89521248230

Trauma can make you go inward. At some point, it was safer to be in your head than in the world. So you built something internal—rich, deep, imaginative. You learned how to self-soothe, analyze, escape, survive. And there’s nothing wrong with that. That inner world probably saved you. But over time, it can become a cave. You start living more inside your thoughts than in your actual life. You isolate. You overthink instead of reaching out. You convince yourself you’re fine handling everything alone. And slowly… you disappear a little. Stepping out of the cave doesn’t have to be dramatic. It’s small, uncomfortable, real-world actions: Text someone you’ve been thinking about but haven’t reached out to. Tell someone you trust, directly, “I could use some support right now.” Let yourself be seen, even just a little. Say yes to something instead of automatically withdrawing. Spend time around people without performing—just exist. You don’t have to abandon your inner world. Just don’t let it be the only place you live.

Bought some binoculars. Following through on a New Year’s resolution. Birdwatching and being out in nature used to be very important to me, but they got associated with trauma. I’m going to start reconnecting with the natural world in small doses with my partner, and try to make new memories.

I know what it’s like to literally walk through flames. And rise from the ashes. I have lost everything in two house fires. The last one left me homeless for months. It was only eight days after the fire that I found out my sister Leah had lost her battle with addiction. It’s not true that God only gives us what we can handle. Some kinds of pain can swallow you whole. That’s when I died and was reborn as Wavy Purple. Indestructible, wise, strong, creative, spirituality aware, emotionally connected, my authentic self. My forest had to burn down before something more beautiful could grow ☯️

Something I’ve been realizing lately: My shadow isn’t just the “dark” parts of me. It’s the parts I had to ignore to survive. It’s the instinctual, primal part of me that doesn’t ask for much… so I forget it’s even there. Until I don’t. Until it shows up in ways I can’t ignore—burnout, disconnection, impulsive decisions, that quiet feeling of “something is off.” It’s my anger too. The kind that protects me. The kind I’ve softened, rationalized, or pushed down because I care about people and don’t want to hurt anyone. But anger isn’t the problem. Ignoring it is. It’s also my “too muchness.” The intensity, the depth, the way I feel everything and want real, meaningful connection. At some point that felt like a liability, so part of me learned to shrink, to second-guess, to pull back after showing up fully. And then there’s the part of me that doesn’t even want to heal sometimes. The part that’s tired. That craves chaos because it’s familiar. That doesn’t fully trust safety yet. That part exists too. None of this makes me broken. It makes me human. I’m starting to see my shadow less as something to fix and more as something I need to actually pay attention to. Feed. Listen to. Work with instead of against. Because the truth is—your shadow doesn’t go away just because you ignore it. It just waits. And it will find a way to be seen. The question is whether you meet it with awareness… or let it run the show from behind the scenes. 🖤

Some versions of you saved your life. You can honor them… without staying trapped inside them.

Even when no one else is watching, remember that God—or a higher power—is always present.

Lately I’ve been exploring Mindberg and doing some Jungian shadow work… and it’s been hitting deeper than I expected. I keep having this recurring dream: I find a reptile in my house—usually an iguana—forgotten, starving, filthy. I feel disgust, guilt, shame. Sometimes I try to euthanize it because it’s too far gone… but I always wake up before I can. The interpretation shook me. It’s not about a pet. It’s about a part of me I’ve been neglecting for years. Something cold-blooded. Slow. self-contained. A survival instinct that doesn’t perform warmth or people-pleasing. The part of me that can detach, be still, not care sometimes—and be okay with that. I buried it because it didn’t fit who I thought I was supposed to be. So it starved. And now when I see it, I feel disgust—but that disgust is actually shame. The wild part? In the dream, I keep trying to “humanely” kill it off. But my psyche won’t let me. It wakes me up every time. Because this part of me isn’t meant to die. It’s meant to be fed. Shadow work isn’t pretty. It’s not all love and light. Sometimes it’s realizing you abandoned pieces of yourself just to be accepted. I’m learning to sit with that. To stop performing warmth 24/7. To reclaim the parts of me that are quiet, detached, and self-protective. Not everything in you needs to be soft to be sacred.

Sex after trauma is complicated, and it can show up in very different ways. Some women shut down—your body says no before your mind catches up, and touch can feel overwhelming or disconnected. Others become hypersexual, chasing intensity or trying to reclaim control. Sometimes that feels empowering, sometimes it’s avoidance. Both are real. Neither means you’re broken—it’s your nervous system trying to protect you. Healing isn’t about forcing yourself into or out of sex. It’s about rebuilding safety in your body. If you have a partner, go slower than you think you need to. Take penetration off the table sometimes and focus on low-pressure touch—warmth, skin, breath—without expectation. Talk normally: say what feels good, ask to pause, change your mind anytime. Stay present in your body. Notice your breath, the feeling of touch, or put a hand on your chest to ground yourself and remind your body you’re safe now. You also get to control the environment—lighting, music, eye contact. Sometimes progress looks like stopping and just holding each other. That counts. You deserve sex that feels safe, not something you push through. If you’re not there yet, you’re not failing—you’re learning how to come back to yourself. — The Purple Phoenix Collective

Hi Kristina, do you think we can ever truly recover from trauma and CPTSD?