« ​Between me and You, there is only me. Take away the 'me,' so only You remain. » - Al Hallaj

Seek not abroad, turn back into thyself, for in the inner man dwells the truth. — St. Augustine

Practice. « The next time you catch yourself feeling vague affective discomfort nudging at the edge of your consciousness, resist the urge to analyze, label, or follow the mental origin story (such as “I must be in a bad mood”). Instead, pay attention to your torso, your heart, your belly, your shoulders. What is happening with your breathing? In your face muscles? Is the feeling heavy or light? Tense or loose? What is its texture? Inhale breath into the feeling. Exhale from the feeling. Now, with respect, openness, and curiosity, ask your body, “What do you need to show me?” and “What are you trying to tell me?” Find your own words. When you ask the question, be kind and nonjudgmental. Be present and without an agenda. Your body will not release its truths if you have an agenda. You may need to sit and wait for some time. Stay with the feeling in your body and remain connected to your breath. »

« Most of us remember a time when our body was telling us one thing and our mind was telling us something else. Then one day there is an inflection point when the mind is finally compelled to listen. Somatic mindfulness can change the timeline on these inflection points. Listening to your body as an ongoing practice can help you notice the dissonances between body and mind sooner. If you learn to listen to your body’s situational awareness and become attuned to its messages, you will discover some deep truths. » - Willa Baker

Its beautiful to discover The Shangriballa Method, wonderful stuff. Just what I needed to hear. But I would like to add some nuance... I've personally gone far down the rabbit hole of awareness/concentration meditation training (much more the Shamatha side of the Vipassana/Shamatha duality), without much regard to embodied trauma. But I'd push back on the ominous framing of "Pitfall of Spiritual Bypassing" cited in the introduction... concentration meditation has brought huge benefits. Our monkey mind thoughts (Default Mode Network) create a huge amount of noise that AMPLIFIES underlying trauma... by focusing on cultivating stable concentration and awareness, reducing the overall noise of the ruminating mind, then you are in a stronger and SAFER foundation to tackle the underlying trauma. Case in point, I've practiced Vipassana hardcore the last weeks since my Bufo retreat (to maximise the neuroplasticity from the medicine I've gone all in). I believe I've made significant initial progress in beginning to heal from trauma with a 2+ hour daily Vipassana meditation (predominantly manifested as tightness/heat in the chest) ... I likely could not have done this if I had no previous ability to direct my mind to where it needed to go (equanimous concentration/awareness) to focus on bodily introspection. Arguably, cultivating concentration meditation first, because it is pleasurable and earned safety, is an equally excellent and less destabilizing route to take - avoiding Dark Night of the Soul situations. You're not running headlong into deep trauma with a fragile mind. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? ;) Both approaches hand in hand, body and mind, is likely the optimal path.