Healing Ancestral Trauma Exercise

  1. Choose a container
  2. By creating a container for ancestraltrauma, you are symbolically making space for the trauma to live outside of your own body and mind.
  3. You may simply use a jar or box, or you may prefer to make your own.
  4. Consider using a container with a lid, so that you can choose when to connect with ancestral trauma, and when to contain it outside of yourself.
  1. Begin to fill the container
  2. By placing items into the container, you are acknowledging and honoring your ancestors.
  3. Consider honoring all three types of ancestors: your family lineage, ancestors of a place, and a ‘pastself’that was wounded.
  4. Add items that remind you of a ‘past self’ that was wounded, such as poker chip for a gambling addiction, or a crayon for an abused child.
  5. Add items that remind you of relatives who have passed, such as a deck of cards for a grandmother who liked to play games.
  6. Add items that remind you of a specific time or place, such as a seashell to memorialize a childhood home by the ocean.
  7. Add items of beauty, such as a small crystal or a dried flower.
  8. Add items such as photographs or names written on pieces of paper to commemorate specific people or places.
  9. Add items that reflect your cultural heritage, such as a tea bag for English ancestors, or a small flag of a state or country.
  10. Add items that feel right to include, even if it they seem to make no sense.
  11. Leave some space so you can continue adding items over time.
  1. Create a space for the container
  2. You may put the container outside in your garden or display it inside on a shelf, or you may prefer to keep it hidden inside a drawer or closet.
  3. If you display the container, you mayplace it with other items that remind you of your ancestry, such as framed photos of deceased relatives, or a keepsake that has been passed down in your family.
  1. Periodically connect with the container
  2. By opening the container, you are making space in your heart, and using precious time and energy, to honor and heal ancestral trauma in your life.
  3. Look at and engage with items in and around the container. Allow yourself to feel what comes up and express the emotions, such as grief or anger.
  4. You may light a candle next to the container, leave a vase of flowers or glass of wine, or some other offering of thanks to your ancestral trauma.
  5. You may apologize to your ancestral trauma if you have been neglecting it.
  6. You may pray or meditate with your ancestral traumafor insight into pain.
  7. Allow yourself to remove and replace items,and generally to make changes that feel right, even if you do not understand why.