Exploring Ancestral Healing

Have you been curious about the term “ancestral healing”?  

I remember that when I first heard it, I wasn’t sure if it meant healing our ancestors, or healing the effects of what our ancestors endured within ourselves.

I have found in my work that it can be both!  Mostly however, I am focusing on the healing that my clients need within themselves, which is often a result of their ancestor's traumatic experiences, and how their ancestors reacted to those experiences (which was always in the best way they could).  

Have you ever tried to change a certain issue in your life (such as a recurring fear, low self-esteem, wanting more success in a certain area of your life, problems with relationships, anxiety, etc.) and find that no matter what you tried, it didn’t fully resolve? 

Sometimes that is because even though an issue seems like it’s your problem, it doesn't stem from you!  It can be a generational issue, even if it’s not obvious.  When I first embarked on this work, I was surprised to see how many of my and my client’s patterns had nothing much to do with us, but were inherited from our ancestors.  

This is not to shirk responsibility for our own behavior.  Instead, it is a process of acknowledging what is ours while discovering what challenges might have their origin in an ancestor's experiences.

I shouldn’t have been surprised at how many unhealthy coping strategies have been handed down, considering what our ancestors have been through.  Go back one generation or more in anyone’s family, and we can find very traumatic experiences, such as famine, war, abuse, etc.  And experiencing trauma actually makes changes in our brain and DNA that are passed down!  

On the other hand, if we are here, this means that we have also inherited many positive traits and that we are resilient, because our ancestors were survivors!

The other good (or great!) news is that inherited beliefs, behaviors (such as coping mechanisms), and feeling states that are not helpful can be changed or healed.   

Some patterns that have changed within my clients as a result of ancestral healing are:

• The tendency to take the blame for everything
• Feeling overly responsible for how others feel, behave, etc.
• Suddenly being able to stay motivated in their self-care, such as exercising more
• Moving from isolation to more connection with others
• Letting go of regrets or self-recrimination about how they used to behave, while still taking appropriate responsibility
• Stepping out of enmeshment and co-dependency and creating healthier relationships
• Co-creating work opportunities that used to elude them

​I am here to say that you can do this! Ancestral trauma (or current trauma) is not a life sentence. I believe in you and I am here to help.