Are You a Prisoner of Your Past?

[u/Infinity_here]

The other day at work, I noticed a colleague looking really upset. When I asked if she was okay, she burst into tears and told me how her mother-in-law had made her life miserable in the past.

When I asked if they were still living together, she said, “No, we moved out almost a year ago. In fact, she even called this morning to wish me on my anniversary.”

That’s when it struck me, the suffering wasn’t happening anymore, but she was still reliving it every single day. The past had a stronger grip on her than the present.

I shared a piece of Sadhguru’s wisdom with her for better clarity,

“What is past cannot be fixed. What is now can only be experienced. What is next can be created.”

She fell silent, then quietly asked, “But how do I actually let go? Is there any tool or way to forgive and move on?”

I shared how meditation & mental hygiene helped me break free from my own compulsive habit of replaying the past. It hasn’t made me perfect (I’m still very much a work in progress), but it’s given me the ability to be present, to live life as it unfolds instead of being trapped in old stories.

And it makes me wonder… how many of us are unknowingly prisoners of our own past? How many are still trying to “think their way” out of stress without realizing there might be another way?

Are You Still a Prisoner of Your Past Or Did You Find Your Way Out?

[u/Holly1010Frey]

I feel its more so people running from the pain of their past until it runs them down and beats the shit out of them and then they get up and start running again think 'well that sucked dont want to do that again,' but its just an inevitable cycle.

You can't just run from your feelings until something triggers them and they come out one way or another. You have to sit and think on them, how they made you feel, how they make you currently feel, why they made you feel that way then and feel that way now.

You can't just 'let go' of trauma , but you can process it and move on from it. Some people never let themselves feel the pain in the moment and its still there unacknowledged and now years later you feel like it shouldn't be as bad because 'time heals all wounds' but you never gave it time, you sealed it in a box and let it fester.

Most people have to get the initial feeling of emotions out of the way, which is often very intense and disconcerting, and you get little sympathy from others because it was 'years ago.' Its also not usually fast, people will bottle emotions up for years and then expect one emotional outburst with barely any conscious thought put into it and think they are good.

Moving on from trauma is almost like losing weight. It took you years to build up that trauma it won't all be gone in 1 good day. Moving on requires consistent effort day to day with up and downs, but hopefully, it will be an overall linear improvement. Moving on can take years and years where your also having to deal with current trauma from current life.

[u/Infinity_here → u/Holly1010Frey]

Absolutely 💯 Infact though you said it metaphorically, I actually did lose a lot of weight initially due to stress. It was only when I realized that my mind wasn't helping me, but simply prolonging the loops, that I gave yoga a try!