There are a few podcasts I listen to regularly, and The Tim Ferris Show is one of them. I’ve been a fan of his work since his first book The 4-Hour Work Week came out and enjoy his hacks on health, learning new skills in record time and a bunch of random stuff that’s going on in the tech world.

Ferris’ podcasts are usually on business topics where he interviews top performers in their field, so I was surprised to learn that in one of his recent podcasts he shares an intimate account of how he found healing from his own childhood trauma.

Listening to Ferris (and Debbie Millman who co-hosts this specific episode with him) both vulnerably and courageously open up about their past was incredibly moving but at the same time also very difficult to hear. Not just as someone who has also experienced childhood abuse, but now as a mother of an 11-month old son who hopes no child has or will have to go through such atrocity.

Even if you personally haven’t suffered childhood trauma, you will be surprised that there will be people you know, or even loved ones who have experienced sexual trauma and are fighting a lonesome battle.

More than 1 in 3 women and nearly 1 in 4 men will have experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetime and the majority of the assaults happen before the age of 18. This has to end. While I don’t have the answer to how we can stop bad things from happening, I believe that if we can find the courage to talk openly about our experiences, we will realize that we are not alone. That it is possible to integrate the fragmented parts of ourselves so that the past does not have to take a hold of our lives.

Before I was ready to face my own trauma, I was trying to do everything I could to numb the pain. I lived my life in reaction to things and carried a lot of misplaced anger and frustration. This also led to me choosing to be in relationships that were a form of distraction rather than connection, which led to more pain. Yet at the time it was the only way I knew how to find peace from the never-ending looping thoughts of my mind and suppressed memories of what happened to me.

Everyone’s journey to healing is deeply personal, and no two journeys will be the same, including my own path to healing (which was a combination of taking mushrooms and a silent retreat – but this story is for another time). But what I do want to leave you with is that I never thought I would be able to find freedom from the past and be able to reclaim my life back. Never could I have imagined living the life I live now, one that is filled with love, strength and freedom.

It is my prayer that we will be able to live in a world where we will feel more and more connected to each other and that we will know that we are not alone and do not need to fight our battles on our own. That as we courageously heal and reclaim back parts of our lives, there will be more light in and around us to overshadow the dark.

To listen to Ferris podcast ‘My Healing Journey After Childhood Abuse’ where he not only shares his personal transformation but also an extensive list of valuable resources on the topic click here.

Love,
Cristy

Disclaimer: The intention of this post is for informational purposes only where I share my personal experience and is not intended to be offered as professional or medical advice.