Does anyone know how to focus when meditation brings up traumatic memories? How do you keep yourself moving forward despite the flashbacks?

Appearance of traumatic memories or another unpleasant experiences is signvthat you body can finally safely process them. Consider them as sign of improvement. It's the same with emotions as with thoughts, they just happen in your body/head, they do not own you, you can observe them, feel them.. They will keep reappearing until they are 'felt' (or 'lived'), so there is sadly/luckily no other way forward 🙂

If ever it gets too much I stop and focus on my breathing then do some journaling. Writing our the trauma helps for me. Then depending on how triggering I will either go back and try the meditation again or do a different meditation till I’ve had time to talk to a professional regarding the experience.

Don’t judge what you are feeling and thinking. Sadness, frustration, anxiety, anger and fear are also part of who we are. When this memories come to my mind I breath over them, I don’t try to fight them. If I feel like crying I just cry. I let my self be there, but I never stop meditating. Sometimes I stay longer until I feel a quite mind again.

Just let this thoughts pass as if the images are just a transition. Let the them pass through it don’t get stucked with them

You stay focused by returning to an anchor: breathing is the best, a mantta, bells soundtrack that repeats every once on a while etc.

Hope and patience are one of the key to success in life. Trauma do come in every human being's life but what matters is how you hold yourself and than strengthen your self. I would suggest that you built a hobby which you like alot and spend one hour at it. It would divert your attention from your current condition and make you see positive set of skills you are developing. Just be relaxed and let go what happened before because every moment which goes had an infinite possibilities of new beginning and change. Moreover, whenever you meditate and flashback come, let them come because you can't do anything it's just past but what you can do now is become a strong person by not repeating mistake and if someone had hurt you never trust that person. Time is always a best healer so do positive attitude.

Try one of those Building Mental Blocks meditation on fabulous. Am not sure which one is that.
It basically asks you to imagine yourself in a bus and your worst problems are also traveling with you. Personify these problems as co passengers and then on the next stop they get down and you let them go.
Generally speaking those traumatic memories are there in your subconscious and will not go untill you go through them during meditation.

Try a technique called noting. Be fully present with whatever comes up, and note what’s happening, like a neutral commentary. You can distinguish if it’s a feeling or a thought, then come back to the body/breath/mantra/meditation. No matter how many times it comes up, note it and acknowledge it anew.

In such circumstances, I try to center myself with the question, “what is happening now?” Then I will try to rest my attention on the breath.

I try not to make it a battle against the memory. Sometimes the memory may need to be emotionally experienced and further processed. If that happens or is necessary then I start resting my attention again on what’s happening in the moment, what I’m actually feeling and experiencing physically as well as emotionally. Often times that process creates enough space to help move through the memory a bit more easily.

If this keeps happening, I would suggest seeking some external support. Meditation has been known to do this, however in these cases it might be worth speaking to a professional about it. This way you can work through these concerns and then continue to focus on your meditations as well.

If meditation is bringing this up then that probably means you shouldn’t ignore them and try to heal from trauma. It’s your brain giving you info. If you have access to a therapist you should look into someone w experience treating trauma patients and if you don’t maybe look for group therapy which can be low cost or free sometimes

Did you see a horror film and be terrified so that could not come home? No? You know it was a film, no more, right? It is like traumatic memories which come into your mind when you are meditating. It is just a movie, not real. Watch it, but not participate in it. It comes and goes naturally.

You let the feelings Come, do not fight them. Let your tears out and let what comes, Come and gently you Will eventually Come back til your meditation. Just look at what comes accept it…. Go on from there

I personally find that meditation makes dealing with such memories easier. Having myself expierenced bursting into tears during meditation, I have to admit that it was more of a cathartic process than a painful one. I just continued following the instructions, breathed through it and allowed my emotions to fully release. It was kind of like if being in a meditative state allowed me to look at those memories without turning my eyes away, fully see them and accept as a part of my past, and as the result put them to bed once and for all. Unlike before, when memories made me anxious and I just couldn't face them. So I just made sure to meditate in a space where getting emotional was safe. And I feel like the overall process in the longer perspective brought me more peace and helped resolve some inner conflicts and issues I used to run away from.

Don’t hold on into those thoughts, you have to accept them as part of your PAST and let them go, don’t let those thoughts conquer who you are today, smile at them because they make you grow but always let go, don’t identify yourself with that anymore, because you are no longer that person and you are not living on that moment. Think your thoughts as fish passing by in the river, you are the river and your thoughts are the fishes, just look at it, and let go.