Instead of a spiral though, it felt like I was running around a maze built inside my chestâand all the running just led to a bunch of dead ends. My heart was pounding. My anxiety level was rising higher and higher. A part of me wanted to collapse at one of those dead ends, curl up in a ball, cry, and hide⌠but the energy in my chest just kept runningâdesperately trying to find a way out. My body was trying to run, and since I couldnât run from my past, I was running from people in my life...
10 days ago â˘Â 3 min read
Before my suppressed & repressed trauma could surface, my brain needed to get out of black and white/all or nothing thinking. Life coaching gave me this first step. Mindset worked helped me learn how to reframe, change narratives and have new ways to think about things. Then, once my body knew I could hold space (even if it was just a small space) for two things that seem to conflict being true at the same time - my trauma surfaced. I quickly learned that trauma was stored in my body &...
17 days ago â˘Â 1 min read
When it comes to trauma healing, many people think the goal is to always feel calm. But hereâs the truth: healing doesnât begin with calmâit begins with safety. When the body feels safe enough, it finally has permission to soften, release, and move toward healing. Healing that includes, the grounding, the calm, the intensity, the scary - it includes the range and variety of emotions that being human offers. Safety doesnât mean nothing hard will come up. It means that when something does rise...
about 2 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
The end of summer can feel like standing between two worldsâlazy days fading behind us and the structure of September routines stretching out ahead. Our nervous system notices this shift. What happens within your system? For many, it stirs up restlessness, overwhelm, or the sense of being pulled in a dozen directions at once. And for others, September feels like a welcome exhale. After months of spontaneity and non-structure, the rhythm of schedules can bring the nervous system relief and...
2 months ago â˘Â 1 min read
Healing from trauma can feel like standing at the base of a steep mountain. From down below, the path looks impossibleâso far, so high, so exhausting. Maybe youâve felt that weight: The urge to push through and scramble up as fast as you can, even when your body is pleading for rest. Or the oppositeâthe collapse and desire to quit before you even begin, because the climb feels too overwhelming to try. And in those moments, two very different voices often show up inside: One says, âJust push...
3 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
In the past week, a few of my clients shared similar experiences with me. During our somatic and/or vagal practices together, each of them felt intense emotions or physical sensations come up. They leaned toward the practice⌠then backed off. Then leaned in again⌠then pulled back. Some wondered if they were âdoing it wrong.â Others felt a little afraid of what was surfacing. A few thought it was just plain weird. The truth? This is part of the healing journey. What they were doing is...
3 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
Have you ever found yourself pulling away from everyone, needing someone by your side at all times, or feeling misunderstood and alone surrounded by people? Maybe youâve canceled plans (again) and felt relief and shame⌠Or youâve stayed on the phone too long or gone to another event you didnât want to attend, just so you wouldnât feel that anxious aloneness. OrâŚjust so you wouldnât let someone down or be seen in an unfavorable way. All of these patternsâisolation, constant connection, needing...
3 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
You have the right to be exactly who you are. But.... Have you ever felt like you're too much? Too loud. Too sensitive. Too emotional. Too intense. Or maybe the fear swings the other wayâ That you're not enough. Not doing enough. Not strong enough. Not healing fast enough. This picture says it perfectly.... Thank you iamdomfarnan. (In her comments she shares a lot of other great info, if you want to check her out). This truth has taken me years to learn in my own trauma healing journey: đż...
3 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
July is summer at my place. And summer brings up all sorts of beautiful, crazy and hard for meâŚ. How would you describe your summer? Fun....relaxing....exhausting -- adding ands and both is powerful becauseâŚ. For me, summer has been: Fun and exhausting. Relaxing and stressful. Good & hard, Really good and Really hard, Boring and way too busy, And all the spaces in between. Photo by LÄsma Fedotova on Unsplash Where I live, summer brings lots of sunshine, along with slightly cool air for my...
4 months ago â˘Â 3 min read