Where the Body Speaks: Somatic Healing & Trauma-Informed Yoga
Essays and guides on nervous system regulation, embodiment, and compassionate, research-informed practice—written for real life.
The Somatics of Using Your Voice
Speaking from the heart can “light up” the body. This post explains why using your voice activates the nervous system—and how somatic awareness helps you stay with the charge and be heard.
Holding the charge of being heard
Lately I’ve been noticing how the silencing we feel in the collective mirrors the silencing many of us carry inside. It’s not just “out there.” It lives in our bodies—old conditioning, learned protections, the impulse to stay small so things feel safe.
Speaking up—especially from the heart—often creates a charge in the body. That charge isn’t bad; it’s energy. But it can feel like heat in the chest, fluttering in the belly, a lump in the throat, tightness in the jaw, or the urge to run. If you’ve spent years keeping quiet to keep the peace, no wonder your system lights up when it’s time to say the thing.
Somatic work helps us be with that energy without shutting down or exploding. It teaches us how to stay present with ourselves while we speak—so our voice becomes a bridge back home, not another moment of self-abandonment.
Why your body reacts when you speak
Belonging = survival. Your nervous system tracks safety through connection. Risking disapproval (even imagined) can ping old alarms.
Past learning. If you were praised for being “easy” or punished for being “too much,” parts of you learned: Staying quiet keeps me safe.
Protection shows up as sensation. Tight throat, shallow breath, rigid posture—these are your body’s ways of bracing for danger. They’re not flaws; they’re strategies.
The work isn’t to “turn off” the charge. It’s to increase your capacity to feel it and stay connected to yourself while you speak.
A somatic frame for voice: feel → support → express
Feel: Notice what’s happening now (sensations, emotions, impulses) without immediately fixing it.
Support: Offer your body something regulating (touch, breath, orientation) so the charge has somewhere to land.
Express: Speak from the supported body, not the braced body—clearer, kinder, more you.
Micro-practices you can use before, during, and after speaking
Before: “Find my ground”
Orient: Gently look around the room. Let your eyes land on 3–5 things you like. Tell your body, “Here. Now.”
Anchor touch: One palm on chest, one on low ribs. Feel the contact.
Low, slow exhale: Inhale naturally. Exhale longer than you inhale (like fogging a mirror, mouth or nose). 4–6 rounds.
During: “Ride the wave”
Throat space: Imagine breath moving behind your tongue and down the throat. Soften jaw, unclench teeth, let tongue rest.
Feet first: Feel your heels or the floor under your toes as you speak. If seated, feel your sit bones.
Sentence breaks: Speak one sentence, pause for one gentle breath, then continue. (Capacity grows in the pauses.)
After: “Let it move”
Shake it out: Hands, wrists, shoulders—10–20 seconds.
Lengthen the back body: Fold over your thighs or lean forward on a counter; breathe into the back ribs.
Co-regulate: If available, be with someone safe or step outside and let your senses settle.
Befriending the parts that learned to be quiet
If speaking brings up shame, freeze, or panic, that’s a part doing its job. Try meeting it with curiosity:
“I see you, the one who learned it was safer to stay small.”
“Thank you for protecting me back then. I’ve got more support now.”
Offer physical comfort while you speak to the part (hand to heart, gentle cheek hold, or a scarf around your shoulders).
You’re not forcing the protector out of the way; you’re unblending so your adult self can lead the conversation.
Build capacity with a gentle “voice ladder”
Start where it’s easiest and move one rung at a time.
Whisper to yourself in a quiet room, hand on chest.
Speak a single true sentence out loud when you’re alone.
Record a voice memo to yourself; listen back kindly.
Share with one safe person (text or in person).
Speak in a small group that feels supportive.
Name a boundary or need in a low-stakes situation.
Bring your voice to higher-charge spaces (wider audience, harder conversation).
Stay on a rung until your body says, “This feels doable.” Titration (small doses) beats bravery theater.
If you freeze mid-sentence
Name it: “I’m noticing my throat got tight. I just need a breath.” (Truth regulates.)
Sip water while feeling your feet.
Start simpler: “What I really mean is…” and say one clear line.
A short practice: Speak-from-the-Heart (3 minutes)
Settle (45s): Feel your sit bones and feet. One slow exhale.
Place a hand where you feel the charge (throat/chest/belly). Say, “Energy is here, and I’m here too.”
Choose one sentence you care about. Speak it slowly. Pause. Repeat once.
Close with thanks to the part that got activated. Gentle shoulder roll. Done.
Why this matters (now)
When individuals reclaim their voice with care, the collective tone shifts. More truth. More nuance. Less collapse and less attack. Using your voice somatically isn’t just personal healing; it’s community medicine.
And I think that’s really important right now. ✌️
If you want support
This is the kind of work we practice in my small-group containers—learning to stay with sensation, meet protective parts with compassion, and speak from a more grounded self. If this resonates, you’re welcome to explore my offerings or reach out with a question. No pressure—just an open door.
P.S. If you try one of these practices, notice what changed (even 5%). Capacity grows in small, consistent ways.
Learning to Rest: Why Our Nervous System Struggles to Put Work Down
Ever feel guilty when you stop working? Learn why rest can feel unsafe to your nervous system, how achievement became tied to safety, and why true restoration is essential to being human.
My system has needed to learn that it’s safe to rest and play.
Maybe you’ve noticed this for yourself too—how downtime comes with a sense of urgency, as if you should be doing something productive.
Maybe it feels hard to walk away from work on the weekend.
Or maybe you’ve caught yourself doing this thing so many of us do—filling your schedule to the brim so there’s no space for rest or play.
Here’s what I want you to know: this isn’t a personal failure. It’s not because you’re weak-willed or undisciplined. It’s your nervous system trying to keep you safe.
Why Rest Feels Unsafe
For many of us, achievement was tied to belonging. Productivity was tied to acceptance. Success was tied to safety.
Think back: how did your parents or teachers respond when you got a good grade—or a bad one? Recognition, praise, or even love often came with achievement. As children, we learned:
Achievement = belonging
Productivity = acceptance
Success = safety
Our bodies carried that wiring into adulthood. So when you step away from work, your nervous system may whisper: “If I stop, am I still safe?”
That’s why it can feel uncomfortable—sometimes downright scary—to rest.
An Ancient Story About Learning to Be Human
There’s an Old Testament story about the Israelites after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. As slaves, their lives revolved around making bricks. Brick after brick after brick.
With God’s guidance, Moses led them out of Egypt. They stopped at Mt. Sinai, where God gave the people the Ten Commandments. Not as rules for control, but as guidelines to help them learn to be human again.
Because slavery changes you. It rewires your body and brain for survival.
One of the commandments was the sabbath: to take a break from all work one day a week.
And the story goes that they had a hard time with this one. Why? Because their nervous systems had learned that safety meant bricks.
Learning to Be Human Again
What stands out to me in this story is the reminder that part of being human is resting.
When we never stop working, we’re living like we’re still making bricks. We’re surviving, not truly living.
Rest, play, and stillness aren’t luxuries. They’re necessities. They are what make us human.
So as we head into the weekend, maybe you notice the parts of you that equate productivity with safety. And maybe you can sweetly reassure those parts: It’s safe to stop. It’s safe to rest. It’s safe to play. It’s safe to be human.
A Gentle Invitation
As you look at your own weekend, what would it feel like to give yourself permission to step away from the bricks? To let yourself rest, play, or simply be?
This isn’t indulgence—it’s survival of a different kind. It’s learning, again and again, what it means to be human.
Procrastination, Perfectionism, and the Nervous System
Procrastination and perfectionism aren’t flaws—they’re nervous system responses rooted in fear of not being enough. This post explores how freeze shows up in the body, why your system uses it to keep you safe, and how awareness, nervous system regulation, and gentle support can help you shift from stuck patterns into aligned action.
We all know what procrastination feels like. You sit down to work, but your brain fogs over. Your body feels heavy, like it’s bracing. You notice you’re holding your breath. Part of you wants to move—and yet, somehow, you can’t.
It’s easy to label this as laziness or lack of discipline. But underneath, what’s often happening is that your nervous system has shifted into freeze.
The Fear Underneath Procrastination
Procrastination usually carries a hidden fear:
What if it isn’t good enough?
What if I fail?
What if I make a fool of myself?
The body responds to those questions as if they’re threats. And because rejection or disapproval can feel like life-or-death to our systems (after all, we are wired to belong), the nervous system protects us the best way it knows how—by stopping us in our tracks.
The Flip Side: Perfectionism
Procrastination and perfectionism are two sides of the same coin.
Procrastination says, “Don’t start, you’ll fail.”
Perfectionism says, “Keep going, but it’s never good enough.”
Both are rooted in the same survival fear: If I don’t measure up, I won’t belong.
What It Feels Like in the Body
Foggy or “stuck” brain
Bracing or tension
Breath holding
The tug-of-war between wanting to move and feeling frozen
When we recognize these cues, we can start to see procrastination not as a flaw but as a protective pattern.
Validating What Your Body Is Doing
First, let’s honor it. Your body is doing exactly what it’s designed to do: protect you. It’s trying to keep you safe from rejection, judgment, or failure.
And then, once we’ve validated that truth, we can try something new.
A Different Way Forward
When I support clients around procrastination and perfectionism, we work in layers:
Awareness – Noticing the sensations in the body and the stories in the mind. Naming the state without shame. (E.g., “My body is in freeze” instead of “I am a procrastinator.”)
Separating identity from state – Understanding that you are not the pattern. You are the one noticing the pattern.
Holding the charge – Practicing staying with discomfort without collapsing into freeze or chasing perfectionism. This is best done in a guided way: gently moving back and forth between what feels challenging and what feels grounding (feet on the floor, a steady breath, looking around the room). Over time, your window of tolerance expands.
Reframing the story – Once the nervous system feels safer, we can revisit the mental narrative with compassion.
Small, safe experiments – Trying tiny steps in the real world: sending one imperfect email, finishing a messy draft, or sharing one thought in a group. The focus is on completion and self-trust, not perfection.
This isn’t about “hacking” your way out of procrastination. It’s about learning to be with yourself differently—so your body doesn’t have to shut down to keep you safe.
Why Support Matters
This work is much easier with a guide. Someone who can notice when you’re moving outside your window of tolerance, help you ground, and remind you that you’re not broken—you’re human.
It’s not about forcing yourself to push through. It’s about learning to stay present with your body and your truth long enough for something new to become possible.
Where to Begin
This is the heart of the work I share at Total Practice. Inside my 12-week Coming Home to Your Body program, we explore patterns like procrastination and perfectionism through the lens of nervous system regulation, parts work, and compassionate awareness. Together, we practice noticing, resourcing, and slowly building capacity for the very things our systems once avoided.
If you’re tired of the cycle of “stuck” and “never enough,” this course is a gentle, research-based, and deeply human way to begin shifting it. You can complete the program on your own through a self-guided workbook, in a small group, or 1:1 with me. See here for more information.
Why You React the Way You Do (and Why It’s Not Your Fault)
We all have moments where we react in ways we regret — snapping, shutting down, overworking, or people-pleasing. These aren’t failures; they’re your nervous system’s protective patterns. In this post, I share why these responses happen, how to recognize them with compassion, and why interoception (listening to your body’s signals) is the first step toward change.
We’ve all had moments we wish we could take back — snapping at our kids, picking a fight with our partner, making an impulsive decision at work, or saying yes to something that didn’t feel right.
And then comes the shame spiral: Why did I do that? I know better.
Here’s the truth: this isn’t because you’re broken. It’s because of how your nervous system works.
What Happens in Your Brain Under Stress
When your system senses threat (even subtle or unconscious cues), your body shifts into survival mode.
Your prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain responsible for empathy, long-term thinking, perspective-taking, and self-reflection — goes offline.
Instead, older parts of your brain take over, activating the survival responses that once kept you safe:
🔥 Fight: snapping, arguing, slamming a door
🏃 Flight: overworking, distracting yourself, avoiding what feels hard
❄️ Freeze: shutting down, going numb, feeling stuck
🤝 Fawn: people-pleasing, going along to keep the peace, avoiding conflict
These Are Not Failures
These aren’t signs of weakness. They’re protective patterns your nervous system learned to help you survive.
The problem is, while they may have helped in the past, they can leave us feeling reactive, ashamed, or disconnected in the present.
The First Step Toward Change
Here’s the good news: while you can’t stop these reflexes from arising, you can learn to notice them sooner.
That noticing — called interoception (the ability to sense what’s happening inside your body) — is the first step toward responding with compassion and choice instead of shame or reactivity.
This is the doorway to healing: not controlling every reaction, but building the capacity to listen, pause, and respond differently.
A Question for You
Think back to a recent moment when you felt yourself “flip” into one of these states.
What did you notice in your body?
Which response showed up (fight, flight, freeze, or fawn)?
And if you could return to that moment with more compassion, what might you say to yourself?
Want to Go Deeper?
This is exactly the kind of work we explore in my 12-week small-group course, Coming Home to Your Body.
It’s not a yoga class, and it’s not therapy. It’s a guided journey into nervous system regulation, embodied awareness, and rebuilding trust with yourself.
Over 12 weeks, you’ll practice noticing your body’s cues, meeting them with compassion, and slowly reshaping your relationship with yourself.
👉 You can learn more and join us here: go to the course page.
Healing Isn’t About Control — It’s About Relationship
Healing isn’t about perfect routines or rigid discipline. It’s about building a compassionate relationship with your body. In this post, I share why control doesn’t create true safety — and what the latest science reveals about how healing actually happens.
For much of my life, I believed healing meant control.
I thought if I just got the perfect morning routine, meditated every day at 5am, kept up with yoga or workouts, and never missed a wellness habit, I’d finally feel steady inside.
And honestly? It looked pretty good from the outside. I appeared disciplined, committed, even “healthy.”
But inside, I was still anxious. Still bracing. Still carrying an undercurrent of disconnection.
What I’ve learned is this: control doesn’t equal healing.
Why We Turn to Control
It makes sense that so many of us try to control our way to wellness. We’ve been taught — directly or indirectly — that discipline is the path to wholeness. Work harder. Push through. Perfect yourself.
And the truth is, those parts of us that push for control aren’t “bad.” They’re protective. They’re doing the best they know how.
When life feels uncertain, controlling our bodies, schedules, or habits can create the illusion of safety. It’s a way of saying, “If I just keep this together, maybe I’ll be okay.”
The paradox is that control can make things look fine on the outside while leaving us dysregulated or disconnected on the inside.
What Actually Creates Safety
True safety doesn’t come from discipline. It comes from relationship.
Our nervous system doesn’t regulate because we force it into a rigid routine. It regulates when it feels heard, understood, and met with compassion.
This is where the science of trauma and nervous system healing has been so powerful for me. Researchers and practitioners like Stephen Porges (Polyvagal Theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing), and Kristin Neff (Self-Compassion) all point to the same truth:
Healing doesn’t come from control. It comes from connection.
Our bodies regulate in environments of safety — not performance. Healing happens when we can listen to our body’s cues, respond with care, and build trust in the relationship we have with ourselves.
Moving From Control to Relationship
So what does this look like in practice?
Instead of forcing yourself to wake up at 5am to meditate, ask: What kind of rest do I actually need this morning?
Instead of powering through a workout because you “should,” ask: What kind of movement would feel good in my body today?
Instead of overriding anxiety or anger to perform “calm,” ask: What’s my body trying to tell me right now?
This shift — from control to relationship — is where inner safety begins.
The Path Forward
For me, learning to build a relationship with my body has been the heart of healing. It hasn’t been about rigid routines or control. It’s been about listening, honoring, and showing up with compassion.
And the truth is: this is possible for you, too.
Your body isn’t a problem to fix.
It’s a partner. A guide. A friend.
It’s been with you your whole life, and it wants to support you.
The more we listen, the more that relationship deepens. And the more safety we begin to feel — not because we’re in control, but because we’re connected.
✨ If this resonates with you, this is the work we’ll be doing together in Coming Home to Your Body — a 12-week group experience to rebuild trust with your body, expand your window of tolerance, and learn how to meet yourself with compassion and safety. Learn more here.
Is Trauma Really “Held in the Body”?
When people say trauma is “held in the body,” it can sound mysterious or overwhelming. In this post, I explain what’s really going on in the nervous system — and why body-based healing is just as important as talking through your story.
You’ve probably heard the phrase: “Trauma lives in the body.”
Recently, someone told me they felt like their body was “holding onto trauma and just won’t let it go.” It’s a powerful way to put words to a real experience — but what does it actually mean?
Your Nervous System as Protector
From the time you were a tiny baby, your nervous system has been working around the clock to keep you safe. It doesn’t ask for your permission, and you don’t have to think about it. It simply does its job.
When it senses danger, your body knows how to respond. It can:
Fight – mobilize strength to defend
Flight – move you away from danger
Freeze – shut down or become still
Fawn – appease to keep yourself safe
Your heart rate changes. Muscles tighten. Hormones surge. Breath shifts. Posture adapts. All of this happens without conscious effort. It’s your body’s brilliant design for survival.
What Gets “Held” in the Body
Here’s the key: your nervous system learns. It remembers.
If something in the present moment reminds your body of something dangerous from the past, your nervous system may respond the same way it did back then — even if you are safe now.
So is trauma literally stored in your muscles? Not quite. Trauma isn’t a substance that gets stuck inside you. What’s “held” is a pattern — your body’s memory of protection.
Muscles can feel tense or braced, not because trauma is lodged there, but because your nervous system has trained them to stay ready just in case.
When people say “trauma lives in the body,” this is what they’re pointing to: the way your body carries forward adaptive survival responses, even long after the threat has passed.
Why Healing Happens in Both Mind and Body
This is why healing isn’t only about talking through your story. Yes, it’s deeply valuable to understand and process what’s happened with a therapist. But it’s equally important to listen to the story your body is telling you.
Your body carries signals — subtle shifts in breath, posture, sensation, and energy — that reveal how safe it feels. Learning to notice and respond to those signals with compassion is part of teaching your nervous system: “This moment is different. I don’t have to brace the same way anymore.”
Many people find that body-based work is a natural complement to therapy. While therapy supports you in making meaning, this kind of practice helps you increase your capacity, your “window of tolerance,” and your ability to hold your own experience without overwhelm.
An Invitation: Coming Home to Your Body
This is the heart of the course I teach, Coming Home to Your Body.
Over twelve weeks, we move slowly and gently, at your own pace, to:
Notice and understand the signals your body is giving you
Expand your window of tolerance
Build tools for meeting yourself with compassion and safety
Offer your nervous system a grounded, loving presence — perhaps for the first time
This isn’t talk therapy. We won’t be sharing trauma histories. Instead, we’ll be practicing how to listen to the body — and how to lovingly speak back.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to welcome you in.
Nervous System Basics: What You Were Never Taught in School
A gentle, practical introduction to how your nervous system works—and why understanding it can change everything. Learn about fight/flight/freeze, polyvagal theory, and how to begin building a more supportive relationship with your body.
Let’s start with this:
Your nervous system is not a problem. It’s a protector.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, shut down, anxious for no clear reason, or stuck in patterns you wish you could change but can’t seem to—your nervous system likely holds a big piece of the puzzle.
So what is the nervous system, really?
Your nervous system is your body’s communication highway. It takes in information from your environment (and your inner world), processes it, and helps you respond. It’s always working—below the surface—guiding how you feel, think, move, relate, and even how you heal.
At a very basic level, it’s what helps you survive.
The part of your nervous system I focus on most in my work is the autonomic nervous system. This is the part that controls things you don’t have to think about: your heartbeat, digestion, breath, stress response.
It has two main branches you might’ve heard of:
Sympathetic – responsible for activation. Think: fight or flight.
Parasympathetic – responsible for calming and restoring. Think: rest and digest.
But that’s only the beginning. Thanks to the work of Dr. Stephen Porges and others, we now understand that it’s more nuanced than just “on” or “off.” The Polyvagal Theory shows us that our nervous systems shift between various states depending on how safe or supported we feel. These states include:
Mobilization (Fight or Flight) – when you feel anxious, agitated, or ready to act.
Shutdown (Freeze or Collapse) – when things feel too much, and you go numb or disconnected.
Safety & Connection (Regulation) – when you feel grounded, present, open.
Why does this matter?
Because your body’s responses aren’t random—they’re adaptive. They’re shaped by your history, your environment, your culture, and your relationships. And most of us weren’t taught how to work with our nervous systems.
We were taught to “calm down,” “get over it,” “just breathe,” or “power through.”
But regulation doesn’t happen through force.
It happens through listening.
It happens when we begin to notice what’s going on inside us (this is called interoception) and respond with care instead of judgment.
The good news?
You can build a relationship with your nervous system.
You can learn the language of your body.
You can create new patterns—ones based not in survival, but in safety, capacity, and choice.
This is the heart of the work I do—guiding people back into connection with themselves. Through breath, gentle movement, nervous system education, and embodied tools, we practice returning to ourselves.
Not for perfection.
Not to become someone different.
But to come home.
Want to explore this more?
Join me for the upcoming Welcome Home workshop—a gentle evening of reconnection and nervous system support. Learn more →
And if you’re ready for deeper support, my 12-week course Coming Home to Your Body begins this fall. We’d love to have you.
What Is Interoception? (And Why It Matters in Healing)
A gentle introduction to interoception—the ability to sense what’s happening inside your body. Learn why it matters for healing, self-trust, and nervous system regulation, plus a simple practice to help you begin tuning back in.
For a long time, I lived disconnected from my body.
I could tell you what I thought, but not always what I felt.
Not physically. Not emotionally. Not energetically.
Like many of us, I learned to push through discomfort. To perform. To override my body’s cues in order to meet expectations—both real and imagined.
One of the most powerful parts of my healing journey has been learning to come back to my internal world. To notice the whispers before they become screams. To understand the language of my body—not just when something’s wrong, but all the time.
This process of sensing what’s happening inside your body has a name: interoception.
In this short video, I cover:
What interoception is (and how it’s different from other forms of awareness)
Why so many of us lose connection with it—especially after trauma, burnout, or stress
How rebuilding interoception supports nervous system healing, self-trust, and emotional clarity
A simple practice you can try right now to start tuning back in
✨ Watch the video here:
Want to take this work deeper?
Building interoception is a practice.
It doesn’t just happen overnight.
Considering that patterns of disconnection may have developed over a lifetime, it makes sense that it would take time to rebuild connection.
In our Coming Home to Your Body course, we spend 12 weeks slowly, gently, and gradually learning to listen to the language of our bodies. This is small group. Trauma-informed. And highly intentional. Click here to learn more.
What trauma really is. (Hint: it doesn’t have to be something big)
Explore how some of us might minimize or dismiss our traumatic experiences and how this might keep us from getting the support we need.
I’ve noticed that sometimes we minimize our experiences because we hear about all of the big traumas.
You might think:
“I don’t think I’ve had trauma.”
“Other people have it worse.”
“Maybe my struggles aren’t valid.”
If that’s you, I want to say this clearly:
You don’t need a “big trauma” to carry the imprint of overwhelm in your body.
Trauma isn’t just the worst thing that ever happened to you.
It can be the absence of what you needed—safety, attunement, permission to be fully yourself.
You may have had a loving family.
You may have had a “good life.”
And still, your nervous system may have adapted in ways that now show up as:
– Always needing to hold it all together
– Struggling to rest, even when you’re tired
– Overgiving, then resenting it
– Feeling anxious for “no reason”
– Staying busy to avoid stillness
– Feeling numb, disconnected, or “off”
These aren’t flaws.
They’re protective patterns.
Your body’s way of keeping you safe when something felt too much, too soon, or for too long.
The good news?
These patterns can shift.
Not through force.
But through gentle relationship with yourself.
With care. With presence. With support.
That’s what Coming Home to Your Body is here for. If this work is calling you, I’d be honored
The Body Keeps the Score… But It Can Also Rewrite the Story
Begin to understand your nervous system and nervous system regulation in a way that is grounded and accessible.
If you've ever found yourself saying...
“I know I’m safe, but my body still feels on edge.”
“I’m so tired, but I can’t seem to rest.”
“I feel numb, disconnected—like I’m going through the motions.”
“I go from zero to 100 and can’t always explain why.”
…you’re not broken. Your nervous system is just doing its job.
Your Nervous System Isn’t a Problem. It’s a Protector.
The nervous system is your body’s built-in surveillance system. Its job is to scan your environment, detect danger, and help you respond—whether that’s by fighting, fleeing, freezing, or fawning.
This process happens automatically, without your conscious input. That’s why even when you know everything is fine, your body might still be on high alert.
It’s not a flaw. It’s an adaptation. One that probably started a long time ago.
Regulation: A Return to Safety
When people talk about nervous system regulation, they’re talking about your body’s ability to move flexibly between states of activation and rest.
A regulated nervous system doesn’t mean you’re always calm. It means you can meet the moment, respond to life, and return to a sense of steadiness when the storm passes.
And if that feels far away for you right now, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong—it’s because you haven’t had the support, tools, or space to learn a different way.
Why This Matters
Many of us grew up learning to override our bodies.
We learned to be productive instead of present.
To stay busy instead of feel.
To ignore the quiet signals of overwhelm or pain.
Over time, we became strangers to ourselves.
Nervous system regulation is the process of coming home again.
It’s not about fixing or forcing—it’s about building trust with your body.
Bit by bit, you learn:
“I can feel this.”
“I can move through this.”
“I’m allowed to rest.”
“I don’t have to stay in survival.”
How to Begin
You don’t have to know all the science or have a perfect meditation practice to start healing.
All you need is a willingness to listen.
Try this right now:
Pause.
Notice your breath.
Feel your feet on the floor.
Name one sensation in your body.
That’s regulation. That’s a beginning.
If you’re looking for a supportive space to reconnect with your body, ease out of survival mode, and explore what regulation can look like for you, I’d love to invite you into Coming Home to Your Body.
This 12-week, small-group course blends nervous system education, breath, movement, and somatic tools for real-life healing.
You don’t have to do this alone.
You just have to begin.
Dissociation: Why We Disconnect from Our Bodies—And How We Begin to Come Home
Explore two main reasons for why we disconnect from our bodies and insight on how to come back.
I’ve spent a lot of my life disconnected from my body.
And I’m not alone.
Most of us are living from the neck up—functioning, achieving, and caretaking, but out of touch with what’s happening inside.
There are two major reasons this happens:
1. Culture.
We live in a world that glorifies intellect over intuition, productivity over presence.
We’re taught to override our needs, suppress our instincts, and treat our bodies like projects to fix or problems to solve.
There’s a kind of ungroundedness in how we live—like we’ve forgotten we are animals with animal bodies, wired for survival through the brilliant design of our nervous system.
2. Trauma.
When life gets overwhelming—and we don’t have the support we need to process it—our body steps in to protect us.
We may disconnect, numb out, or go into survival mode.
These responses are wise. They helped us make it through. But over time, if we stay stuck there, it can feel like we’re no longer truly living.
Disconnection might look like:
Feeling foggy or far away from your life
Not knowing what you feel or need
Racing thoughts or constant inner pressure
Chronic anxiety, tension, or exhaustion
Overworking, overgiving, overthinking
Scrolling, numbing, checking out
And here’s the truth that many of us were never taught:
These aren’t flaws. They’re adaptations.
They’re your body’s way of keeping you safe when it didn’t feel safe to be fully present.
But healing is possible.
And it starts by coming home to your body.
That doesn’t mean forcing anything. It means learning to listen—to approach your inner experience with curiosity, not criticism.
It means building the capacity to stay present, even when what you’re feeling is hard.
And it means doing that in a space where you feel supported, safe enough, and not alone.
That’s exactly why I created Coming Home to Your Body.
It’s a 12-week small-group course that blends nervous system education, movement, breathwork, and somatic practices—so you can reconnect with yourself in a real and lasting way.
This work isn’t about fixing yourself.
It’s about remembering you’re already whole—and learning how to live like that’s true.
If any of this resonates, I’d love for you to explore what’s possible here.