How We Heal - Trauma Recovery & Wellbeing CIC

26/07/2026

"Just take a deep breath."

It's probably one of the most common pieces of wellbeing advice we hear.

And sometimes it can be genuinely helpful.

But if you've ever been told to take a deep breath and found that you simply couldn't… or that it didn't seem to make any difference… there isn't anything wrong with you.

When our nervous system senses threat, whether that threat is happening now or is being echoed through past experiences, it shifts into survival. In those moments, our body isn't choosing to ignore us or "do breathing wrong". It's doing exactly what it has learned to do to protect us.

For some people, being asked to focus on the breath can even feel overwhelming.

Breath awareness brings attention inward, and when the nervous system doesn't yet feel safe enough to do that, it may feel uncomfortable or inaccessible.

This is why trauma-informed practice begins by meeting the nervous system where it is.

Sometimes that means orienting - looking around the room and noticing that, right now, there is no immediate danger.

Sometimes it means grounding - feeling the support of the chair beneath you and noticing your feet making contact with the ground. 👣

Sometimes it's noticing you're holding a warm mug ☕

Or listening to the sounds around you 🍃

These are all ways of offering your nervous system gentle cues of safety before asking anything more of it.

Breathwork can be incredibly supportive. But timing matters.

Healing isn't about forcing the body to calm down. It's about learning to listen to what it needs first.

If taking a deeper breath feels hard, try this for a few moments, and then try again.

Let us know how you get on.

21/07/2026

09/06/2026

Yesterday we welcomed another group of women into Solace. 💚

Solace is our trauma-informed programme designed to support women survivors of domestic abuse in reconnecting with their bodies, building resilience, and finding moments of safety, rest and connection through body-led practices.

Every woman who walks through the door brings her own story, her own strength, and a great deal of courage. We never take that for granted.

Over the coming weeks, we'll explore gentle therapeutic yoga, somatic movement, nervous system education, breathwork and reflection in a safe and compassionate space.

We're incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund and to National Lottery players, whose support has made it possible for us to offer Solace to women across the East Midlands.

Thank you for helping us create spaces where healing can happen.

Because healing doesn't happen in isolation. It happens in connection, community and compassionate support.

04/06/2026

When healing happens in community, something powerful begins to shift.

Today we gathered for the penultimate session of our therapeutic yoga and wellbeing programme, funded by Leicestershire Public Health.

Over recent weeks, these women have shown up for themselves with courage, curiosity and compassion. Together, we've explored what it means to listen to the wisdom of the body, understand the nervous system, build resilience, and gently expand our window of tolerance.

We've practised slowing down in a world that often asks us to keep pushing. We've explored how stress, overwhelm and life experiences can become held in the body, and how breath, movement, rest and connection can support healing.

But perhaps most importantly, we've created something that cannot be measured by attendance figures alone:

* Connection
* Community
* Understanding
* Safety
* Shared humanity

Healing doesn't happen in isolation. It happens when we feel seen, heard and supported. It happens when we learn to trust ourselves again.

As we approach our final session together next week, I'm feeling incredibly grateful for every woman who has walked through the door and for the opportunity to witness the strength, wisdom and resilience that already exists within them.

The body carries wisdom. Sometimes it simply needs the space to be heard.

18/05/2026

There’s been a lot of discussion recently around the paper by Kotler, Mannino, Fox and Friston titled “The body does not keep the score.”

As often happens online, the conversation has quickly become polarised.

Some people are interpreting this as meaning body-based approaches to trauma healing are invalid or that trauma exists “only in the brain.”

But the paper itself is far more nuanced than that.

The authors challenge the literal interpretation that trauma is physically stored somewhere in muscles or tissues waiting to be released. They describe trauma through the lens of predictive processing, nervous system patterning and embodied perception.

And honestly, I don’t think this necessarily contradicts what many experienced trauma-informed practitioners witness every day.

The brain is not separate from the body.
The nervous system is embodied.
Our physiology, hormones, breath, posture, immune responses, sensation and perception are constantly interacting with one another.

Trauma can profoundly shape how safe the world feels inside us.
How we breathe.
How we brace.
How we rest.
How we connect.
How we respond to stress, danger and relationship.

That doesn’t mean trauma is literally “stored in the body” in a simplistic sense.

But nor does it mean the body is irrelevant.

Perhaps “the body keeps the score” was always best understood as a metaphor - a compassionate way of describing how the body often continues responding long after the danger has passed.

I think newer neuroscience invites us towards more nuance, not less.

Not brain versus body.
But rather an integrated understanding of the embodied nervous system and the lived experience of trauma.

This post is intended not as medical advice but as part of an ongoing and evolving conversation around trauma, neuroscience and embodied healing.

I’d love to hear thoughtful reflections from others working in this space.

29/04/2026

We aim to create a space where you feel safe to be, just as you are. A space where nothing is expected of you. And a space which offers a kind and compassionate practice.

It's always lovely receiving feedback like this. Thank you for inviting us to deliver another 'Therapeutic Yoga to Support the Nervous System'.