Andrea Lakeman-Ford

Andrea Lakeman-Ford Helping with chronic pain, IBS & exhaustion. Autistic coach - programmes adapted for neurodivergence. I have helped over 100 clients to manage anxiety naturally.
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Safety-first Release Method™️
🔈Comment ‘calm’ for free video to switch off your stress response Helping busy, high-functioning women who feel anxious, overwhelmed or stuck regulate their nervous system naturally. I teach breathwork, somatic practices and simple daily tools that help you feel calmer, clearer and more in control — without medication or mindset tricks. I have over 1,000 hours of tra

ining in breathwork & somatics and am registered with the International Coaching Federation as a coach. This is a space for women ready to stop just coping — and start truly healing.

🌿 Breath-led calm
🌿 Body-based healing

For years, she thought the answer was to ignore the pain and push throughShe had almost constant shoulder pain, IBS flar...
01/09/2026

For years, she thought the answer was to ignore the pain and push through

She had almost constant shoulder pain, IBS flare-ups and constant tension. Her body had become very good at bracing and pushing through and she ignored the early warning signs

We started by helping her notice stress earlier. Giving her nervous system simple regulation cues throughout the day. Looking at the external things continually pushing her outside her capacity and, when her body was ready, introducing gentle release work.

Nervous system work isn’t about collecting techniques.It’s about learning what your body is doing, why it’s doing it, and what it actually needs in that moment.

Four weeks later, she was no longer experiencing the weekly shoulder pain or gut issues that had become so normal to her.

She was beginning to feel connected to and safer inside her body.

That’s the work we do inside **The Release Method™**.

💬 Comment **METHOD** and I’ll send you the details of my 12-week personalised programme.

When sleep is the problem, it’s very tempting to focus entirely on **how to sleep better**.Earlier bedtime.No screens.Su...
29/08/2026

When sleep is the problem, it’s very tempting to focus entirely on **how to sleep better**.

Earlier bedtime.
No screens.
Supplements.
The perfect evening routine.

This client had been waking multiple times an hour and was completely exhausted. So we didn’t start by asking her body to do more. We started with safety.

One of the tools we introduced was incredibly simple: bringing to mind the name of someone who felt safe to her. That was it and when she noticed herself becoming agitated, she found that this tiny anchor helped her system level.

This is why I call my approach the **Safety-First Release Method™️**. Before we ask the body to release tension, change breathing patterns or process what it has been holding onto, we first build its capacity to experience safety because sometimes the smallest intervention is the one the nervous system is actually ready to receive.

Once the body begins to feel safer, other things can begin to shift too — sleep, tension, energy, brain fog and the ability to recover after stress.

If you feel like your body has been stuck in survival mode despite everything you’ve tried, comment **METHOD** below and I’ll send you details of my 12-week **Release Method™️** programme so you can see if it's right for you

28/08/2026

I’m starting to understand autistic shutdowns very differently now that I’ve recently had an autism diagnosis.

I understand what I used to call my “C3PO” moments — and how this differs from simply needing rest.

For me, shutdown can feel like my system reaches full and even basic functions start switching off.

I become quieter. Thinking gets harder. I want to withdraw. Decisions or responding to people can suddenly feel like a huge effort.

I’m learning that the answer isn’t to try harder to regulate myself. When my nervous system is already overwhelmed, turning regulation into another task is just another demand.

These are five things I use instead:

1. Reduce sensory input

Less noise. Less light. Less conversation. Less phone.

Instead of “What can I do to feel better?” I ask:

“What can I remove?”

2. Reduce demands

I don’t make myself answer messages, make decisions, explain how I’m feeling or immediately become productive again. If it can wait, it waits.

3. Use regulation my body already knows

This isn’t the time for a complicated new somatic practice. I return to familiar things that require very little from me — gentle rocking, pressure, stillness or simple breathing practices my nervous system already knows.

4. Don’t force my breathing

Big “deep breaths” aren’t always helpful when I’m overwhelmed. I let my breathing be quiet and comfortable.

5. Don’t put a time limit on feeling “normal” again

This has been a big one.

The goal isn’t to get functioning again as quickly as possible. It’s to give my nervous system the time and space it needs to recover.

Perhaps the biggest thing I’m learning is to notice what happens before shutdown — sounds bothering me more, conversation taking more effort, my left shoulder blade hurting, my thinking becoming less clear.

Those signals are information.

The more I understand my autistic nervous system, the more I’m learning that regulation isn’t about teaching my body to tolerate more and more.

Sometimes it’s about recognising when I’ve had enough — and actually listening.

I thought waking up at 3am was a sleep problem.So I tried to fix my sleep.Earlier nights.Less caffeine.Magnesium.Relaxin...
27/08/2026

I thought waking up at 3am was a sleep problem.

So I tried to fix my sleep.

Earlier nights.
Less caffeine.
Magnesium.
Relaxing evening routines.
Trying to make my bedroom “perfect”.

Sometimes they helped a little but I was missing something because my body wasn’t waking me up because it had forgotten how to sleep. It was waking me up because it hadn’t learnt how to switch off.

When your nervous system has spent months (or years) in stress mode, your body can still be running patterns of alertness even when you’re exhausted and asleep.

Comment SLEEP and I’ll send you my simple techniques to start teaching your body how to come out of stress mode 🫶

This is the kind of client result I get excited about. Not because she never feels anxious anymore but because she does ...
21/08/2026

This is the kind of client result I get excited about. Not because she never feels anxious anymore but because she does feel it and it no longer has to take over.

When several stressful things happened at once, she noticed something had changed.
Instead of catastrophising and feeling like she was going to pieces, she could feel the anxiety in her body and still handle what was in front of her.

She’s also noticing herself making different choices, becoming more aware of what her body needs and — one of my favourite observations — feeling as though **time is somehow more spacious.**

This is what I want nervous system work to give you. Not a collection of breathing exercises you have to perform forever to keep yourself calm but a nervous system that becomes more aware, adaptable and able to recover when life inevitably gets messy.

That is why my approach is so personalised.

We look at *your* patterns.
*Your* body.
*Your* responses.

If you’d like to experience my approach for yourself, comment **BODY** and I’ll send you the details for my next **Body Release Workshop**.

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Selsey
PO200UA

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Monday 8am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 12pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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