Trauma impedes the ability to be with the reality as it is and that becomes the source of suffering.

This is the intersection of most of the work I do and the modalities I practice and offer to clients. There are some wounds that never show up on the body but that can hurt more than anything that bleeds. The release of trauma, in my opinion, needs to be the fundamental focus of attention to heal the human being from the deepest level of the brain, body and psyche in order to recalibrate the system into more harmonious integration. Whilst I support the benefits of talk therapy, for people who have been traumatised, insight and understanding that come from this just isn’t enough.

As someone who has worked through resolution of my own trauma, I am an advocate for somatic release that can discharge mild to moderate trauma directly from the cellular structure of the body without the risk of re-traumatising through an attachment to a particular narrative. Somatic tools can calm the central nervous system (CNS) so that it doesn’t keep jumping into the driving seat and guiding your whole life. Whilst working with symptoms can bring relief, longterm resolution comes only through going deeper into the system and somatically discharging the repressed and trapped trauma. Within all of us is the freedom to rise to a higher state of being.

Thank you for your healing of me, I can finally sleep through the night without pain!

Gavin Hudson

We carry our lives with us in our bodies and our minds. Accumulations of life stresses–physical injuries, emotional and psychological stresses, birth traumas, and toxicity–can become imprinted in the brain and in the tissues of the body, acting like a videotape that is replayed whenever stimulated. Unaddressed stress can result in lowered immune function and, therefore, a greater likelihood of getting sick. This surface-level symptomatology that can be resolved through interventions such as supplements and nutrition that support the healing of the body, relief of the symptoms, and a stronger immune function going forward. Trauma is what happens in the body as a response to certain conditions–either once off or repeatedly (as in cPTSD)–that you haven’t had the opportunity to process and, therefore, get pushed down into the cellular level of the body. When healthy responses are overridden with complex trauma or injuries, the brain learns to compensate and adapts to less healthy responses that the psyche teaches it through its new response patterns based on dysfunction and dysregulation.

The conditioned response can be reprogrammed with access to an equal measure of conscious resourcing. Through a combination of trauma release (shaking), water and nature therapies, meditation, chanting, asanas, and light touch therapy, we can co-create a safe holding space that gives your system permission to let go. This isn’t about fixing anything; it’s about finding a new set point from which you can operate more effectively without feeling under threat.

Transition:
The death of my mother was the beginning of many deaths and rebirths . Penelope’s timely intervention at that difficult time of transition was life changing.I initially thought CST would help with the grieving process, then I realized that so much more was shifting. Penelope has a deeply intuitive, gentle approach, and her strength in holding one’s vulnerabilities in this process of going deep into the body and psyche is quite phenomenal. Her insight and practical wisdom from lived experience offers guidance to deal with what comes up. The treatment journey opened me up to hearing, seeing, feeling and finding my way again. I am deeply grateful.

Jane Appleby

The psoas muscle (in the impression above in red) is the only muscle that attaches the spine to the legs and, as such, is critically important in the physical body’s instinctual nature to kick (fight) or run (flight). But part of the sympathetic nervous system response to threat is also to freeze and this also has a direct effect on the psoas muscle as it traps the stress right in the centre of the body. The more tension that gets stored in the psoas, the more physical pain emotional blockages, mental fatigue and breathing issues become apparent. Because of the huge impact this muscle has on all the chakra bodies, it has become known at the seat of the soul and because of its deep-seated position in the body, the only way to release it is through specific modalities. The modalities I use help discharge the trauma from your body, to release stress immediately and/or free the body and mind from the imprinted patterns that have built up over time.

Adjacent to the Hippocampus is a small almond-shaped structure in the centre of the brain called the Amygdala. The Hippocampus is associated with memory formation and the Amygdala is responsible for the processing and storage of emotional memory. When your brain is in a constant stress mode, there is a cascade effect through the body which, through conditioning has been taught to keep still, hold things in, be pragmatic, don’t get emotional, and stoically continue as before. Beyond any memories of actual events, traumas or illnesses, this behaviour sends the message to the brain that this is normal and prevents the brain from resetting. The Amygdala is now primed for an incongruous response and the body is in a state of fight or flight … trapped in an unconscious pattern ready to play out inappropriately and perfectly placed for disorders such as anxiety, depression and addiction.

Health may feel comfortable but healing often does not. When anything breaks, heat is generated. This is the premise of illness, change, breakdowns and breakthroughs. When anything breaks, trembling is generated. This is the premise of shaking medicine. The pulling apart of opposites creates the tension required for a third possibility to arise. Within all dualities lies the breaking apart as a pathway to find wholeness. In healing, energies may shift and course through your being in ways that make you feel unfamiliar in your own body. Allow it all to happen–the pains, sweats, shakes are there as messengers to remind you that you have the courage and capacity to heal. We sometimes have to open to complete annihilation before we can break to heal.

When the subconscious mind heals, it allows the nervous system to relax, and when the nervous system is relaxed there are less erratic signals, and when there are less erratic signals, the endocrine system doesn’t need to be in a state of fight or flight. Therefore less cortisol and adrenaline; less inflammation and disease. We work from the inside out. This new set point brings you into a better resourced state of being that isn’t necessary free from anything yet now equipped to hold the process with love, patience and presence.