Wellness Starts in a Quieter Place
But our nervous system still notices everything.
Neuroscience tells us our bodies are always looking for signs of safety or danger. Things like how we breathe, our posture, how fast we move, muscle tension and our surroundings all play a part in this process. When stress lasts a long time, our nervous system can stay stuck in a state of alertness even after the stress is gone. In this state – being still might feel uncomfortable – silence can seem unsettling and even rest might not feel safe.
I know this both from my work and from my own life.
Many people are familiar with a certain kind of exhaustion. Your body feels worn out but your mind just won’ t quiet down. Even when you finally get into bed, you might grab your phone, turn on the TV, scroll for a while or start thinking about tomorrow before it even comes. Your body is tired but your nervous system stays alert.
For many people, rest has stopped feeling restful.
Our culture values being productive, always available and pushing through discomfort. We’ re surrounded by constant stimulation that keeps our bodies and minds on high alert. Over time, many of us get used to ignoring our body’ s signals just to keep going. Things like tight shoulders, jaw clenching, shallow breathing, trouble sleeping, stomach issues, racing thoughts and tense muscles start to feel normal. We get so used to stress that we often don’ t even notice it anymore.
Years ago, when I struggled with anxiety and panic, I felt very disconnected from my body. Like many others, I looked fine on the outside but was always tense and on edge inside. My mind kept searching for answers, while my body held onto stress in ways I didn’ t yet understand. Rest was hard, stillness felt strange and even my breathing showed it. My personal search for relief and balance slowly turned into something bigger. Through yoga, somatic practices, learning about the nervous system, research and years of exploring, I realized my body wasn’ t against me. It was adapting. Many symptoms I once feared weren’ t signs of failure but signs my nervous system was trying to protect me. This realization completely changed how I thought about wellness and led me to develop trauma-focused yoga. TFY is a clinical approach that brings together somatic practices, breathwork, movement and nervous system regulation in therapy. At its heart, TFY helps people reconnect with their bodies through breath, sensation, awareness and making choices. A key idea in TFY is interoceptive awareness, which means noticing and understanding the sensations inside your body. For people dealing with long-term stress or trauma, this awareness can fade or become too strong. We often learn to ignore hunger, tiredness, tension, emotions or even pain just to keep going. Somatic practices gently help us pay attention to these signals again, not by forcing
18 HEALTH & WELLNESS