When the Body Remembers what the Mind Tries to Forget

The Day Everything Changed

At 18, I was working through a period where I felt constantly “off.” I kept showing up to work, pushing through the fatigue and discomfort, because I believed taking a day off was shameful - a sign of weakness.

That was the narrative I’d internalized. But my employer saw what I couldn’t admit. She sent me across the road to the medical centre, concerned by how swollen my glands were - my face had practically merged into my shoulders.

The doctor took one look and ordered a blood test. I was met by a young trainee at pathology, visibly nervous. The supervising nurse walked off, leaving her to try and find a vein.

She poked around repeatedly, unable to get one. Panic set in. When the senior nurse returned, she scolded the trainee for trying too many times. I insisted on staying - I knew once I got home, I wouldn’t come back. Eventually, they found a vein. I smiled through it, saying, “Everyone has to learn.” But as I stood up, I collapsed onto the floor. I had fainted, out cold.

The Lingering Impact

For the next 15 years, I fainted every time I had a blood test. Not because I was scared. Not because it hurt. I would explain to every nurse, “I’m not afraid. I know it doesn’t hurt. But I always faint.”

One day, a nurse asked if I’d ever had a traumatic experience with blood tests. I told her about that day - about the glandular fever, the trainee, the poking, the panic. She nodded and said,

“That would be why. Even if your mind is okay with it, your body remembers.”

That moment was a revelation and really connected the dots for me on other, more deeply stressful or traumatic events in my life and why I acted the way I did in certain situations (even when my brain was telling me I was safe and ok).

Why the Body Keeps the Score

We often think healing is purely cognitive - that if we understand something, we can move past it. But trauma doesn’t live only in the mind. It lives in the body. My fainting wasn’t a conscious fear response. It was my nervous system reacting to a memory it had stored, a protective mechanism triggered by a past experience.

This is why talk therapy, while powerful, isn’t always enough. You can’t always think your way to healing, weight loss, or reaching a goal. The body keeps the score. It holds onto stress, trauma, and emotional pain in ways that bypass logic. Healing often requires a bottom-up approach - working with the body through somatic practices, movement, breathwork, and nervous system regulation.

Your body is not betraying you. It’s trying to protect you. And sometimes, the path to healing begins not with changing your thoughts, but with listening to what your body has been trying to say all along.

Discover our Upcoming Mind Body Healing Events HERE

The Yoga Class Ugly Cry Release

I didn’t fully grasp how much the body holds until one Sunday morning in a yoga class - long before I became a teacher myself. I had thrown myself into yoga after a boating accident left me with a torn medial ligament and aggravated two bulging discs in my back.

Nine months of physio and reformer Pilates helped marginally, but the pain lingered. My knee still barely bent past 30 degrees and I knew I had to try something new.

The new become throwing myself into every yoga class I could manage. Previous to this I thought yoga was boring, it agitated me (because I was stuck in flight and survival mode for years).

Anyways that day, in a gym studio, we ended class in frog pose - lying face down, knees wide apart. As I settled in, a sudden wave of heat surged through my body, followed by an overwhelming flood of emotion. I started sobbing uncontrollably.

The teacher gently placed a hand on my back and asked, “You okay?” I gave him a thumbs up through the tears. He simply said,

“Just let it keep going. Your hips hold trauma. It’s time to let it go.”

I left that class stunned, wondering what had just happened. But deep down, I knew: something had shifted. My body had spoken in a language I hadn’t yet learned to understand.

Discovering the Science Behind It

When I went on to study trauma-informed yoga, trauma-informed coaching, and somatic healing, I was introduced to the work of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. His groundbreaking book, The Body Keeps the Score, helped me understand what I had intuitively felt for years: trauma isn’t just a story we tell ourselves - it’s something our bodies carry.

Van der Kolk explains how traumatic experiences can reshape both the brain and the body, affecting everything from our stress responses to our ability to feel safe and connected. He emphasizes that healing must involve the body, not just the mind. Practices like yoga, breathwork, EMDR, and other somatic therapies can help release stored trauma and restore a sense of regulation and safety.

For anyone new to this understanding, his work offers a compassionate and science-backed lens into why we feel the way we do - and how we can begin to truly heal.

The Power of Transformational Breathwork

One of the most profound tools I’ve encountered - and now teach - is transformational breathwork. Breath is one of the few bodily functions that is both automatic and under our control, making it a powerful bridge between the conscious and subconscious. When practiced intentionally, breathwork can help regulate the nervous system, release stored emotional energy, and create space for deep healing.

Trauma often disrupts our natural breathing patterns. We hold our breath, breathe shallowly, or unconsciously brace ourselves against perceived threats. Breathwork helps us reconnect with our bodies in a safe and supported way, allowing suppressed emotions and memories to surface and be released - without needing to relive the trauma cognitively. It’s a bottom-up approach that empowers the body to do what it innately knows how to do: heal.

Somatic Healing: Listening to the Body’s Wisdom

Somatic healing is based on the understanding that the body holds onto experiences - especially those that were overwhelming or unresolved. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which focuses on processing through language and thought, somatic practices invite us to tune into physical sensations, movement, and the felt sense of the body.

Through modalities like trauma-informed yoga, bodywork, grounding exercises, and nervous system regulation techniques, somatic healing helps us build awareness and safety in the body. It teaches us to notice where we hold tension, where we feel numb, and where we need support. Over time, this awareness allows us to gently release what’s been stored and create new patterns of resilience and connection.

Ready to Begin Your Healing Journey?

If any part of this story resonated with you - if you’ve ever felt like your body was reacting in ways your mind couldn’t explain - I invite you to explore the healing power of breath and body-based practices. Whether you’re curious about attending one of my transformational breathwork events, want to experience somatic healing in a group setting, or feel called to work 1:1 with me, there’s a space for you here. Your body holds wisdom - and together, we can help it feel safe enough to let go.

Discover our Upcoming Mind Body Healing Events HERE

Much love and bodily wisdom

Larissa xx