You’ve been through so much.

Life has given you more than a few hits. You’ve picked yourself up from each one of them.

You’ve worked hard to navigate life after chronic or complex trauma. While you wouldn’t choose to live these challenges again, you see where there is meaning and purpose in what you’ve been through.

You have skills to connect with your thoughts and know how to support your mind when stressful events or triggers arise.

But you feel anxious and tired most of the time.

You wake up feeling anxious most days, like there’s something you need to check on right now. Your mind is always going. You’ve been managing so much. It feels like there’s always something to do.

You know it’s important to see friends, but you don’t have the energy so you limit your social engagements. You’re too depleted to spend meaningful time with your partner. You snap about things that never used to bother you.

After taking care of your family and work, you have little left for you. You want to relax, but instead end up scrolling and feel guilty about how much time you spent. But it’s all you have the energy for.

You try to get done what you need to each day. At times, it feels like chaos. You feel completely wiped out - physically, mentally, spiritually.

You know you’re not yourself and that’s understandable, but you feel stuck in a loop of anxiety, pain, and exhaustion that you wish you could get out of.

You’ve done so much to heal, yet you feel exhausted. You wish you could take a break because then you know you could finally rest, recover, and heal. You wish you could find the missing piece to make it all fit and finally feel peace.

The missing piece is your body.

Your mind is healing, but your body remembers.

You can -

• wake up feeling refreshed after sleeping through the night.

• feel peaceful, yet energized because you know what to do to feel your best and you take time to do that guilt-free.

• have more authentic, heartfelt connections in your relationships because that is the trust you have created with your body.

I was in pain nearly every day.

I spent nearly two decades dealing with migraines. I explored options in conventional medicine only to be told my tests looked good, there was no “reason” for my symptoms, and there was nothing they could do for me. I tried even more options in complementary medicine finding my relief was minimal or short-term.

I didn’t know it then, but this pain was a result of traumatic childhood experiences that shaped the way I responded to stress. I learned to keep my thoughts, opinions, and needs to myself. I made choices that I thought would please others and limit consequences for me. As a result, this left me holding the tension of my unvoiced needs in my mind and my body.

Trauma inherently creates disconnection - from yourself, your relationships and your community. Pain shows up to get your attention. It’s here to ensure your needs are being met - especially those of feeling safe, secure, and connected.

When I developed a relationship with pain in this way, I understood it as my guide connecting me with exactly what I needed to take care of myself. I fear pain far, far less and what I do experience can be managed and often even stopped.

I believe if you want to feel whole and are willing to follow a new path to get there, you can heal, reconnect, and feel vibrant energy after trauma. Together, we’ll uncover the lost connections your symptoms are showing you, create a blueprint to respond to your needs, regain your health to thoroughly enjoy your life again.

— Kristen Stafford

Here’s The Path

 Ready to Heal, Reconnect, and Thrive after Chronic or Complex Trauma?

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