YogaSoma

No yoga today. I’ve had a cough since my trip away and it will be a very annoying backdrop during restorative yoga. Was really looking forward to seeing you all.
Apologies for this

I had planned a winter restorative class today but it’s way to wintery out there to venture out so will postpone until next week. Hope everyone is safe and getting through the wild storm today ❤️

As we move into winter, there’s a quiet invitation to slow down.
Nature begins to draw inward, the days shorten, and our bodies often ask for something different too — more rest, warmth, stillness, and restoration.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is linked to the Kidney and Bladder meridians — connected with our deepest reserves of energy, nourishment, resilience, and rest. It’s considered a season for conserving rather than pushing, listening rather than striving.

Many years ago I studied Shiatsu, a traditional Japanese bodywork system deeply connected to these same meridian pathways and Eastern medicine principles. One of the things I loved most was the understanding that wellbeing isn’t only about fixing symptoms — it’s about living in harmony with the season you are in.

Winter practices might look like:
✨ restorative yoga
✨ slower mornings
✨ warming foods and soups
✨ earlier nights
✨ gentle stretching and breathwork
✨ heat packs, baths, and self-massage along the meridian lines
✨ saying no a little more often

This season can teach us that rest is not laziness — it’s medicine.

At YogaSoma over winter we’ll be continuing with our softer practices, nervous system care, grounding, and creating space to replenish rather than deplete.

Your body does not need to bloom in every season. 🌙

Next class Sunday 31st may 4pm

We are delighted we have
Remedial Massage Therapist Rebecca Rose from Be Harmony Remedial Massage offering sessions on Tuesdays at Southwest Trauma Therapy. Rebecca also offers-
Relaxation Massage
Prenatal Massage
Aromatherapy
Crystals and Sound Healing
With over 12 years of experience
Bec’s aim is to relieve you of those stubborn aches and pains whilst bringing balance and harmony to your body mind and soul.
Available Tuesday
0406100384

🌿 Yoga, the Nervous System & the Path to Healing — Why Your Body Holds the Key
Southwest Trauma TherapyYogaSoma@yo
So many of us come to yoga seeking flexibility, strength, or a moment of calm in a busy week. And those things are real and valuable. But what if yoga offered something far deeper — a direct pathway into your nervous system, your trauma history, and your capacity to feel safe in your own body?
This is what I want to talk about today.

Your Nervous System is Always Listening.
Before we can understand how yoga heals, we need to understand a little about how the nervous system works.
Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is constantly scanning the environment — not through your conscious mind, but through your body. This process, called neuroception (a term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges), is happening beneath your awareness, 24/7. It's asking: Am I safe? Am I connected? Do I need to fight, flee, or shut down?
For those who have experienced trauma — whether single-event trauma, complex developmental trauma, or the slow accumulation of chronic stress — this system can become stuck in states of survival. The nervous system doesn't distinguish between past and present. It responds to echoes of old threats as if they are happening right now.
This is not a character flaw. This is biology. And it is deeply, profoundly healable.

The Three States We Move Between
Drawing on Polyvagal Theory, we understand that our nervous system operates in three primary states:
🟢 Ventral Vagal — Safe & Social
This is the state of connection, curiosity, creativity, and calm. When we're here, we can think clearly, relate warmly, and feel genuinely present. This is our natural home.
🟡 Sympathetic — Fight or Flight
Activated when we sense threat, this state brings anxiety, hypervigilance, restlessness, anger, and an overactive mind. For many trauma survivors, this feels like the default setting.
🔴 Dorsal Vagal — Freeze & Collapse
When a threat feels overwhelming and escape seems impossible, the nervous system may collapse into shutdown: numbness, disconnection, fatigue, depression, and a feeling of not really being here.
Most of us oscillate between these states without realising it — and without the tools to return home.

Where Yoga Comes In
This is where a trauma-informed, somatically-aware yoga practice becomes extraordinary medicine.
Yoga — when taught with an understanding of the nervous system — is not about performing postures. It is about:
🌬️ Breath regulation — the breath is one of the only conscious entry points into the autonomic nervous system. Slow, extended exhales activate the ventral vagal state. We literally breathe ourselves toward safety.
🤲 Interoception — the ability to sense what is happening inside your body. Trauma often disconnects us from inner sensation (sometimes for good reason — it was too much). Gentle, mindful movement rebuilds this bridge.
🧘 Titration — moving slowly, in small doses, toward sensation rather than pushing through. This is the opposite of the "no pain, no gain" approach. We work at the edge of the window of tolerance, not beyond it.
💫 Co-regulation — the nervous system regulates in relationship. A safe, attuned therapeutic space — even in a yoga context — allows the body to borrow a sense of calm from the environment and the facilitator.
🌊 Pendulation — moving gently between activation and settling, teaching the nervous system that it is safe to feel, and safe to return to calm.
These are also the core principles of Somatic Experiencing — a body-based approach to trauma healing Ann has trained in which was developed by Dr. Peter Levine —
In Ann’s classes and workshops you might be invited to:

Notice the sensation of your feet on the floor before anything else
Pause mid-posture and ask: What am I feeling right now? Where do I feel it?
Rest in a posture longer than feels "productive" — and notice what arises.
Use movement to complete survival responses that were interrupted during overwhelming experiences
Track the natural rhythms of tension and release in the body
Experience the profound medicine of doing nothing — restorative postures that give the nervous system permission to land

This is slow work. It is subtle work. And it is some of the most transformative work a body can do.

An Exciting Announcement 🌿
I am so pleased to share that from June, I will be seeing clients one-on-one through South West Trauma Therapy in Bunbury.
As a somatic experiencing practitioner, psychotherapist, and trauma therapist, I work at the intersection of body-based healing, nervous system regulation, and evidence-informed trauma therapy. My approach integrates somatic experiencing, trauma-informed yoga, and psychotherapy to support you in moving from survival to genuine, embodied living.
Whether you are navigating complex trauma, anxiety, chronic stress, dissociation, or simply a deep sense of disconnection from yourself — there is a path forward. And your body already knows the way.
If this resonates with you, or someone you love, I would love to hear from you. 💛
📍 Southwest Trauma Therapy, Bunbury
📅 One-on-one sessions available from June
📩 DM me or check out our new website southwesttraumatherapy

You are not broken. You are a nervous system that learned to survive. Now it's time to learn how to live.
🌿

I will be having a break from Yoga for May but will be back for some nice restorative class in June. ❤️😍

A beautiful reflection from John O’Donohue on grief, love, and the unseen connection we continue to share with those who have passed. He reminds us that death may change form, but it does not end presence — our loved ones can remain close in ways felt through the heart. A comforting and gentle piece for anyone missing someone today 💛

The dead are not distant or absent. They are alongside us. When we lose someone to death, we lose their physical image and presence, they slip out of visible form into invisible presence. This alteration of form is the reason we cannot see the dead. But because we cannot see them does not mean that they are not there. Transfigured into eternal form, the dead cannot reverse the journey and even for one second re-enter their old form to linger with us a while. Though they cannot reappear, they continue to be near us and part of the healing of grief is the refinement of our hearts whereby we come to sense their loving nearness. When we ourselves enter the eternal world and come to see our lives on earth in full view, we may be surprised at the immense assistance and support with which our departed loved ones have accompanied every moment of our lives. In their new, transfigured presence their compassion, understanding and love take on a divine depth, enabling them to become secret angels guiding and sheltering the unfolding of our destiny.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (US) / Divine Beauty (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Fanore, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

Apologies but no yoga today.