Breath Awakening: Healing The Wounds That Hold You Back
You leaned in. You breathed through discomfort. You showed up to meet the parts of yourself that many people spend lifetimes avoiding.
We want to honor you for that.
In a world that often teaches us to push through, numb out, or keep performing, it takes real courage to pause and listen. To your body. To your breath. To the stories stored in your nervous system.
This journey wasn’t just about breathwork.
It was about healing the deeper wounds that hold you back—through understanding, through awareness, and through reconnection with your own nervous system.
Why You Feel What You Feel
If you’ve ever wondered why you react so quickly… shut down… feel disconnected…
It’s not because you’re broken.
It’s because you’ve adapted brilliantly to what life threw at you.
What shows up as anxiety, overthinking, numbness, chronic tension, or emotional disconnection - these are not the problems.
They are symptoms. Signals from your nervous system that something deeper needs attention.
Understanding the Language of Your Nervous System
Most of us were never taught how the nervous system works - or how it stores the emotional residue of what we’ve lived through (and inherited).
But thanks to Polyvagal Theory (developed by Dr. Stephen Porges), we now know more than ever before about how your body remembers and responds to life.
Think of your nervous system as a ladder - with three states:
🦎 Bottom Rung - Freeze (Dorsal Vagal):
Shutdown, numbness, depression, dissociation. This is your system trying to conserve energy when life feels overwhelming.
🐕🦺 Middle Rung - Fight or Flight (Sympathetic):
Hyper-alert, anxious, restless, irritable, or defensive. This state readies you to protect yourself or flee danger.
👶 Top Rung - Safe & Social (Ventral Vagal):
Calm, open, connected, engaged. This is the state where healing, creativity, and joy live.
Each state evolved at a different point in our biological history - but they all serve a purpose.
The goal isn’t to live at the top of the ladder all the time.
The goal is awareness, flexibility, and choice.
With breath as your guide, you can begin to recognize what state you’re in - and choose how you respond instead of unconsciously reacting.
Our Personal Reflections
Luke: For me, my wounded state often showed up as fight - quick defensiveness, a need to be right, a “yes, but…” pattern. My healing came from learning to recognize this state before it takes over. Taking some time out from the stressor, regulating myself with my breath and music to reconnect with safety and presence.
Candice: I often fall into shutdown - disconnecting when life feels too much. I’ve learned to gently activate through movement, sound, and music - coming back into connection with myself and those around me. As a hypnotherapist, I also guide others to safely revisit and release the emotional patterns held deep in the subconscious—often shaped long before we had words to express them.
What You Experienced in the Session
You moved up the ladder during our session - through sound, through movement, through breath.
From Freeze to gentle Activation with movement like Cat-Cow and heart-opening postures.
From Fight/Flight to grounding through the ocean breath with an extended exhale (recap here).
Into Ventral Vagal - connection and safety, through eye movement connecting with the environment and people around you.
Reflection Prompts for Integration
Take time with these questions. Write, voice note, walk with them. Let your breath lead.
Where do I currently live on the ladder most of the time—freeze, fight/flight, or connected?
What patterns or symptoms am I noticing in my life right now (poor sleep/mental fog/forgetfulness/lethargy etc.)?
What emotions feel most familiar or dominant in me—anxiety, numbness, sadness, anger?
What experiences in childhood might have shaped these responses?
What am I ready to let go of—stories, identities, inherited beliefs?
What does my body need to feel more safe, seen, and soothed?
Final Words
This journey is not about fixing anything.
It’s about remembering.
Remembering that you’re not broken.
That your nervous system has been doing its best to protect you.
That with awareness and breath, you can learn a new way of being—rooted in safety, flexibility, and choice.
You breathed.
You felt.
You healed.
And we are so, so grateful to have journeyed with you.
With love and breath,
Luke & Candice
COMING IN MAY: MASTER STRESS BEFORE IT MASTERS YOU
Stress doesn’t ask for permission - it hijacks your body, your focus, your relationships.
Most people manage it… until it manages them.
Next month, we’re going beyond coping.
You’ll learn how to train your nervous system to stay calm under pressure,
build unshakable resilience, and stay in control—no matter what life throws at you.
Because if you don’t master stress,
it will master you.