Looking fine wasn't the same as feeling fine
For years I worked in marketing in Hong Kong. Everything looked good on the outside, yet inside I was anxious. I wasn't sleeping well, and my gut was always uncomfortable. Underneath all of it was a feeling that something was off, a sense of impending doom that just wouldn't go away.
Looking back, it was burnout. It was the quiet kind, the kind you can keep functioning through for years while everything looks fine from the outside. I understand now that this is what happens with nervous system burnout and stored, unprocessed trauma in the body - when the system stays on alert for so long it forgets how to come off it.
I tried everything (Bali included)
I went the regular medical route, and nothing wrong or obvious showed up. I tried different diets, a lot of supplements, different kinds of support, and I was already an avid meditator. Some of it helped, but something underneath stayed the same. At one point I thought a change of scene would do it, so I left HK and moved to Bali. My body came with me. I was still wired, still not sleeping, and the digestive issues followed me there too.
What finally shifted
Something finally shifted when I started working with the body. Through craniosacral therapy and Somatic Experiencing®, I began to understand how trauma can be stored in the nervous system - and that the missing piece had been moving my focus from just the cognitive into the body. Slowly I felt better: my physical systems eased, and my sense of the good in my life started to have colour and depth. Finally, I felt that I was healing. That's when I decided to switch careers and retrain, so I could offer this to others.
