Rewiring for Relief: How We Can Build Neural Pathways to Heal Trauma (With a Little Woo and a Lot of Science)

Let’s be real for a moment.

Healing isn’t always a tidy process that looks like a serene spa day with expensive boujee water and ambient meditation music.

Sometimes, it looks like lying in bed after a big emotional shock, wired like a squirrel on espresso, trying not to spiral.

That was me recently.

One of those nights.

You know the kind — heart racing, mind spinning, body on high alert, ruminating, thinking all the what ifs! Fight-or-flight mode had checked in for the night shift. But instead of reaching for the usual distractions (doomscrolling instagram!), I gave myself a Reiki self-healing treatment.

(Brief moment of self praise because if I wasn’t actually present and somewhat mindful to some extent then I wouldn’t have found the pause to realise I had access to tools to break the spiralling thoughts! Those weekly mindfulness classes with Nicola are really paying off!)

And then something beautiful happened.

✨From Chaos to Calm

Within minutes of placing my hands on my heart and belly, I felt a gentle shift. My body — which had been holding on tight like it was bracing for impact — started to soften. My breath slowed. I soon after actually drifted off to sleep (a miracle, honestly), and stayed asleep through the night.

The next day, when those emotional aftershocks rolled back in (because healing is a wave, not a straight line), I tried something different but just as simple: a chakra visualisation.

Starting at my root chakra, I imagined the colours moving up through each energy centre, pairing each with an intuitive affirmation. I made sure my exhale was longer than my inhale — a tiny breath hack that science says helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system (aka your body’s rest-and-digest mode).

And guess what? It worked again. I felt calmer. More grounded.

And both times — this is wild — my body gave a little involuntary jolt.

A shudder.

A mini tremor like it was releasing something deep, something old. That, my friend, is what I’ve come to recognise as an energetic release — my nervous system saying, “Thanks, that too has passed!.”

✨The Science Bit (But Make It Easy)

Here’s where it gets curious: what I was doing — the Reiki, the breathing, the visualisation — it wasn’t just woo-woo fluff. It was me actively building new neural pathways.

Neuroplasticity (science’s fancy word for the brain’s ability to rewire itself) means that every time we soothe ourselves after a stress response, we’re laying down fresh tracks.

Imagine your brain as a forest, and you’re carving a new trail through the trees. The more you walk that trail — the more you return to these calming practices — the clearer and more automatic it becomes. Over time, your brain starts to say, “Oh hey, we don’t have to panic anymore. We know the way back to peace.”

Trauma, trapped emotions, unprocessed stress — they leave imprints in the body. But we can literally teach our nervous system a new dance. It just takes gentle repetition, kindness, and sometimes a little shaking (seriously — those shudders are actually part of how animals discharge trauma in the wild. It’s called neurogenic tremoring. Who knew?).

✨Tiny Tools, Big Shifts

You don’t need a PhD, a guru, or a boujee retreat to start this.

You just need presence.

A little willingness.

And maybe a reminder that your body isn’t broken — it’s brilliantly wired to heal.

You can help it along with:

• Reiki or gentle self-touch

• Breathwork (especially exhaling longer than you inhale)

• Chakra visualisation or colour meditation

• Affirmations that speak to each energy centre

• Permission to feel — and release — whatever comes up

  
  

Your nervous system wants to come back into balance. It just needs a few nudges in the right direction.

✨Final Thought: You're Not Alone (and You're Not Weird)

If you’ve ever felt an emotional wave come out of nowhere, or your body do that involuntary shudder thing — you’re not broken, dramatic, or losing it.

You’re healing.

You’re releasing.

And you’re quite possibly doing the most courageous thing a human can do: turning inward and saying, “I’ve got you.”

So next time life throws a curveball and your body responds with a big NOPE, try one of these tools. You might just find your own version of calm on the other side — no expensive boujee water required.

🌟Join Sacred Space Women’s Circle the first Sunday of each month for more wellness tools to support your own healing journey.

Sacred Space Women’s Circle