Your Body Remembers What Your Mind Tries to Forget
In recent years, there’s been a quiet but important shift in how we understand trauma and emotional healing.
We’re learning, both through research and lived experience, that healing doesn’t come solely from revisiting the past through talk therapy. It comes from integrating what the body has held onto long after the mind has moved on.

Your body remembers what your mind tries to forget.
And it will continue to speak through symptoms, tension, fatigue, pain, until it’s heard.

The Mind-Body Connection in Practice
At Discover Balance, I often work with clients who arrive with physical symptoms:

• Chronic constipation
• IBS
• Tension headaches
• Sleep disturbances
• Body-based anxiety

Many of these individuals have already seen specialists. They’ve done tests. They’ve tried medication or lifestyle changes. And still, something doesn’t shift.
That’s because the root of the issue isn’t purely physical.
It lies in the nervous system in subconscious emotional patterns shaped by earlier life experiences, many of which have been suppressed or unprocessed.

Why Hypnotherapy and Somatic Work?
Hypnotherapy is more than just relaxation. It’s a tool for reaching the subconscious, where old patterns and beliefs are stored. But more importantly, it can also be used in connection with the body.
Rather than endlessly revisiting the trauma itself, we help the client:

• Create a sense of internal safety
• Reconnect with parts of the body that have been ignored or “shut down”
• Gently rewire how they relate to stress, emotion, and self-care

This is often referred to as working both top-down (cognitive/emotional) and bottom-up (somatic/body-based).

What This Might Look Like
In session, this work can be surprisingly simple but deeply impactful.
Here are three common tools I use with clients:

1. Improving sleep and nervous system regulation
   Through guided visualisations, we calm the body enough to restore rest often one of the first foundations for healing.
2. Recognising triggers in a relaxed state
   We introduce moments of awareness noticing where tension arises, while the client is in a safe, calm space so they can respond rather than react.
3. Making one small, integrated change
   Through subtle suggestion, we encourage shifts in behaviour: taking a walk before breakfast, placing a hand on the heart when overwhelmed, allowing rest without guilt.

Over time, these micro-adjustments create new neural pathways.
And healing begins.

A Real-Life Example
One client I worked with had battled severe constipation for years. She was frustrated, physically uncomfortable, and feeling hopeless.
But through our sessions, she began to uncover emotional events from her early life, times when it wasn’t safe to speak up or assert her needs. Her body had held that pattern of contraction for decades.
As she reconnected with herself through hypnotherapy, something changed.
The tension softened. The symptoms improved. And most importantly, she no longer felt at war with her body.
The Takeaway?
​
You don’t need to relive your trauma to heal it.
You need to feel safe enough to listen to your body and respond with care.
When the mind and body are brought back into connection, change happens.
And it lasts.

Overcoming Self-Doubt and Quieting the Inner Critic
Most of us know that nagging internal voice, the one that whispers (or shouts), "You're going to mess this up."
That voice isn't just annoying. It's exhausting. And for many, it's deeply ingrained.
So where does it come from? And more importantly, how do we stop it?

The Primitive Brain and the Modern Mind
When we are operating from the “primitive brain” - the part wired for threat and survival - we tend to suffer. Anxiety, depression, and anger are common emotional symptoms.
But the toll is physical too, and could include:

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Hypervigilance
• Rumination
• Sleep disruption
• Repetitive negative behaviours
• Feelings of low self-worth

 
We evolved to belong. Thousands of years ago, being accepted by our tribe was key to survival. That meant staying alert to social threats, like shame, rejection, or exclusion.
Fast-forward to today, and those same patterns are often triggered by far less dangerous but equally stressful circumstances: exams, work pressure, or even a single piece of feedback.

Case Insight: Client F and the Fear of Failing (Again)
One of my clients, let’s call him Client F , came to me terrified of failing an important exam. Again.
He was competent. Capable. Intelligent.
But his mind kept looping: "What if I fail?"
He couldn’t shake the fear or silence the inner critic, even though deep down he knew he could do the job.
This is what rumination looks like in action.

According to the American Psychological Association, rumination is “obsessional thinking involving excessive, repetitive thoughts or themes that interfere with other forms of mental activity.”
It can:

• Prolong and intensify depression
• Worsen anxiety
• Disrupt sleep
• Fuel chronic stress and inflammation
• Lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms like impulsive behaviour or substance use

 
Breaking the Habit: What Actually Helps
Overcoming self-doubt isn't about pretending the thoughts aren't there. It’s about changing your relationship with them. Here are a few strategies I often share in practice:

1. Journaling as a Pattern Interrupter
Writing things down externalises the inner critic.
Notice the trigger. Write it out. No filter.
The act of journaling alone has been shown to reduce emotional intensity and help with problem-solving.

2. Bring in Gentle Humour
Another client, M, found that when she brought humour into her negative thoughts, naming them, even playfully mocking them, it gave her space to choose a different response.
The more she practiced, the more empowered she felt.
It’s not about dismissing your feelings; it’s about disarming the fear with gentleness.

3. Re-Parenting the Inner Voice
One client struggling with severe anxiety began visualising himself as a child when the negative self-talk flared.
Instead of berating himself, he’d imagine stroking that child’s hair, offering reassurance:
“You’re safe. I’m here. You don’t have to carry this alone.”
This practice created a powerful emotional shift and built new neural patterns rooted in compassion rather than fear.

Why It Works: Neuroplasticity and Hope
The beauty of the brain is that it can change. Thanks to neuroplasticity, we now know that with repetition and intention, we can rewire thought patterns, unlearn limiting beliefs, and reframe how we relate to ourselves.
Self-doubt doesn’t have to be your story.
With curiosity, compassion, and conscious tools, we can move toward a new narrative,  one where the voice inside supports us, rather than stops us.

If you’ve been feeling stuck in cycles of overthinking, low confidence, or anxiety, know this: your thoughts are not the enemy. But they do need your attention - and your kindness.
Want more tools? Contact [email protected] for free visualisations, audio sessions, and resources that support the journey back to self-trust.