Jo's Somatic Trauma Informed Life Coaching

05/06/2026

It's that time again #54321 - where do the weeks go?
Carrie Bower Colette Morgan Viran Wiltshire KPM Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, CF Penny Wilby Cindy Gilmore Samantha Billingham Sam Beckinsale Maya Badham and anyone else following

Success
Time away with Hubby in Cotswolds for a few days; we were able to walk to get an evening meal from a variety of different eateries. It was really nice to be able to slow down and choose where we ate each night. As I have struggled with anxiety for a very long time, doing something like this has pushed me out of my comfort zone, as I like to have a plan and order, not a spur of the moment type of person.

Hurdle
Travelling to our destination for a few days away on Monday, we were on the outskirts of Northampton waiting to go round a roundabout that was controlled by traffic lights, when a unmarked Police car was in pursuit of another car, it went twice round the roundabout, it was like being in an episode of Police Interceptors.

Mistake
Visiting a jewellery shop whilst away for our few days – seeing a bracelet which I tried on and liked and another lady was looking at a similar one and said she liked it was very good value for £29, then whilst looking further it wasn’t £29; the writing was so small it was £219, ooopps!!!

Action
Stopping, sitting and talking with hubby about plans and how we move forward with our property etc.
Dodging rain showers and hail whilst we were on our trip away.
Booking a space at Gong and Sound Bath tomorrow.
Stopping and thinking about my plans for next week, as I am still having time off from work.

Lesson
Realising that not everywhere is as flat as Norfolk. There are hills out there. Using Google maps to direct us; we travelled via Northampton to get there but came home via Milton Keynes and Bedford (remembering all the roundabouts in Milton Keynes).

22/05/2026

Are your scales in balance?
#54321 Show and Tell for Adults - along with others such as Carrie Bower Viran Wiltshire KPM Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, CF Colette Morgan Penny Wilby Samantha Billingham and anyone else who would like to join us and share their reflections, achievements and anything else

Success
Working in my advocacy role; Clinical Supervision attended; a roast chicken cooked on Sunday; windows cleaned in companionable teamwork; hubby outside, me inside, the glass between us; washing hung out on the line in the warmth and sunshine; a bat glimpsed over the hedge at dusk, flying low above a field of barley; a singular moment, until I called hubby outside to share it.

Hurdle
A heavy week; managing risk, client expectations, and workload; all while knowing that next week is only two days and then two weeks of annual leave follows. The pre-leave compression is real; everything needing to be held, tidied, and handed over before the door closes.

Mistake
Slight overwhelm creeping in around the approaching leave; needing to speak to my Line Manager about not allocating new cases; needing to book in Case Management; and noticing; with some honesty; a little avoidance beginning to take root.

Action
Continuing to learn and grow about the different types of dementia and how they affect people; something that feels both personally meaningful and professionally alive. Challenging professionals appropriately to enable clients voices to be heard appropriately.

Lesson
Rest is not just a reward for a week well worked; it is a necessity the nervous system has been quietly requesting all along. The bat over the barley, the washing warm on the line, the glass between me and hubby as we worked in our own rhythms; these were not small things. They were the week holding me, even as I held a great deal else. Two weeks of annual leave is coming, looking forward to allowing by nervous system to just be where it needs to be.

19/05/2026

What regulation actually looks like

Self-care is not always a candle and a bath.

Sometimes it looks like that; and sometimes your nervous system needs something entirely different.

Real regulation is not about switching off. It's about helping your body feel safe enough to come back to itself.

It might look like:
Sitting with your feet flat on the floor; feeling the ground hold you.
Slowing your exhale; just a little longer than your inhale.
Noticing one thing your body is touching right now.
Letting someone's calm presence settle into your system.
Moving; shaking; stretching; because your body is asking to discharge, not rest.

None of this is complicated. But it is intentional.

It starts with learning to listen to what your nervous system is actually asking for; not what you think it should need.

That's the work we do together.

✦ Curious what your nervous system might be trying to tell you?

Book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

18/05/2026

Brainspotting Demystified

You might have heard of Brainspotting.

You might have absolutely no idea what it is.

Let me explain it simply.

Brainspotting is based on one powerful idea; where you look affects how you feel.

When we find the right eye position; your "brainspot"; we access the part of the brain where trauma, stress, and overwhelm are stored.
Not through talking.
Not through analysing.
Through the body's own intelligence.

In a session, you won't be asked to relive difficult experiences in detail.

You won't need the right words.

You just need to notice what arises; sensation, emotion, memory; and let your brain do what it's always been capable of: processing and releasing.

It's gentle.
It's deep.

It often reaches places that talking alone can't.

Brainspotting works beautifully alongside somatic coaching; helping your nervous system finally feel safe enough to let go of what it has been holding.

✦ Want to know if Brainspotting could help you?

Book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]
or by leaving a comment Brainspotting

16/05/2026

Conversations that stay with you

There are conversations that stay with you.
Not because they were long or dramatic; but because something in them landed differently.
A word.
A question.
A moment of being truly seen.

Your nervous system remembers it.
Long after the conversation ended; something shifted in the way you carry yourself.

Maybe it was a friend who said the thing you needed to hear.
A family member who reflected something back to you.
A teacher whose words you still hear years later.
A colleague who saw in you what you couldn't yet see in yourself.

Those conversations don't just live in your memory.
They live in your body.

In somatic work; we call this a resource. A moment; a felt sense; a person; that your system returns to when it needs steadying.

Who is that person for you?
What did they say that stayed?
I'd love to hear it in the comments. 🤍

And if you're ready to explore what your body has been holding onto;
I'd love to be part of that conversation too.

15/05/2026

#54321 Show and Tell for Adults - Sharing an awareness

Success
This week's success was showing up to a face-to-face event for professionals supporting Older People; not knowing who would be there, but going anyway. The reward was meeting people I had spoken to on the phone regularly and finally putting a face to a name. There is something the nervous system does when a trusted voice becomes a whole person in front of you; it settles. Connection at a different depth than a screen or a call can offer.

Hurdle
Getting there was the challenge. The event was held at a hospital; and on arrival, an accident in the grounds involving an ambulance and another vehicle had thrown the car park into chaos. A stressful, disorienting start before the day had even begun. I noticed the activation in my body; caught it, paused, and tried to resource myself before walking through the door. Small things. But they mattered.

Mistake
When we don't express our needs, we leave a gap; and expectations quietly fill it. This week brought a clear reminder of how easily that happens. Unexpressed needs don't disappear; they accumulate. They live in the body as a quiet bracing, a vigilance, a hoping that someone will simply know. They rarely do. The other person isn't failing us; they simply don't have the information. Expressing a need is vulnerable. It is also the only thing that actually works.

Action
A client needed support at the weekend; when most services are closed and the usual safety net simply isn't there. The easy option would have been to wait until Monday. Instead I contacted an agency, not knowing whether they would be able to help. They came good. The need was met. Advocacy sometimes looks like a quiet phone call on a Saturday; a refusal to let the calendar decide what matters.

Lesson
Three separate threads this week; one clear through-line. Express the need. Show up even when you don't know what you're walking into. Make the call when something matters; even when it's inconvenient, even without the usual structures around you. Values are not what we say we believe. They are what we do when no one is expecting us to do anything.

12/05/2026

It is really sad to see this resignation, especially for all the hard work that Jess Phillips MP has done raising the awareness of VAWG in parliament and wider communities, it is much needed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cglpz89265jo

07/05/2026

Conned by their carers

This is a subject which is not talked about nearly enough

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/itv-tonight-elderly-financial-abuse-37120117

As our elderly population soars, shocking evidence shows there has been a worrying increase in the number of older people being financially abused – even within their own families

06/05/2026

Anxiety is rising

Norfolk's anxiety score has risen over the last decade. It is now above the national average; above Suffolk; above most rural counties like it.

That number is you. It's your neighbour. It's the person sitting next to you who looks like they're coping just fine.

Maybe you've known for a while that something needs to change. But every time you think about reaching out; something stops you. A voice that says you're not bad enough to need help. That others have it worse. That you should be able to sort this out on your own.

That voice isn't the truth. It's a wound.

One that probably formed a long time ago; when asking for help didn't feel safe; or when your needs weren't met in the way they should have been.

Your nervous system learned to cope alone. Somatic coaching and Brainspotting help it learn something different; that support is safe; that you are safe; and that things can actually feel different.

Ready to take the first step? Book your free discovery call; link in bio.

Email: [email protected]
Website: https://jojacklin.thementalwellbeingcompany.com/

05/05/2026

You might not call it anxiety. You might just call it the way you are.

Always a little on edge. Never fully switched off. Doing fine on the outside; running on empty on the inside.

Norfolk's anxiety has been quietly rising for ten years. And one of the reasons it stays hidden is that so many people learned early on not to ask for help. Maybe your needs felt like too much. Maybe you were told to be strong. Maybe no one came when you needed them to; and so you stopped reaching out.

That isn't a character flaw, it's a core wound; which lives in your nervous system; not just your thoughts.

Somatic Trauma-Informed Coaching and Brainspotting work gently with exactly this. They help your body find the safety it may never have had. From that place; real change becomes possible.

You are allowed to need support. You are allowed to want more than just getting through.

Let's talk. Book your free discovery call;

Email: [email protected]
Website https://jojacklin.thementalwellbeingcompany.com/