05/20/2026
In my early 30s I found myself lying on a table in Brussels, seeing an osteopath for my chronic back pain.
As he worked around my surgery scar tissue, he asked me one question.
āWhat was happening in your life at the time of your back surgery?ā
Everything. It was an emotional time. My parents were separating. I was climbing the corporate ladder.
What I didnāt fully understand then was that my back had been talking to me since childhood. I was diagnosed with scoliosis young ā but I never really addressed it. Iād get spasms after cheerleading practice and just hope someone would come rub my back until it passed. My body was already keeping score. I just didnāt speak the language yet.
I started practicing yoga after that. Then marriage. Then COVID. Then divorce. Then St. Lucia in December 2020 ā where something in me finally exhaled. Yoga teacher training followed. And now here I am in 2026 with all of it integrated into the work I do every day.
Iām currently re-reading The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. The premise is simple and life changing ā trauma isnāt just a mental experience. It lives in the body. It shapes your pain, your weight, your sleep, your nervous system response. And trauma isnāt a competition. Your body doesnāt differentiate between big T and little T trauma. It responds to all of it the same way. Whatever youāve been carrying ā it counts.
Our bodies are constantly sending us signals. Gut feelings, physical symptoms, chronic pain that wonāt heal. Thatās not weakness. Thatās your body trying to protect you and communicate with you at the same time.
The question is ā are you listening?
I wasnāt. For a long time I just pushed harder. But now, I know better. And you can too.
