When rest feels unsafe, it is rarely about rest itself it is often about trust.

When rest feels unsafe, it is rarely about rest itself it is often about trust.

Many people who come to trauma-sensitive work describe feeling at odds with their own bodies. They want calm, but their system does not respond the way they expect it to. Stillness brings agitation. Quiet brings racing thoughts. Slowing down brings a sense of exposure.

This can be confusing and sometimes frustrating. especially in a culture that frames healing as learning to relax or let go.

But for someone whose nervous system learned early on to stay alert, rest can feel like a risk.

The body may have learned that danger arrived in quiet moments. that being vigilant was what kept things manageable. That staying ready mattered.

In this context, rest is not neutral. it is something the body does not yet trust.

This is where the idea of healing as self-improvement often falls short.  If the body experiences rest as unsafe, no amount of positive thinking or intention will override that. Pushing harder can actually deepen the sense of failure or disconnection.

Instead, trauma-sensitive practice begins elsewhere.

With choice. With consent. With rebuilding trust slowly, from the inside.

That might look like noticing when to pause and when to keep moving.  Allowing rest in moments rather than blocks of time. discovering that safety can exist alongside alertness, rather than replacing it.

This is not only true on the mat. It shows up in everyday life.

Many people with trauma histories struggle with boundaries, not because they do not understand them, but because choice itself once felt dangerous. Saying no might have carried consequences. Changing your mind might not have been allowed.  Listening to your body might not have been safe.

Over time, embodied practice offers something different, not rules or goals, but repeated experiences of agency.

You choose when to move
You choose when to stop
You choose what feels manageable today

These choices may seem small, but they matter.

They translate into real-life moments. Pausing before agreeing. Noticing tension in a conversation. recognising when something feels too much. trusting yourself enough to respond differently.

Healing, then, is not about becoming calmer or more flexible or more resilient.

It is about reclaiming authorship. learning that you are allowed to adjust. to rest when it feels supportive. To stay alert when that feels safer. To change your mind.

When rest becomes a choice rather than an expectation, trust begins to grow. and from that place, the body often finds its own rhythm again.

f this way of working feels aligned for you, you are welcome to reach out. There is no pressure and no right pace. Just an open invitation to explore what safety and choice might look like for you, here and now.

Further reading: RESEARCH INTO THE EFFICACY OF TRAUMA SENSITIVE YOGA