If there is one thing that I’ve learned on this Wild healing journey, it’s that our minds and bodies are much more flexible than we think. Years ago, I started looking into the work of Dr. David Spiegel, an amazing psychiatrist at Stanford who is basically the modern godfather of clinical hypnosis. For those of you who think hypnosis is just a stage trick to make you cluck like a chicken, think again. Dr. Spiegel’s research scientifically proved exactly what I had been feeling in my own body. His work shows that going into a deep, focused state helps us get past our usual walls and actually change how our bodies hold onto trauma. It felt so good to see real science back up the healing I was already doing.
Breathwork has always been my anchor. I’m very spiritual, and I remember one specific night, long ago in the quiet of my own home, when I essentially hypnotized myself. I was deep into my breathing practice. I felt the usual tight, nervous energy humming in my arms and legs, but this time, something shifted. I saw that beautiful, comforting white light I always look for, and clear messages started coming through. It was a perfect mix of Dr. Spiegel’s science and my own spiritual connection—a moment where my body finally felt safe enough to drop its guard.
But there is one absolute rule when you do this work, and both Dr. Spiegel and my own body agree on it: you cannot rush the release. That night, I felt lifetimes of stress coiled up inside me—honestly, I was carrying more emotional baggage than a delayed flight out of Miami—but I knew I had to let it go little by little. Dr. Spiegel explains that you have to face trauma in small, manageable pieces so you don’t “flood” or overwhelm your system. If you try to force all that pent-up energy out at once, your nervous system will panic and shut down. Instead, you have to let it leak out slowly. With every single breath you take, a tiny valve opens, letting the pressure out safely.
So, to my readers and my beautiful clients, I want you to know exactly what this kind of release actually looks like. It is rarely just a peaceful, quiet meditation where you float on a cloud. When your body finally lets go of the pain it has been hoarding, the reaction is very real and very physical. That night, as I let the energy leak out, I experienced a flood of tears, a sudden flash of raw anger, and my muscles actually started shaking on their own. I felt all of it, and let me tell you, the release was incredibly powerful. We spend so much of our lives trying to keep it all together, but there is real magic in finally permitting yourself to safely fall apart, breath by breath as you show compassion and come back to your authentic-self.
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