Held™ Where Healing Happens

Held™Niamh O'Shea

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In a world that runs on urgency, productivity, and constant stimulation, slowing down can feel unnatural — even unsafe. But for those carrying trauma in the body, stillness is not just restful. It is essential. True healing does not happen when the body is braced or the mind is racing. It begins only when we enter a different state of being — one where the nervous system shifts out of defence and into repair.

This shift is not about willpower or mental effort. It’s a biological process, rooted in the rhythms of the brain and the intelligence of the body. Understanding how and why this works is key to unlocking deep, lasting healing.

The Body Can’t Heal in High Alert

To survive trauma — whether it’s a single overwhelming event or years of chronic stress — the body develops patterns of protection. These patterns are not just psychological; they are physiological, involving changes in muscle tone, breath patterns, blood flow, and brain activity. Over time, the nervous system can become stuck in a chronic state of hypervigilance. This is what we often refer to as being “stuck in fight-or-flight.”

In this state, the sympathetic nervous system dominates. Heart rate increases, digestion slows, muscles tighten, and breath becomes shallow. The brain shifts into high-frequency states known as beta and gamma waves. These brainwave patterns are designed for quick thinking, scanning for danger, and solving problems. They are incredibly useful in a crisis — but they are not the conditions under which healing can occur.

When we are in a constant state of analysis, control, or defence, the body does not feel safe enough to release what it has been holding. The deeper systems responsible for processing trauma — the subconscious mind, the emotional brain, and the body's own innate intelligence — are essentially blocked. In this state, trauma remains stuck in the tissues, and symptoms such as chronic tension, anxiety, emotional numbness, dissociation, and fatigue persist.

Brainwave States and Consciousness

To understand this more clearly, it helps to look at the brain’s different wave states. The brain is an electrical organ, and different mental states are associated with different frequencies of electrical activity. These frequencies, known as brainwaves, can be measured in hertz (Hz).

• Gamma waves (32–100 Hz) are associated with high-level cognitive processing and heightened alertness. They are common during intense focus or stress and are often elevated in people with trauma-related hypervigilance.

• Beta waves (13–32 Hz) dominate during normal waking consciousness. This is the state of logical thinking, problem-solving, and mental effort. It is also the default for many of us living in modern, fast-paced environments.

• Alpha waves (8–13 Hz) appear when we begin to relax. They are associated with calm, meditative awareness and the transition into rest. In alpha, we are still awake but more present, less analytical, and more receptive.

• Theta waves (4–8 Hz) arise in deeper states of relaxation and during dreaming. Theta allows access to the subconscious, to memory stored in images, symbols, and sensations. It is also the state most associated with trauma release, deep insight, and emotional processing.

• Delta waves (0.5–4 Hz) occur in deep, dreamless sleep, where the body undergoes the most cellular regeneration and repair.

To heal trauma that lives in the body and subconscious, we must shift into alpha and theta states. These slower rhythms allow access to implicit memory — the kind of memory that isn’t stored in words, but in sensations, images, and somatic patterns.

This is why talking about trauma may help us understand our past, but often doesn’t lead to deep release. The parts of the brain that talk and the parts that store trauma are not the same.

Shifting States Through the Nervous System

This shift in brainwave activity is closely tied to the function of the autonomic nervous system, which governs our basic survival and regulation responses. The autonomic nervous system has two main branches:

• The sympathetic branch, responsible for fight, flight, or freeze responses.

• The parasympathetic branch, responsible for rest, digestion, repair, and healing.

When we are in sympathetic dominance — rushing, thinking, bracing — our biology is oriented toward protection. To access healing, we must activate the parasympathetic nervous system, especially through the vagus nerve, which plays a central role in regulating heart rate, breath, digestion, and emotional expression.

Breath is one of the most effective gateways into this shift. Long, slow exhales activate the parasympathetic response. When we breathe slowly and fully, we send a direct signal to the body that we are safe enough to relax. This alone can begin to change brainwave patterns and support a shift from high-frequency states (beta/gamma) into alpha and eventually theta.

The Role of Presence, Pace, and Safety

To support this physiological shift, everything in our environment and interpersonal interaction matters. The tone of voice, the rhythm of speech, the quality of our presence — all of these elements send signals to the nervous system about whether it is safe to settle, or whether it should stay on guard.

When working with others in somatic healing, we begin by slowing ourselves first. We speak gently, allow pauses, and use simple, grounding language. We don’t push for answers or analysis. Instead, we invite curiosity and attunement to felt experience. Even a soft suggestion like, “Let’s take a breath and just feel what’s here,” can begin to shift someone’s state. There is no expectation to perform or explain — only an invitation to notice. To gently inhabit the body without judgement.

This is especially important because, for many, stillness itself can feel unsafe. When someone has lived in a state of high alert or chronic tension, slowing down may initially bring discomfort or anxiety. That edge must be approached with care, respecting the body’s natural pacing. Slowness is introduced as a choice — never as a demand.

Why This Matters for Trauma Release

Trauma is not held in the thinking mind. It is held in the body, in the subconscious, and in the nervous system. When we create the right conditions — slower brainwaves, parasympathetic activation, and a felt sense of safety — the body begins to do what it already knows how to do: release, repair, and reorganise.

In these states, people often begin to experience sensations they hadn’t noticed before — warmth, tingling, shaking, images, or emotions that arise seemingly out of nowhere. This is not random. It is the body finally speaking, in a language older than words.

This is why somatic healing must begin not with analysis, but with attunement to state. Before we can explore what has been held, we must help the system slow down enough to feel.

Slowness is Not Laziness — It’s Intelligence

In a culture that worships speed and mental effort, choosing to slow down can feel countercultural. But slowness is not passivity. It is a deep intelligence — one that honours the body’s timing and trusts in its wisdom. When we move more slowly, we can listen more fully. We can notice the nuances. We can meet what has been waiting — not with force, but with presence.

The nervous system cannot be forced into safety. It must be shown. And that begins with the simplest but most powerful shift of all: slowing down.

This is the foundation of Held™ — a gentle, 7-day somatic journey designed to help you reconnect with your body, settle your nervous system, and begin softening what’s been stored. Through daily guidance, breath, and presence, it invites you back to a slower rhythm — one where healing can finally begin.

You can explore Held™ here — or simply begin by pausing. Breathing. Noticing what’s here, right now.