Our Core Services
Supporting Trauma Recovery & Wellbeing in the East Midlands
At How We Heal CIC, our services are designed to help people recover from trauma, regulate their nervous systems, and reconnect with themselves and their communities. We deliver body-based practices such as trauma-informed yoga and somatics that are inclusive, compassionate, and accessible across the East Midlands, including Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, and Derby. Alongside our core services, we also provide specialist support for women healing from the impacts of domestic abuse, PTSD and CPTSD.
A Safe, Embodied Path
Our trauma-informed yoga and somatic practices offer a safe, embodied path toward recovery - deep rooted in compassion, choice, and deep connection to the body. These approaches recognise that trauma isn't just in the mind - it's stored in the body, often as tension, disconnection, or hyper-arousal and healing truly begins through somatic reconnection.
Whether you are seeking support for yourself, looking to collaborate, or exploring funding opportunities, our services are here to create safe and sustainable pathways to healing.
Healing Beyond Words
At How We Heal CIC, we offer a bottom-up approach to healing. Our trauma-informed yoga and somatic wellbeing programmes, classes and workshops are designed to help survivors of all kinds of trauma including, but not limited to - domestic abuse, grief and loss and those dealing with anxiety and overwhelm, PTSD and C-PTSD - to reconnect safely with their bodies.
While traditional talking therapies are valuable, they can often feel overwhelming when trauma is stored deeply in the body and expressed through physiological responses. Our bottom-up approach draws on evidence from neuroscience and somatic psychology, beginning with the regulation of the nervous system and restoration of bodily safety. This process creates the groundwork for sustainable emotional processing. By starting here, many people find healing feels more manageable and compassionate, creating a safer foundation for recovery, resilience and long-term wellbeing.
How Trauma-Informed Yoga & Somatic Practices Support Trauma Recovery & Wellness
1
Creating a Safe, Empowering Practice
Trauma-Informed yoga adapts traditional yoga to prioritise safety and choice for survivors. This means gentle pacing, invitational language and consistency of environment - essential elements to support people to feel grounded and in control of their healing process. At How We Heal CIC we utilise yoga movement and restorative practices.
2
Reconnecting Mind and Body Through Awareness
Somatic yoga, somatic coaching and trauma-informed approaches are built on gentle movement, breathwork, mindfulness to encourage attention to internal sensations, rather than performance. This helps recalibrate the nervous system, reduce stress and process trauma held in the body.
3
Regulating the Nervous System & Releasing Tension
Through mindful, internalised movement and breath, participants can gently shift out of fight-or-flight states, enhancing parasympathetic activation and lowering cortisol levels. This process supports deep relaxation, emotional release and resilience.
4
Honouring the Body's Wisdom for individualised Healing
Somatic practices emphasise listening to your body, allowing movement and release to unfold naturally and uniquely for each individual. This is key for trauma recovery, as healing is deeply personal and embodied
5
Evidence of Benefits for Trauma and PTSD
Initial studies show trauma-informed yoga can significantly reduce PTSD symptoms - sometimes with outcomes comparable to other established psychological or medicinal methods. While the research continues to grow, participants frequently report increased calm, safety in their bodies and restored connection to themselves and to others
6
Restoring a Sense of Safety After Abuse
For survivors of domestic abuse, interpersonal violence or childhood trauma, the body can feel like an unsafe or unfamiliar place. Trauma-informed yoga, somatic practices and somatic coaching provide gentle, non-invasive ways to rebuild a sense of safety and trust within the body. Through titrated and supportive practice, survivors can gradually reconnect with themselves, reduce feelings of fear or hypervigilience, and begin to reclaim ownership of their healing journey
Healing must begin in the body
"When trauma begins in the body, healing must begin there too. Through compassionate, body-based practices, survivors can rediscover safety, resilience, and the freedom to live fully again" ~ How We Heal CIC