Riding The Trauma Train Podcast

Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood trauma, addiction, suicidal ideation, self-harm, abuse, grief and recovery. Please listen gently and take care of yourself. This podcast is not a replacement for therapeutic support.

In this powerful and honest conversation, Lydia is joined by Abby Teixeira, trauma recovery guide, cycle breaker and mother of four, to talk about trauma, addiction and what it really means to rebuild your life from the inside out.

Abby shares her story as the daughter of parents shaped by war, poverty, intergenerational trauma and addiction. Growing up in a violent and unstable home left her carrying deep emotional pain from a young age. As a teenager she turned to alcohol as a way to numb overwhelming feelings, eventually leading to more than 15 years of addiction.

Abby speaks openly about the reality of surviving complex trauma, the moment she realised something had to change, and how she began her recovery journey. Lydia and Abby also discuss why trauma is often misunderstood and why healing is not about simply “getting over” what happened.

They explore how trauma lives in the body, the deep grief that can surface during healing, and the importance of community, connection and compassion for survivors.

Abby also reflects on how becoming a mother opened up another layer of healing. She shares how conscious parenting, honest communication and repair are helping her break generational cycles while raising her children in a different way.

This conversation is a reminder that healing is not linear, but it is possible. With the right support, tools and community, survivors can move from survival into a life with more safety, connection and self-understanding.

What we cover

Abby’s journey through childhood trauma and addiction

The impact of intergenerational trauma

Why trauma affects the body as well as the mind

Addiction as a survival response to overwhelming pain

Misunderstandings around complex trauma

The grief that can surface during healing

Why trauma recovery and addiction recovery often go hand in hand

The importance of community and shared experiences

Parenting while healing from trauma

How repair and accountability build emotional safety in families

About the guest

Abby Teixeira is a trauma recovery guide, speaker and mother of four who shares openly about healing from childhood trauma and addiction. Her work focuses on truth, compassion and community, helping others reconnect with themselves and move towards healing.

Find Abby on Instagram:

@speak.the.truth.with.abby

Connect with Lydia

Website:

www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram:

@ridingthetraumatrain

Email:

[email protected]

Call to action

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who may need to hear that they are not alone.

You can also follow Riding the Trauma Train, leave a short review or message Lydia on Instagram to share what this conversation brought up for you.

In this episode of Riding the Trauma Train, Lydia is joined by Caroline, a former NHS nurse and menopause coach, for an honest and powerful conversation about what happens when grief and perimenopause collide.

Caroline shares her personal journey of navigating intense perimenopause symptoms while also grieving the loss of both her parents. During this time she experienced anxiety, rage, brain fog, sleep disruption and physical symptoms that left her questioning what was happening to her body and mind.Together, Lydia and Caroline explore how stress, trauma and hormonal change can overlap, and why so many women feel confused or unsupported when these experiences happen at the same time.

What We Cover

Caroline’s first signs of perimenopause and why they were initially missedThe physical and emotional symptoms she experiencedThe grief of losing both parents and how it affected her mental healthWhy stress and cortisol can worsen perimenopause symptomsA clear explanation of premenopause, perimenopause and menopauseHow workplace stress can make symptoms harder to manageThe importance of awareness and compassion in workplaces and relationshipsPractical ways to support your nervous system during perimenopauseHow Caroline now supports women through menopause education and coaching

Key Takeaways

Perimenopause can begin earlier than many people expect, often starting in the early to mid-forties.Symptoms can affect the whole body. Many women experience anxiety, brain fog, sleep disruption, joint pain, mood changes and cycle changes alongside hormonal shifts.Stress and grief can intensify symptoms. When the nervous system is already under pressure, hormonal changes can feel even more overwhelming.Sometimes it is difficult to separate what is grief, stress or hormonal change. What matters most is finding the support you need.

Understanding Perimenopause

Caroline explains the stages many women experience:Premenopause is the stage before hormonal changes begin.Perimenopause is the transition where hormones fluctuate and symptoms appear.Menopause is the point when someone has gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual bleed.Understanding these stages can help women feel less blindsided when changes begin.

Practical Support Mentioned

Caroline shares simple ways to support your body during perimenopause:prioritising good sleep routinesgetting natural daylight in the morningreducing stress where possibleusing simple breathwork to calm the nervous systemtracking symptoms before speaking with a GPlearning more about menopause and hormonal health

About the Guest

Caroline is a former NHS nurse and menopause coach who now supports women through education, coaching and community. After navigating her own difficult experience of perimenopause alongside grief and major life stress, she now helps other women better understand their symptoms and find supportive ways forward.

Find Caroline

Website: https://unmenopaused.co.uk

Instagram: @unmenopaused

Facebook: Unmenopaused

Email: [email protected]

Local Support Groups (Salisbury)

Daytime Group

First Friday of every month

10am to 12pm

Everyman Cinema

Menopause Mingle

(Evening)Fourth Tuesday of every month

7pm to 9pm

Everyman Cinema

Content Note

This episode includes discussion of grief, parental loss, anxiety and menopause related symptoms. Please listen gently if these topics feel close to home.

Connect with Lydia

Website : www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain

Instagram: @right.track.wellbeing

Email: [email protected]

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And remember, you do not have to travel this journey alone.

What if a PTSD or BPD diagnosis was not the end of your story?

In this episode, Lydia speaks with Emily Katz, host of the Unshrinkable Podcast and creator of the Meta Therapy Model. Emily shares her journey from sexual abuse, addiction and trauma diagnoses to sobriety, structured self-healing and mentoring other women.

Together they explore belief, comfort zones, imposter syndrome and reclaiming personal power.

Content Note

This episode includes discussion of sexual abuse, childhood emotional neglect, substance misuse, eating disorders, self-harm, trauma diagnoses including PTSD and BPD, medication use, war references and strong language.

Please listen gently. This podcast shares lived experience and education and is not a substitute for therapy or medical care.

About Emily

Emily Katz is an organisational consultant, behavioural science PhD candidate and host of the Unshrinkable Podcast. After being diagnosed with PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder in her early twenties, she developed the Meta Therapy Model, a practical framework combining behavioural science and trauma informed healing.

She now mentors women through trauma recovery while formalising her model through doctoral research.

Website: EmilyKatzConsulting.com

Instagram and TikTok: @theselfchangescientist

Podcast: Unshrinkable

What We Cover

• ​ Trauma, diagnosis and self-medication
• ​ The limits of traditional therapy
• ​ The Meta Therapy Model
• ​ The Four Cs and IDEA framework
• ​ Why problems are often symptoms
• ​ The Big Five foundations for healing
• ​ Comfort zones and mental resistance
• ​ Confirmation bias and belief
• ​ Imposter syndrome after trauma
• ​ Moving from victim to self-healer to service

Connect with Lydia

www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain

Instagram: @right.track.wellbeing

Email: [email protected]

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who may need to hear it.

Healing does not require everything at once. One small step is enough.

You do not have to travel this journey alone.

What happens when you finally stop surviving and instead of feeling lighter, you feel sad, flat, or unexpectedly angry?

In this solo episode, Lydia explores the grief that can surface when your nervous system starts to believe you are safe. If you have been doing the work and suddenly feel like you have gone backwards, this episode offers a gentle reframe.

WHAT WE COVER

• What leaving survival mode really means
• Why your nervous system may release emotions when you feel safe
• The idea of quiet grief in trauma healing
• Five common things people grieve during healing
• Why grief can feel like failure
• Letting go of survival identities
• Why healing is not linear
• Four gentle practices to support yourself

WHEN GRIEF APPEARS IN HEALING

When you have lived in fight, flight, freeze or fawn for years, your system focuses on survival. That can mean numbing emotions or postponing grief.

When safety increases, your body may finally allow those feelings to surface.

Not because you are failing.

But because you are safe enough to process.

FIVE THINGS YOU MAY GRIEVE

1. The version of you who had to survive
2. The life you thought you would have
3. Lost time
4. Relationships you have outgrown
5. The identity that once kept you safe

You can love your life and still mourn what it cost.

WHY IT CAN FEEL LIKE GOING BACKWARDS

Grief in healing can look like crying more, feeling raw, being easily triggered or needing more rest.

It can create panic and the thought that you are back at the beginning.

You are not.

You are moving through another layer.

You are not reboarding the train. You are changing carriages.

This is a wave, not a verdict.

FOUR GENTLE PRACTICES

• Name the loss without reliving the whole story.
• Use both and statements. For example, I am proud of my growth and sad about what it cost.
• Create a two minute ritual and say, This mattered. I mattered
• Ask what the earlier you needed and offer one small act of care.

CONTENT NOTE

This episode discusses trauma and grief without graphic detail. Pause and ground yourself if needed. This podcast is supportive but not a replacement for professional therapy.

CONNECT WITH LYDIA

Website: www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain

Email: [email protected]

What if the drive to achieve, prove yourself, or keep going isn’t ambition at all but survival?

In this deeply moving episode of Riding the Trauma Train, Lydia is joined by Kellie Fennell, who shares the truth behind a life that looked successful on the outside but was fuelled by avoidance on the inside. Together, they explore trauma, self worth, and the long road back to believing one simple truth: you were always enough.

This conversation is for anyone who has been running, striving, numbing, or doing their way through life without ever feeling like they could stop.

What We Cover

• Losing a partner to suicide at 19 and the trauma of being the one who found him
• Why avoidance can be a necessary survival response, not a failure
• How alcohol, over exercise, achievement, and work can become socially acceptable ways to numb
• The hidden belief, “I wasn’t enough for him to stay,” and how it shaped everything that followed
• Why healing often feels worse before it feels better
• The difference between addressing symptoms and facing root causes
• “I’ll be happy when…” and how chasing worth keeps the bar moving
• Breaking generational cycles and becoming a new blueprint for your children
• The role of movement, nature, and nourishment in supporting mental health
• The moment Kellie stopped running and started choosing herself

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for you if:

• You appear high functioning but feel exhausted underneath
• You have used achievement, fitness, food, alcohol, or busyness to cope
• You struggle with feeling enough unless you are doing or proving something
• You are scared to open the box because life seems fine on the outside
• You want healing without pressure, perfection, or toxic positivity

Key Takeaways

• Avoidance can keep us alive, but it can also keep us stuck
• Many coping strategies are symptoms, not the root wound
• Healing is not neat, quick, or linear, and that does not mean you are failing
• You do not need to earn rest, worth, or belonging
• There is a cost to doing the work and a cost to not doing it
• The truth we all need to hear more often is this: you are enough

Content Note

This episode includes discussion of suicide, grief, trauma, anxiety, and coping mechanisms. Please listen with care and pause if you need to. If anything feels overwhelming, consider reaching out to a trusted person or professional support.

About the Guest

Kellie Fennell is a fitness coach and podcast host who helps people move away from quick fixes and towards long term, values led change. With a background in neuroscience and teaching, Kellie’s work centres on awareness, self belief, and addressing the root causes behind behaviours so people can stop running and start living.

Podcast: The Kellie Fennell Podcast

Instagram and platforms: Search Kellie Fennell Fitness

The Conductor’s Question

If Kellie could sit beside the younger version of herself, the one who had just stepped onto the trauma train, what would she say?

“You are enough.”

Connect with Lydia

Website: www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain | @right.track.wellbeing

Email: [email protected]

If this episode resonated, consider sharing it with someone who needs the reminder that they do not have to keep proving their worth. And if you are on your own healing journey, know this: you do not have to rush, and you do not have to do it alone.

In this episode, Lydia is joined by Karli Hart for an honest, real-life conversation about PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), a severe hormone-related mood condition often dismissed as “just bad PMS”. Karli shares what PMDD feels like for her, including intense rage, fatigue, and feeling like a different person, what finally helped, and why tracking symptoms and pushing for support can be life-changing.

Karli also opens up about a difficult year that included Bell’s palsy, misdiagnosis, and redundancy, and how she still found a way through it, ultimately opening her own salon.

CONTENT NOTE

This episode includes discussion of suicidal thoughts and severe mood symptoms linked to PMDD. Please take care while listening and pause if needed. If you’re in immediate danger, call 999 (UK) or go to A&E. For urgent emotional support in the UK and ROI, contact Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7).

WHAT WE COVER

• What PMDD is and why it’s often brushed off as “bad PMS”
• Karli’s postnatal mental health experience and how PMDD symptoms emerged
• Rage and the “red mist”, what Karli’s PMDD week looks like
• Why symptom patterns matter and how tracking helped her advocate for herself
• Medication experiences including sertraline and later Yasmin
• The impact of PMDD on relationships, parenting, and daily tolerance
• Guilt, repair, and the importance of a trusted support circle
• Medical trauma including Bell’s palsy and misdiagnosis
• How redundancy became a turning point leading to opening her salon
• Why you’re not “going mad” and deserve to be taken seriously

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR

This episode is for you if:

• You suspect you have PMDD or feel your PMS is severe and disruptive
• You experience cyclical mood changes that feel out of character
• You want language to advocate for yourself with your GP or gynaecologist
• You’re supporting someone whose mood shifts dramatically around their cycle
• You’ve experienced medical stress or misdiagnosis and need reassurance

KEY TAKEAWAYS

PMDD is not the same as PMS and can be severe and disabling

Tracking your cycle and symptoms can support diagnosis and treatment

Treatment is individual and may include SSRIs or hormonal contraception

You deserve to be listened to and can seek a second opinion

Thoughts of self-harm are a sign to reach out for urgent support

A NOTE ON THE STATS

UK figures referenced include reports of high rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts among people with PMDD, highlighting the urgent need for awareness and access to care.

SUPPORT RESOURCES (UK)

Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7)

Emergency: 999 or A&E

(This podcast shares lived experience and information and is not a replacement for medical care.)

ABOUT KARLI

Karli Hart shares her lived experience of PMDD, navigating a challenging health year, and rebuilding her life after redundancy by opening her own salon. She’s passionate about raising awareness so more women recognise the signs and feel less alone.

Connect with Karli:

Instagram: @glowgetterxtrkrh

Facebook: GlowGetter

Salon: Glow GetHer xtr

CONNECT WITH LYDIA

Websites: www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain / @right.track.wellbeing

Email: [email protected]

CALL TO ACTION

If this episode resonates, share it with someone who’s been told they “just have bad PMS”. If you’re living with PMDD symptoms, you’re not alone and you don’t have to white-knuckle your way through it.

In this episode of Riding the Trauma Train, Lydia is joined by Lucy Superfox, a Root Cause Therapy practitioner and coach, to explore what happens when you are “all talked out”. You understand your trauma and can name the patterns, but your body is still reacting like it is happening now.

Lucy explains Root Cause Therapy as a blend of somatic (body-based) and talk-based approaches, designed to help you process the root cause of a belief, pattern, behaviour, or nervous system response, not just the symptoms. Together they unpack why safety is not a luxury in healing. It is the foundation. They also reframe trauma in a validating way. Trauma is not always about the event itself, but about how safe you felt inside it.

This is a grounded, real conversation. Not love and light, and not a quick-fix promise. It is about why healing can be cyclical, why peace can feel unfamiliar after survival mode, and how building safety inside yourself can change your health, relationships, and confidence.

You will also hear a simple, free takeaway Lucy recommends before any technique, a feelings diary built on curiosity, not judgement.

WHAT WE COVER
• What Root Cause Therapy is and what it is not

• Why mind and body work together for lasting change

• Why talk therapy can leave you feeling “all talked out”

• The myth that it is hypnosis. You are fully awake

• Why it is self-led and you will not be pushed where you are not ready
• Safety as the foundation of regulation and healing
• Trauma reframed as the imprint of unsafety in the nervous system
• Why anxiety, burnout, freeze, and gut symptoms can be nervous system-led
• A first step: radical self-awareness through curiosity

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR
• Anyone who understands their trauma logically but still feels stuck in their body
• Women living with anxiety, overwhelm, burnout, freeze, or emotional shutdown
• People who feel disconnected and want to feel safe again
• Survivors who want a gentler approach that does not rush or retraumatise

KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Safety is the foundation for all good things.
• Healing often needs both mind and body.
• Trauma is not only what happened. It is how safe you felt inside the experience.
• Curiosity reduces shame and creates choice.

SIMPLE PRACTICE (FROM THE EPISODE)
Once a day ask, “How do I actually feel?” Write it down without fixing it. When triggered, ask, “What part of me is reacting here?” Choose curiosity over criticism.

NOTABLE QUOTES
“Safety is the foundation to all good things.”
“Trauma is simply how safe you felt within an experience.”
“Being authentic is actually feeling safe to be yourself.”

“You can either go back into it for a couple of minutes to let it go, or live the rest of your life like it is still alive in your nervous system.”CONTENT NOTE
Includes discussion of trauma and healing, with mention of sexual trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and chronic health symptoms. Please pause if you need to.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Lucy Superfox is a Root Cause Therapy practitioner and coach supporting ambitious women to heal patterns at the root and regulate the nervous system.

Website: lucysuperfox.comRoot Cause Therapy Burnout workshopInstagram: @lucysuperfox

CONNECT WITH LYDIA
Website: ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk
Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain | @right.track.wellbeing
Email: [email protected]

If this episode helped, follow or subscribe, share it with someone who needs more safety in their body today, and leave a review if you can. It helps more people find the show.

In this episode of Riding the Trauma Train, Lydia is joined by Jana, founder of Recovery Trauma Limited, a growing UK-based trauma recovery platform. Jana’s mission is to make trauma recovery accessible and affordable for anyone who needs support, anywhere in the world. Jana shares parts of her healing journey and what led her to create a platform that brings multiple approaches together, including therapy-informed tools and creative modalities. Lydia and Jana explore why recovery is not one-size-fits-all, and why healing often needs more than talking alone.

CONTENT NOTE / TRIGGER WARNING

This episode includes discussion of childhood trauma, grief, PTSD and complex PTSD, suicidal thoughts (non-graphic), and a brief mention of violent loss. Please listen in a way that feels safe for you. Pause, skip sections, or come back another time. If you feel activated, try a gentle grounding moment and reach out for support if you need it.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER

How Recovery Trauma Limited began and what inspired Jana to create it.

The difference between PTSD and complex PTSD.

Why awareness is a key first step in healing.

Patterns, trauma bonds, and why we can repeat what feels familiar

Inner child healing and how creative and visual tools can support recovery

Blending modalities such as DBT-style skills, music, mindfulness, and movement

Why healing is not linear and how checkpoints and feedback can help

The Conductor’s Question: what Jana would say to herself at the start of her healing journey

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR

Anyone who feels like talk therapy alone has not been enough

Survivors of childhood trauma or long-term relational trauma

People wanting clearer language around PTSD vs complex PTSD

Listeners who want accessible, affordable trauma-informed tools

Anyone curious about inner child healing, creativity, and nervous system support

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You are not broken. Your responses often make sense in the context of what you have lived through

Healing is personal. Different tools help at different times

Awareness and self-responsibility can help you change patterns with compassion

Support should be accessible, safe, and affordable

PULL QUOTE

“It was not your fault. Forgiveness is for yourself. And before you can forgive you have to release the anger.”

Jana

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jana is the founder of Recovery Trauma Limited, a trauma recovery platform in development focused on accessible, affordable, trauma-informed education and tools. Jana’s approach blends therapy-informed skills with creative modalities, aiming to help more people find support that fits them, wherever they live.

CONNECT WITH JANA

Instagram: @recoverytraumaLTD

CONNECT WITH LYDIA

Websites: www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain and @right.track.wellbeing

Email: [email protected]

IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING RIGHT NOW

If this episode has brought something up and you need support, reach out to someone safe or a professional.

UK: Samaritans 116 123 (24/7)

UK: Text SHOUT to 85258

If you are outside the UK, consider looking up your local crisis line or emergency services.

In this episode, Lydia is joined by transformation coach and mentor Marina Galan for a powerful (and surprisingly simple) conversation about what happens when we stop letting the past define our present. Marina shares the moment she confronted her abuser, and how his unexpected response created a “new space” that shifted something fundamental in her.

Together, they explore a trauma-aware perspective on identity, survival mode, and why “I’ll feel better when…” can keep us looping, even when we’re doing all the “right” healing things. This is an episode about reclaiming agency without minimising what happened.

WHAT WE COVER

Marina’s confrontation story, and why the response shocked her

Forgiveness vs freedom

Identity as a habit of thought

Why we don’t feel reality, we feel our thinking in the moment

Old beliefs as filters shaping daily experience

“Victim mentality” as making wellbeing dependent on something outside you (a challenging reframe)

The “I’ll be happy when…” cycle, and why relief doesn’t last

Why gratitude can feel exhausting without clarity

A simple tool: notice altered states of mind, and don’t trust thoughts in them

How chronic stress and rumination can keep the body in fight-or-flight

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR

This may resonate if you:

Feel your past still has a hold on your present

Get stuck in shame, guilt, anger, or self-blame loops

Have tried tools like journalling, affirmations, gratitude, but still feel stuck

Want a trauma-aware conversation about agency, without minimising what happened

Are curious about mindset, nervous system healing, and thought + experience

Struggle with intimacy, trust, or feeling safe in your body after difficult experiences

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What happened may explain your patterns, but it doesn’t have to decide your future.

The mind tends to repeat what we keep approving as “true”, even when it hurts.

Feelings can be feedback, not failure, signalling when thinking is working against wellbeing.

If your peace depends on someone else taking responsibility, it becomes conditional.

In intense states (anger, hopelessness, jealousy, even euphoria), pause before you act.

Clarity beats effort. Forcing positivity can be exhausting without understanding.

You’re not broken, you’re human. Thoughts shift moment-to-moment and don’t define you.

CONTENT NOTE

Includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, confronting an abuser, shame, guilt, anger, and “victim mentality”. Please take gentle care while listening, pause if needed, and seek support if you feel activated. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional mental health support.

RESOURCES

Three Principles Global Community (3PGC): 3pgc.org

Marina on Instagram: @marinagalana

Marina’s website: marinagalan.com

ABOUT MARINA

Marina Galana is a transformation coach and mentor helping people understand how their minds work, shift unhelpful patterns, and reconnect with wellbeing as their natural state. Her work is rooted in the Three Principles (Sydney Banks) and focuses on clarity over constant self-fixing.

CONNECT WITH LYDIA

www.ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk

Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain | @right.track.wellbeing

Email: [email protected]

CALL TO ACTION

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who might need it, follow/subscribe for the next stop, and DM Lydia at @ridingthetraumatrain with your biggest takeaway. Go gently, you don’t have to process everything at once.

In this powerful conversation, Lydia is joined by Dana Grant (host of The Dana Grant Show and author of The Truth Within the Lie) to explore what happens when “survival mode” starts collapsing. Dana shares how childhood trauma, perfectionism and self-abandonment shaped her, and how healing began when she stopped outsourcing safety and started building it within.

A reminder: you’re not “too much”, you’re not broken, and you can interrupt the patterns that once kept you safe, but are keeping you stuck now.

What we cover

• Why trauma responses often go unnoticed until survival strategies stop working

• Dana’s decade of severe migraines, prescribed narcotic dependence, and the moment she realised it was killing her

• How trauma blurs love, safety, attachment, and “needing” something to cope

• Perfection paralysis, self-sabotage, and trauma-driven success

• The “armour” we keep picking back up (ego protection) and why it gets exhausting

• Heart-centred vs reactive living: pausing, breathing, responding

• Rebuilding self-trust (and why Dana doesn’t recommend “trust your gut” as your main compass)

• Daily anchors: affirmations, mirror check-ins, micro-shifts instead of “quantum leaps”

• Shame as a low-vibration state (and why compassion supports lasting change)

• Breaking generational cycles through accountability, boundaries, and self-respect

  
  

Who this episode is for• Anyone stuck in cycles of chaos, overthinking, people-pleasing, or self-sabotage
• Survivors who learned to survive by being “in control” (and feel exhausted now)
• People healing from family patterns like addiction, emotional neglect, or chronic conflict
• Anyone who feels “too much” and wants to stop apologising for coping strategies
• Listeners who want simple, repeatable practices for regulation and self-trust

Key takeaways• Survival strategies aren’t moral failures. They were often the only tools you had, and they got you here.
• The ego’s job is protection, but old “armour” can become heavy when it’s no longer needed.
• Healing starts with radical honesty: naming what’s harming you (without shame) creates a choice-point.
• Micro-shifts matter. You can build safety one choice at a time.
• Compassion breaks the cycle. Shame keeps patterns looping; self-respect creates space for change.
• You are allowed to choose. Even when it’s hard or messy, your power lives in the present moment.

A few standout moments“I was going to die if I kept taking it.”
“The armour isn’t needed anymore but we keep picking it back up.”
“You are your safety. You are your rock.”

People & sources mentioned• Brené Brown (armour and self-protection)
• Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman (often confused with Dr Seuss)
• Louise Hay (21-day healing, affirmations, mirror-work style practices)
• Rhonda Byrne (The Secret)
• Lewis Howes (abundance practice story and “pennies”)

Content note / gentle trigger warningIncludes discussion of childhood trauma, addiction patterns (including prescribed medication dependence), chronic illness/pain, emotional neglect, and generational trauma. Please take care while listening. Not a substitute for therapy or medical support.

About Dana GrantDana Grant is a Life Coach, speaker, bestselling author of The Truth Within the Lie, and host of The Dana Grant Show, sharing heart-centred conversations about healing, self-trust and personal power. danagrant.com

Connect with Dana• Website: danagrant.com
• Instagram: @therealdanagrant
• Podcast: The Dana Grant Show

Connect with Lydia / Riding the Trauma Train• ridingthetraumatrain.co.uk
• Instagram: @ridingthetraumatrain | @right.track.wellbeing
• Email: [email protected]

If this resonated, share it with someone doing the brave work of healing. For more gentle, trauma-informed support, follow/subscribe and join Lydia’s email list for tools, updates and new episodes.