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Gentle disclaimer: the nature of this podcast is conversations about edgy stuff. Listen from a grounded, regulated place.
(The audio on this episode is admittedly subpar, but we are rolling with it! Please bear with us. Upgraded audio coming next week!)
A slow, honest conversation about the relationship between trauma, the body, and food. Ashley and Samara share parts of their own lived experience, and name what so often goes unspoken: how control, restriction, and disconnection can become ways the body tries to stay safe. Rather than treating these patterns as problems to fix, the conversation stays with what they protected, what they cost, and why they make sense.
There’s no prescription, no diagnosis, and no promise of transformation by the end. Instead, the focus is on listening, on learning how to be in relationship with the body again after it’s felt unsafe to inhabit, and on letting go of shame without rushing toward solutions. It’s an episode for anyone who has ever felt at odds with their body or their relationship with food and is curious about what becomes possible when that struggle is met with honesty and care.
Why This Episode Is Different
• It’s led by lived experience, not theory or diagnosis• There’s no moralizing food, bodies, or coping strategies• Control is named as intelligence, not pathology• Trauma is discussed through the body, not just the story• Shame is addressed without using fear or urgency• There’s no “fix,” program, or promise at the end• Complexity is allowed: gratitude for survival strategies and readiness to let them go• The conversation moves at a nervous-system pace, not a productivity one• Listening is treated as an act of healing, not compliance
Join us for a monthly Survivors Circle
Follow The Water We Swim In on Instagram
Follow Ashley Waverley on Instagram, or learn more about her work here.
Follow Samara Valentina on Instagram or learn more about her work here.
By The Water We Swim InGentle disclaimer: the nature of this podcast is conversations about edgy stuff. Listen from a grounded, regulated place.
(The audio on this episode is admittedly subpar, but we are rolling with it! Please bear with us. Upgraded audio coming next week!)
A slow, honest conversation about the relationship between trauma, the body, and food. Ashley and Samara share parts of their own lived experience, and name what so often goes unspoken: how control, restriction, and disconnection can become ways the body tries to stay safe. Rather than treating these patterns as problems to fix, the conversation stays with what they protected, what they cost, and why they make sense.
There’s no prescription, no diagnosis, and no promise of transformation by the end. Instead, the focus is on listening, on learning how to be in relationship with the body again after it’s felt unsafe to inhabit, and on letting go of shame without rushing toward solutions. It’s an episode for anyone who has ever felt at odds with their body or their relationship with food and is curious about what becomes possible when that struggle is met with honesty and care.
Why This Episode Is Different
• It’s led by lived experience, not theory or diagnosis• There’s no moralizing food, bodies, or coping strategies• Control is named as intelligence, not pathology• Trauma is discussed through the body, not just the story• Shame is addressed without using fear or urgency• There’s no “fix,” program, or promise at the end• Complexity is allowed: gratitude for survival strategies and readiness to let them go• The conversation moves at a nervous-system pace, not a productivity one• Listening is treated as an act of healing, not compliance
Join us for a monthly Survivors Circle
Follow The Water We Swim In on Instagram
Follow Ashley Waverley on Instagram, or learn more about her work here.
Follow Samara Valentina on Instagram or learn more about her work here.