What It Means to Be Trauma Informed
The term trauma informed is being used more and more, in wellness spaces, therapy, education, and personal development. You’ll see it mentioned across our work at Everlasting Olive, in our Breathe to Receive events, and throughout our offerings.
But what does it actually mean to be trauma informed?
And more importantly, why does it matter?
Understanding Trauma Beyond the Story
Trauma isn’t defined by the event itself. It’s defined by how the body and nervous system experience, store, and respond to that event.
Two people can go through the same situation and have completely different responses. One system may process and integrate it naturally, while another becomes overwhelmed and stores it as unresolved stress.
Trauma lives less in the mind and more in the body and nervous system.
It’s held in:
The breath
Muscle tension and posture
The gut and digestion
The nervous system’s threat responses
Patterns of hypervigilance, shutdown, or emotional reactivity
Often, people aren’t consciously thinking about past experiences, but their body is still responding as if the threat is present.
How Trauma Can Present in the Body
Trauma doesn’t always look like panic attacks or obvious distress. In fact, it often shows up quietly and subtly.
It can present as:
Chronic stress or anxiety
Emotional numbness or disconnection
Difficulty relaxing or slowing down
Overworking, perfectionism, or control
Digestive issues or chronic fatigue
Feeling unsafe in stillness or silence
Struggling to be present in the body
These aren’t flaws or failures. They’re adaptive responses, intelligent survival strategies that once helped the body cope.
A trauma-informed approach recognises this and works with the nervous system, not against it.
What It Means to Be Trauma Informed
Being trauma informed means we:
Understand that everyone carries a unique nervous system history
Recognise that behaviours are often responses to past overwhelm
Prioritise safety, choice, and consent
Go slowly and meet people where they are
Avoid pushing, forcing, or overwhelming the system
Rather than asking, “What’s wrong with you?” a trauma-informed lens asks:
“What has your nervous system learned to do to survive?”
This shift changes everything.
Working With the Nervous System, Not Re-Traumatising It
One of the most important aspects of being trauma informed is understanding re-traumatisation.
Re-traumatisation can occur when:
A person is pushed beyond their capacity
There is no sense of choice or agency
The body is flooded with sensation or emotion too quickly
Practices override the body’s signals instead of listening to them
In trauma-informed spaces, the goal is not to break through or force release.
The goal is regulation first.
When the nervous system feels safe, supported, and resourced, healing unfolds naturally.
How We Apply Trauma-Informed Principles in Our Work
At Everlasting Olive, being trauma informed isn’t a buzzword, it’s the foundation of how we hold space.
This looks like:
Clear invitations rather than expectations
Emphasising choice and self-agency
Encouraging people to listen to their own bodies
Offering grounding, orienting, and integration practices
Supporting regulation before any form of activation
In practices like Spiritus Breathwork, we work within each person’s window of tolerance, the range where the body can feel sensation, emotion, and breath without becoming overwhelmed.
The work is gentle, conscious, and deeply respectful of where someone is at.
Healing Is Not About Forcing, It’s About Safety
Trauma-informed work honours a simple truth:
The body heals when it feels safe enough to do so.
There is no timeline. No pressure. No comparison.
Healing isn’t about reliving the past, it’s about teaching the nervous system that the present moment is different.
When we slow down, build safety, and stay present with what is, the system begins to reorganise itself naturally.
A Reflection for You
If you’re on a healing journey, consider this:
Where in your life are you pushing instead of listening?
Where might your body be asking for safety rather than effort?
What would it feel like to work with your nervous system instead of trying to override it?
Being trauma informed is ultimately about compassion, for ourselves and for others.
It’s about recognising that beneath every behaviour is a nervous system doing its best to protect.
And when we honour that, real, sustainable healing becomes possible.
Chris