kelly ThistleTHWaite
Synthesis Clinic referral network member
Trauma informed yoga and breathwork for birth trauma support
Matrescence coach
My name is Kelly Thistlethwaite, and I am a trauma informed Yoga and Breathwork practitioner specialising in perinatal (birth) trauma.
Everyone’s motherhood journey is different. And sadly, a large percentage of women experience trauma at some point throughout their motherhood journey.
I work on a somatic (body) and nervous system level and encourage you to discover your bodies innate wisdom to heal.
A somatic and nervous system approach to healing trauma:
The foundations of my approach are firmly set in the teachings of the Polyvagal Theory and the importance of a felt sense of safety, connection, and nervous system regulation to move towards healing.
““What most people do not realise is that trauma is not the story of something awful that happened in the past, but the residue of imprints left behind in peoples sensory and hormonal systems. Most trauma-sensitive people need some form of body—oriented psychotherapy or bodywork to regain a sense of safety in their bodies.”
I help you to:
-Understand the effects of stress/ trauma on your body and nervous system
-Understand and communicate your felt experiences
-Identify when you move through different nervous system states
-Increase awareness of dysregulation
-Regulate your own nervous system
-Build capacity
-Increase resilience
-Enhance your sense of safety, connection, and joy
Nervous system education and regulation happens slowly and requires patience but don’t worry, I’ll be guiding you every step of the way.
Some examples of perinatal experiences which I can offer support during/following include:
-Difficult pregnancy experiences
-Birth trauma
-NICU experiences
-Baby loss (miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, TFMR, stillborn, SIDS, child loss)
-Pregnancy after trauma/loss.
-Diagnosis of illnesses
-Reactivation of previous trauma as a result of perinatal experiences (developmental, childhood, early adulthood experiences)
Common complaints of my clients include:
-Anxiety and panic attacks
-Depression
-Fatigue
-Digestive, immune system and adrenal dysfunction
-Headaches
-Persistent pain (often unable to be resolved with other medical/physical therapies)
-Decreased ability to activate muscle in the body with no medical explanation
-Reduced sensation or a disconnection/dissociation with a body part with no medical explanation
-Sleep quality (difficulty sleeping when have the opportunity)
-Emotional instability
-Social avoidance and overwhelm
-Hypervigilance and struggling to relax
-Reduced concentration and focus and memory
-Anger and resentment
-Relationship breakdowns
-Difficulty bonding with baby/child
Trauma Informed Yoga
Yoga weaves breathwork, mindfulness and physical poses into practice to connect the breath, body, and mind to turn your attention inward.
This combination allows you to gain awareness whilst aiding nervous system regulation. Both of which help to build capacity and connection which are essential elements of healing from trauma.
Why Yoga Is Effective in Trauma Treatment
Yoga helps you to:
Feel empowered to make choices (trauma limits this feeling)
Increases a sense of safety within your body
Relax any anxious thoughts allowing to engage in the present moment and connect with your body
Creates a positive, compassionate relationship with your body, mind and self
Self-regulate and process sensations and emotions
Release stored trauma memories (within your capacity and with a sense of safety and control)
And much more
Trauma informed yoga sessions language, music, smells, postures, and layout (if in person) are all considered to reduce triggering and enhance a sense of safety throughout.
Clients are always in control of the pace and content of sessions and all client journeys start with education of the nervous system and orienting to establish a foundation of understanding, awareness, and capacity before journeying through movement and breathwork.
Trauma Informed Breathwork
Breathwork is one of the main tools that I use when working with clients.
It almost sounds to simple doesn’t it. Too easy. Not direct enough. But it is the most direct way to heal.
Our breath is the key to our health.
Every system in the body relies on oxygen. Our health is governed by our ability to reduce stress and inflammation in the body.
Breathwork helps to put the brakes on any acute stress responses in the body which positively impacts our mental and physical well-being.
Not only does this reduction in acute stress response allow us to move through our current situation with more ease- it also helps to shift old stress responses that are held within our body.
It’s the most powerful method of healing I have learnt and I love to share it with my clients.
This is often the missing piece to healing. The last turn of the key. The final release needed to fully process and release the stress and trauma in our systems.
I work slowly with clients, starting first with nervous system education and building awareness and capacity. We then build a breathwork practice up slowly which enables stored stress to be lifted and processed safely.
Matrescence and Motherhood Support Coaching
I am also a Matrescence Coach and Mama Rising facilitator and I am honoured to support women through one of the biggest transformations and shifts in identify they will ever experience - becoming a mother.
Matrescence coaching can help you if you often feel:
-Lost within or outside of your role as a mother
-Like you are trying to do it all-be an amazing mother and successful business women, and failing at both
-Guilty for wanting or doing anything for ourself
-Overwhelemed with responsibility
-The need to be perfect
-Resentful within your relationship
-Miss the Women you used to be and the life you used to lead
-Bad for not liking every minute
-Alone and unable to talk about your feelings due to fear of judgement and shame
I give you space to think and reflect and to be seen, heard and validated - this is rare within motherhood.
I share the wisdom and insights from some of the leading motherhood studies and Matresence activists across the globe which will give you language to understand and communicate the way that you feel aswell as some space to breathe.
We will discuss how mothering has become progressively more intensive over the last 50 years with less support available. How mothers often have a believe that they can do all equally s before and if they struggle to keep up-they are failing. And how women often keep going in silence, until they reach burnout.
There is another way.
Since becoming a mother myself I have experienced birth trauma first hand and felt the effects physically, emotionally and mentally.
I was never officially diagnosed with Anxiety, post natal depression and PTSD but did experience them. For me my healing began when my little girl started nursery and I had the regular time, rest and space to identify just how much I had struggled.
I have also experienced a missed miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy and again have used all the tools which I teach and also have support from other therapists which I have surrounded myself with to help me heal. My passion is to support women throughout their motherhood journey to feel happy, healthy, confident and empowered. I believe that we can all heal and recover from our experiences at any stage in our lives and be the women and mothers that we desire and deserve to be.