In this episode of The Hard Way Home, I talk about what happens when the body finally realizes it’s safe — and how uncomfortable that can be when you’ve spent your entire life being “the strong one.”

We explore survival wiring, cortisol, hyper-independence, restless sleep, weight gain, and the quiet shock of finally resting after years of living in fight-or-flight. This episode is for the ones who held it all together for everyone else… and are just now learning how to soften without losing themselves.

Softness doesn’t mean weak.
Sometimes, it means you survived long enough to rest.

In this episode of The Hard Way Home, Christina shares the moment that changed everything — a motherhood moment that cracked open a lifetime of buried trauma and made one truth unavoidable: the cycle either repeats, or it ends.

Through a deeply personal story of childhood violence, survival, forgiveness, and the quiet courage it takes to choose differently, this episode explores what it really means to be a cycle breaker.

This is a conversation about inner children, apologizing to your kids, loving complicated parents, and learning that awareness — not perfection — is where healing begins.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains descriptions of childhood violence and abuse. Please listen with care. You are encouraged to pause, breathe, or step away at any time.

Softness doesn’t mean weak.

The night a tropical storm tore through my tent wasn’t just another chaotic moment — it was the breaking point I didn’t know I’d been carrying since childhood.
In this first episode of The Hard Way Home, I take you into the storm that shifted everything: the rushing water, the snapping straps, the three minutes I allowed myself to break, and the truth that rose with the morning light.

This is a story about survival, yes — but also about where our armor begins.
About the childhood storms we don’t talk about.
About learning the hard way that softness isn’t weakness… and strength isn’t silence.

If you’ve ever felt alone in your healing, hardened by life, or tired of being “the strong one,” this episode is your invitation to breathe, feel, and come home to yourself.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood trauma, domestic violence, and survival situations. Please listen with care.

Welcome to the beginning.
Welcome to the work.
Welcome home.