Holding Space, Healing, Treatment & What Comes Next

Episode 4 explores the healing potential of trauma work through neuroscience, community connection, and compassionate practice. The hosts emphasize that healing is possible but not quick—it requires sustained effort, self-awareness, and supportive relationships. This episode moves beyond understanding trauma to exploring practical pathways for recovery and growth.

Content Warning: This episode discusses trauma, PTSD, and C-PTSD. Please practice self-care while listening.

Sarah Furuya - Coach & Facilitator

Paula Esguerra - Meditation & yoga teacher

María Paula Farfán - Prison Compassion Project trauma-informed facilitator

Mary Stanley - Human Services student & former hairstylist

The Science of Healing

• Neuroplasticity - How the brain rewires itself through practice
• Epigenetics - How genes "switch on or off" based on environment
• Why long-term meditation creates measurable brain changes
• The body's dual capacity to protect AND heal

Freedom to Change

• Recognizing survival patterns that no longer serve you
• Understanding you're not determined by childhood trauma
• The journey from survival mode to self-awareness
• Building relationship with yourself for the first time

Healing Practices That Work

• Breath awareness and meditation techniques
• Journaling to map trauma patterns
• Community as medicine
• Nature and grounding practices
• Non-violent communication for emotional vocabulary

"We Can Choose Who to Be" - Survival behaviors from childhood don't have to define us forever. We have the power to consciously change our patterns.

"Trauma Isolates Us, But Talking About Trauma Reunites Us" - The power of sharing stories and feeling heard creates transformation.

Kizuna (絆) - Japanese concept meaning "the bonds that connect us." After the 2011 earthquake/tsunami, this was chosen as the kanji of the year, emphasizing strength of human connection over disaster.

One Degree Shifts - Small, consistent changes accumulate over time to take you to entirely different destinations. Healing isn't linear but cumulative.

Trauma-Informed Friend - What does it mean to hold space for others? How can we embody compassion in our relationships?

Episode Length: 20 minutes

Connect with Sarah

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-everitt-furuya-3727a74/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacoaching

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahfuruyacoaching

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXsuS_yVT9fMHjhAylVy8-w

Episode 3 explores how trauma lives in the body, how we work with it through various modalities, and the miracle of survival. The hosts discuss the Prison Compassion Project, the sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system, somatic practices, and the power of community in healing. This episode bridges understanding trauma with practical approaches to working with it.

Content Warning: This episode discusses trauma, PTSD, childhood adverse experiences, and includes references to violence. Please practice self-care while listening.

Sarah Furuya - Coach & Facilitator (20 years coaching experience, psychology/biology background)

Mary Stanley - Human Services student with minor in Trauma & Resilience

María Paula Farfán - Prison Compassion Project trauma-informed facilitator

Paula Esguerra - Meditation & yoga teacher, All Here meditation monitoring project

The 3 E's of Trauma (Revisited)

• Event - What actually happened (cannot be changed)
• Experience - Your personal interpretation (can be reframed)
• Effect - How it's stored in body and mind (can be addressed)

Trauma & Resilience

• Why they're taught together as "sisters born of the same experience"
• Trauma separates us; talking about trauma reunites us
• Growth comes not by erasing trauma, but by honoring survival

ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

• Originated from 1998 CDC/Kaiser Permanente study of 70,000+ people
• 10 experiences across 3 categories: abuse, neglect, dysfunctional household
• Occurring between ages 0-18
• Scores of 4+ correlate with increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke
• "What happened to you" shapes reactions and behaviors

The Nervous System

• Sympathetic (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) - Survival mode responses
• Parasympathetic (rest/digest) - Where healing happens
• How trauma keeps us stuck in survival mode long-term

Body-Mind Connection

• Japanese concept: Kokoro (心) - means both "heart" and "mind/spirit" together
• In many cultures, body and mind aren't separated
• Trauma stored in body even when we understand it intellectually

"The Only Way Out Is Through" - You can run from pain, but it will catch you. Unprocessed trauma manifests as autoimmune disease, addiction, and physical illness.

"When You Can Name What You're Feeling, You Can Work On It" - Trauma awareness helps people understand their rage, reactions, and behaviors stem from trauma, not their core identity.

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Protection - The body's survival responses (increased heart rate, narrowed vision, blood to limbs) are meant to be temporary. When they become chronic due to unprocessed trauma, they damage the body.

Mining Trauma for Mission - Traumatic experiences, when processed, can become sources of wisdom, purpose, and strength (Justice Albie Sachs example).

"Not More Than a Friend, Not Less Than a Friend" - Mark Whitwell's teaching on holding space without hierarchy in yoga/healing work.

Embodying Information - It's not enough to be trauma-informed; we must embody, integrate, and live from that information.

Mentioned in podcast

Prison Compassion Project - Trauma-informed circles combining education and yoga in prisons (US and Argentina)

All Here - Paula Esguerra's meditation monitoring project using brain wave...

Trauma isn't binary—it exists on a spectrum from healthy effort to complete overwhelm. This episode explores how to recognize your capacity limits, understand when you're pushing too hard, and develop compassionate awareness of your nervous system's signals.

Your Hosts:

• Sarah Furuya - Coach & Facilitator
• Mary Stanley Stanley- Human Services student & former hairstylist
• María Paula Farfán - Prison Compassion Project facilitator
• Paula Esguerra - Meditation & yoga teacher

• Healthy effort
• Extended effort
• Overwhelming/burnout

What are each of these?

• How hairstylists practice trauma-informed care through maternal touch and active listening
• Cross-cultural soothing practices (Latin American hair-braiding traditions)

• Creating spaciousness for trauma integration
• Patience as wisdom in recovery work
• Choosing conversation over debate

Active Listening - A trainable skill essential for holding space and witnessing trauma

"This Is Not Mine" - Recognizing inherited trauma patterns versus personal reactions

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk - Explores how trauma reshapes brain and body (Note: Scientifically controversial but widely influential)

Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine - Somatic Experiencing approach to trauma healing (Note: Limited empirical support for "energy release" theory)

Paula teaches a body awareness meditation: scanning for tension, acknowledging it with compassion, and affirming "I am here."

Links

•⁠ ⁠⁠Compassion Prison Project

•⁠ Lighthouse Circle Grief Support with Gretchen Miura

•⁠ ⁠⁠Film 🎥 All your faces

•⁠ ⁠⁠Book 📖 What happened to you

Episode Length: 43 minutes

Next Episode: Working with Trauma - The Body, Mind, and System

Connect with Sarah

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-everitt-furuya-3727a74/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacoaching

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahfuruyacoaching

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXsuS_yVT9fMHjhAylVy8-w