InnerBloom Somatic Psychotherapy

24/10/2025

Funny but true 😅

12/08/2025

The Path to Healing Through Your Body

Developing an attunement to your own body is vital if you want to heal and release trauma and repressed emotion, and generally feel a consistent sense of well-being.

And I’m not talking about dogmatic rituals like practicing yoga every day, eating perfectly, or any of those more rigid approaches.

What I mean is simply taking time to sit and feel the sensations within you..the tightness, the fluttering in your stomach, the heaviness in your heart, the stiffness in your legs. Whatever is happening in the present moment, inside your body.

When you do this, you often find your mind racing, keeping you distracted with looping thoughts.

The challenge is, if your nervous system is dysregulated, your protective parts will continue to pull you up and out of your body.

These parts don’t want you to be overwhelmed with feelings you can’t handle. They come in and say, “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s go back to thoughts, to figuring things out, where we're nice and safe and don’t have to feel that deep well of sadness.”

You can think of your protective parts as a bouncer at the door of a nightclub. They're there to keep you safe, to make sure no one gets in who might cause trouble.

But because of past painful experiences, they've become a little too protective. Now, they won't let you in to feel the sadness or the fear, even when it's just a feeling that wants to be seen.

The work isn't about getting rid of the bouncer, but about showing them that it's safe to open the door, just for a little while, and that you can handle what's on the other side.

For this reason, it isn't as simple as just saying, “Stay in your body.” What you need to make that possible for longer increments is to bring some sense of safety with you into that place.

That will look different for everyone. Maybe it’s a hot water bottle on your stomach or laying in a bath, so the warmth provides comfort. Maybe it’s a specific breathing pattern that helps move the energy and keeps you anchored. Or maybe it’s some music that opens the heart and softens things.

Whatever works to make it just a little bit more bearable to stay with the body and the rawness showing up there. The goal isn't to get rid of the feeling, but to have some little anchor - a warm hand on your stomach, a deep breath - that reminds you that in this very moment, you are safe and capable of holding this feeling.

But you might ask (and I hear from many clients), “But what’s the point? It doesn’t feel good to sit with that knot of anxiety in my stomach or the pain in my shoulders. Why would I do that?”

The answer is this: when you are able to focus your conscious awareness on these aching and unpleasant places, you ignite your body’s innate capacity for healing and integration.

Suddenly, the body becomes self-aware that there is something that needs to be regulated, and most of the time, it knows exactly what to do to bring the whole system back into balance. The only exception seems to be when there is a need for co-regulation, which is where therapy comes in.

I knew this theoretically, but it wasn't until I began this practice regularly for myself that I truly understood how it worked.

After each trigger, I would sit with myself, making sure to bring a resource to ground me.

Then, I would stay for as long as I could, focusing my attention on where the trigger was showing up in my body. I would simply feel, and disengage from all the mind’s stories.

After some time, I would always start yawning, sighing, feel my digestion activating again, or my eyes would start watering. These were all signs that my nervous system was regulating itself and I was relaxing. Sometimes there were tears that seemingly had no story or cause attached to them. Or a memory would come that I had completely forgotten about, alongside the tears.

This is what it feels like: Imagine two people dancing, and one is following the lead of the other. The follower is just listening and responding to the movements of their partner, not trying to control the dance. This is what it feels like to listen to your body in this way.

Nowadays, there is more than just yawns and sighs. My body will shake, my neck will stretch itself, and I might make strange sounds or even sing spontaneously.

When this is happening, I am not in control. I am just listening and following. My body is leading me in the most direct way back to balance and integration.

It knows exactly what to do. It’s pretty miraculous, really.

Sometimes I laugh at the surprise of what comes up. Sometimes tears run down my cheeks in quiet wonder as this process unfolds all on its own.

There is a big incentive for me to not give any attention to my mind during these moments, because when I do, I lose connection with my body and this wondrous dance that feels like such a gift to even witness.

At times, it feels as if the mind and body are two entirely different worlds. And from offering somatic therapy, I’ve recognized that most people live entirely within the world of their mind, and miss out on this magic and wisdom of their body, because they've learned through painful and overwhelming experiences to disconnect from the neck down.

Yet when we cultivate a genuine connection to our bodies, we find ourselves naturally regulated and centered.

This isn't just about feeling good, it's about knowing our worth and our power. It’s about having a clear understanding of our needs and the ability to hold our boundaries.

We can feel the full range of emotions, the joy and the sadness and everything in between, without feeling overwhelmed, and experience our humanity fully, connecting deeply to ourselves, to others, and to the world.

This capacity for regulation and connection is available to all of us. It is who we are. It is our essence and our birthright, something we were simply taught to disconnect from.

My work provides a map to find your way back to this. It's about reconnecting with a wisdom that is already inside you. Sometimes, all it takes is a little support to feel safe enough to walk there again.

14/07/2025

The quality I find most magnetic in others is curiosity.

Not the kind that is driven by the need to analyse, but a genuine, openhearted curiosity. The kind that lives in wonder. The kind that assumes there is always more to discover in another person, more than the mind’s quick judgments or labels could ever capture.

There’s nothing more draining than being with someone who believes they’ve already figured everything out, about life, about others, about you. Curiosity is what keeps our connection alive. It’s what makes presence feel fresh.

It’s easy to reduce another person to a story we hold about them. To see through the narrow lens of our own conditioning. But when we meet someone with curiosity, we meet their essence…the part of them that longs to be known, the part that is always unfolding.

I believe every human longs to be seen in this way.
To be met beyond identity, beyond appearance.
To be known. Not just with words, but in felt, silent recognition.

When someone has offered this to me, a kind of quiet attunement, a seeing that holds no agenda, it has changed me. In ways I can’t always explain, but that I feel deep in my being. It has allowed and inspired my being to blossom.

Perhaps this is the greatest gift we can give each other.
To stay curious.
To see with fresh eyes.
To reflect back not just who someone appears to be… but who they truly are.

15/05/2025

I just posted a new Youtube video, on something that comes up often for clients and really, just about every human, in some form or another!

Self-sabotage gets a bad rap. You can feel even in the name, that there is this sense of malice or violence about it. Like we are doing this awful thing to ourselves, and we are the only ones to blame.

But self-sabotage is actually a very intelligent protective mechanism within our psyche, born from how we adapted to painful or vulnerable childhood environment and experiences.

In this video, I speak to the common ways it shows up, how exactly it is protecting us from re-experiencing these painful feelings and how to work with our protective parts so that they feel safe to let us become the full expression of ourselves and move forward with our goals and aspirations.

Why We Self-Sabotage (and How to Gently Stop) | Somatic Therapy & Parts Work InsightsHave you ever found yourself procrastinating on something that really ma...

10/05/2025

Tight jaw? Racing thoughts? Feeling stuck in tunnel vision?
This gentle nervous system reset invites you to soften through two powerful gateways: your mouth and your eyes.

In just a few minutes, we explore:
Peripheral vision — to shift out of fight-or-flight
Softening the roof of the mouth — to signal safety to the body

It’s subtle, but powerful.
No effort, just a gentle return to calm presence.

08/05/2025

A special opportunity for women curious about Somatic Psychotherapy:

As I continue deepening my practice through advanced supervision and training, I’m opening a few half-price spots in my practice for those open to participating in a unique professional development offering.

These sessions are part of a short-term opportunity to receive fortnightly Somatic Psychotherapy at a reduced rate, in exchange for consent to record brief excerpts (5 to 10 minutes max) for supervisor feedback. These are strictly therapist-focused, fully confidential and most sessions won’t be shared at all.

Sessions are available from now through late September, either in-person in Montville or online.

I’m specifically inviting women aged 30 to 50 who already have some capacity for embodiment and self-reflection, even if just a little. This helps ensure the work is supportive and effective.

If you’ve been curious about Somatic Therapy, I draw from Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, Parts Work, and body-based trauma healing.

You can read more about Hakomi here:
https://hakomiinstitute.com/about/what-is-hakomi/

This kind of therapy is often helpful for those who feel stuck in talk therapy,
experience emotional overwhelm or stress,
find themselves in repeating relationship patterns or want to explore the mind-body connection more deeply.

If this speaks to you or someone you know, I’d love to connect and see if I might be the right person to support you.

Warmly,
Tori

03/05/2025

I created this YouTube channel as a way to support my clients and anyone who’s needing little moments of safety, grounding, and reconnection throughout the week.

Somatic therapy can take us into some really deep and tender places. And I’ve found that having simple tools to support your nervous system along the way makes all the difference.

These videos are my way of sharing those tools with you to remind you that resourcing yourself doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, I think sometimes we overlook the simple things because they seem too basic... but our body often responds best to exactly that: gentle, consistent support.

Some of the videos will be short regulation tools you can use anytime others will be practices that are short enough to fit into your morning or evening routine, but long enough to help you land, feel a shift, and reconnect with yourself.

Each one brings together elements of trauma-informed somatic yoga, grounding breathwork, and nervous-system regulation. All simple, accessible ways to come back home to your body, and to yourself.

If that sounds like something you’d benefit from, I’d love to have you subscribe and practice with me.

Welcome to this 27-minute Somatic Yoga practice: Coming Home to the Body.This gentle, trauma-informed session is designed to help you reconnect with your inn...

26/03/2025

Many people come to therapy expecting a traditional "talk therapy" approach where they share their story with a therapist who listens with care and presence, attuning and reflecting.

This can be incredibly valuable, particularly for those who have never had a safe space to be truly heard.

But at some point, many people realise that simply talking about past experiences doesn’t always create the changes they’re hoping for.

They may still feel afraid, sad, or stuck in the same limiting behavioural and relational patterns. This can lead to frustration and wondering why therapy isn’t bringing the shifts they expected.

They may even turn away from therapy entirely, with a sense that it just isn’t helpful for them.

While I love listening to people’s stories and naturally hold deep curiosity about how humans tick, my approach goes beyond talk therapy.

For those unfamiliar with practices like meditation, yoga, or mindfulness, the idea of slowing down and tuning into bodily sensations and one’s internal experience might feel strange or foreign at first.

But in my experience, this deeper exploration is where the most valuable transformation happens. It can feel subtle at first, but with patience, can be absolutely revolutionary.

Somatic therapeutic work invites you to move beyond thinking and analysing, into directly feeling and sensing what’s present in this moment.

This very moment is our anchor to what is true and alive. By staying with these subtle experiences and attuning to ourselves in this way, information starts to arise from a deep and clear place.

The kind of information that doesn’t come from our thinking, but arises on it’s own, and rings true, bringing a kind of integration through the whole body.

It’s about stepping into the unknown rather than reaching for familiar explanations. It requires patience, curiosity, and a willingness to slow down, even when it’s uncomfortable.

I’ve come to realise that my passion lies in working with the deeper layers of the psyche, the places that can’t be accessed through words alone.

This makes sense when we consider that so much of who and how we are is developed between our developmental ages between birth-3 years old. This is a mainly pre-verbal period of life, so these experiences are largely somatic.

In this sense, we cannot actually touch into and re-pattern these experiences unless we go to a place deeper than conscious memory and thought.

And how do we do that?

By feeling, which is not an easy gig at first for those who simply think their way through life.

This is why someone can have chronic anxiety, but look around and see no present trigger in their circumstances that justifies it.

Commonly, this is an example of a very early somatic experience which is still being held in the body and neural pathways, even though the person may find themselves in a very different world now.

Talk therapy alone will simply not be a sufficient means to process this kind of experience.

True healing isn’t always found in our stories, because our minds try to make things linear and logical. But as human beings, we are anything but linear.

When it comes to our mind, we only have access to the tip of the iceberg, yet this work allows us to dive beneath the surface and swim down to the core.

As I always say, it isn’t for the faint hearted, but for those who are curious and willing, it can be truly life-changing. It certainly has been for me.

This approach isn’t for everyone, but for those who are ready, it offers a profound way to connect with what’s truly happening inside.

There are many amazing talk therapists out there, and I am not one of them.

17/02/2025

These days my favourite way to ground myself is by taking slow, mindful walks in the morning. I used to be all about rushing, always on a mission or chasing a workout high. Now I simply walk with the goal of being fully present.

I usually have my earphones in, lost in a podcast or my favourite atmospheric music, until I bumped into my neighbour the other day. His eyes lit up as he shared how much he loved walking and wondered why anyone would block out nature’s symphony with earphones.

I’m lucky enough to live in a rainforest area, so there is an abundance of birds here.

Now I’m starting my mornings without earphones and without any rush. It’s amazing how nature reveals its incredible beauty, from its rich colors to its intricate shapes, when you slow down and truly look and take in the nourishment that it offers through that beauty.

I miss those breathtaking moments when I’m speeding along with a podcast in my ears.

If you have a newish iPhone you can also take a picture of any plant you see and look up its name, which I find fun and sparks my curiosity. We have such an incredible variety here in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Sometimes the simplest shift in how we experience our day can open us up to a world of wonder that connects us with a deep sense of joy and happiness that just fills us up like nothing else can.

The simple delight of being, and the richness that is invoked through this embodied awareness is like nothing else.

21/01/2025

How do you wake up in the morning?

Most people wake up and fall straight into unconscious habits that are unknowingly impacting their mental and emotional health on a chemical level, and subtly sabotaging the rest of their day.

Those first moments are important. Trauma and unresolved emotional distress can often create a sense of heaviness when we wake up, which we then want to distract ourselves from by scrolling or diving straight into the day, without taking some time to tend to our brain and body's needs.

There is so much hype about morning practices and which activities are best, so I decided to do some research into what scientific evidence has shown about the practices that create the greatest positive impact on emotional wellbeing specifically.

The great news is that these tasks do not take long! They are easily achievable and make such a big impact when done consistently.

The last slide is a personal practice I have lent on for several years, and I have found that it creates a big impact because it promotes an opening of the heart to oneself.

What would love do? The answer will be different for all of us. Maybe one day its sleep longer, or have some alone time, or take it slower than usual. So each morning, take a few breaths, connect to your heart and trust the answer/s that come.

15/01/2025

After over 10 years as a holistic therapist, I’ve had the privilege of working with countless bodies, hearts, and nervous systems.

Along the way, I’ve discovered key truths about healing trauma and emotional imbalance that have also helped me heal my own emotional pain.

1. Trauma lives in the body.

Healing isn’t just about revisiting memories; it’s about helping the body feel safe and connected while those memories surface. Our bodies hold the emotional imprints of past experiences, and working with the body can be the key to releasing stored pain.

2. Trauma isn’t always big and obvious.

Everyone walking this Earth has some form of trauma. It doesn’t always have to be a major event. Trauma can show up as patterns in relationships, persistent feelings of unease, limiting behaviours, or even physical health symptoms.

3. Emotions need movement.

Suppressed emotions often get trapped as energy in the body. When we direct gentle awareness into those areas of tension or discomfort, emotions can begin to flow and transform, offering valuable insights about the past that were previously hidden.

4. Safety is the foundation of healing.

The nervous system can only relax and repair when it feels safe. When the body feels safe, it can heal both physically and emotionally. Establishing safety is the first and most crucial step toward lasting healing.

5. The body speaks in sensations.

Sensations like tightness, heat, or trembling are the body’s way of communicating. Learning to tune into these sensations allows us to better understand the messages our body is trying to share.

6. Healing can be gentle.

Even small steps toward emotional regulation can result in significant change. Somatic therapy works with the body’s natural rhythm, allowing us to release what we’re ready to let go of. It can be intense, but it's always held within a bubble of safety, with an anchor back to stability whenever needed.

7. The body knows how to heal.

Our bodies have an incredible capacity for self-healing. Just as a wound or illness heals, so does our psyche. If we step aside and allow the body’s wisdom to guide the process, it knows exactly what it needs to heal.

8. What we resist, persists.

It’s natural to avoid pain, but the more we suppress emotions, the louder they become. Addressing emotions as they arise, rather than ignoring them, prevents them from overwhelming us later.

9. Our emotional pain is a gift.

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that emotional pain, while challenging, is an opportunity for growth. When we process it in healthy ways, it leads to deeper resilience, personal growth, and a deeper connection to ourselves.

10. Emotional pain can be a compass to our deepest fulfillment and sense of alignment.

Each time emotional pain or trauma surfaces, it presents an opportunity to release a layer that’s holding you back from thriving. The body knows when we’re ready to heal, and it will never present more than we can handle.

As we feel safer in our nervous system, old patterns or unresolved pain may surface but that’s not a setback. It’s a sign that healing is happening, and you are moving forward.