There are stories we carry that were never spoken, only felt. They live in our bodies, in our triggers, in the silence behind our eyes. Childhood trauma is not just an emotional wound; it is a neurological injury. It changes not just how we feel, but how we function; how our brains work, how our bodies move, and how we see ourselves.
This is my story; one of pain, survival, and slow, powerful healing. A journey from being broken down by childhood trauma to finding peace, through nature, nutrition, movement, and deep, internal love.
🔥 When Trauma Lives in the Brain
When we experience trauma, whether emotional neglect or sexual, emotional, or physical abuse, our brain’s threat system goes into overdrive.
As a little child, I went through severe stress and destructive trauma, ACEs experiences that changed how I thought, felt, and even how I connected to the world. For years, I was haunted by suicidal thoughts, rage, and a sense of being mentally broken and deeply unloved.
I grew up in fear. The kind of fear that became part of your identity. My mother never called me by my name. She HATED me. I received thorough beatings, insults, and despise. I was often isolated and silenced, which shaped the way my brain functioned.
That wasn’t just emotional neglect; it was neurological trauma.
What trauma does to the brain:
Amygdala – becomes overactive, heightening fear and emotional reactivity
Hippocampus – shrinks, impairing memory and learning
Prefrontal cortex – weakens, making focus, planning, and regulation harder
In school, I could barely understand what was being taught. I was in survival mode; trauma literally blocks learning.
Below are 7 things that pivoted my life. I'm sharing this with you because I know that if you or someone you know has gone through trauma, these steps can really impact their healing.
🧂 NUTRIENT DEFICIENCES: Silent Wounds That Delay Healing
Nutrients aren’t just carbs; they are the raw materials the brain needs to rebuild and repair itself. Alongside the emotional wounds came what I now understand as a nutritional deficiency. Under severe and constant stress, my system was in survival mode, and my digestion was impaired.
I've now learned the impact of nutrition on brain development and healing.
🥗 Super-Nourishing a Starved Brain
While I still eat mostly plants, what profoundly shifted my healing was when I started eating a raw plant-based diet. I remember making smoothies daily, filled with leafy greens, fruits, and herbs. My salads were large, alive, and colorful.
Nutrients are the building blocks of neurotransmitters, the messengers of the nervous system, the tools of cellular repair.
🧠 Nutrients Essential for Brain Repair:
Magnesium – calms nerves
Zinc – supports emotional resilience
Vitamin D – lifts mood
B Vitamins – fuel mental clarity and neurotransmitter balance
Iron – boosts oxygen to the brain
Omega-3s – reduce brain inflammation
🧘♀️ MINDFULNESS: The Practice That Calmed My Inner Storm
One of the hardest parts of my trauma was overthinking. I was constantly in the past, reliving the trauma; the physical abuse, the punishments, the hate that I could read on my mother’s face. I brought all of it into my adult life.
I constantly feared that people would notice that my mind didn’t “work right.”
But I’m lucky to say now that I’ve managed to calm that overracing mind. I no longer live trapped in old memories. There is space and peace now between my thoughts, a stillness I never knew.
Mindfulness helped me become the observer of my thoughts — not their prisoner. It reduces mental chatter, lowers cortisol, and allows the brain to feel safe again.
💤 SLEEP; Where the Brain Repairs and Rewires
During deep sleep, the body repairs and the brain shrinks slightly to flush out waste through the glymphatic system. It also creates new memories, removes the unwanted ones, reduces inflammation, and rebalances the emotions and hormones.
I used to have a hard time sleeping. My nights were mostly filled with nightmares, reliving past abuse. I would often wake up crying and screaming, and I had to soothe myself back to sleep. These nightmares haunted me until about 12 years ago, when I began healing intentionally.
Now, I love going to bed early. I read books, avoid screens, have no TV, visualize a healthy life, say gratitude/prayers before sleep, and sometimes listen to meditations.
What we think before sleep shapes our subconscious and influences the next day’s thoughts.
Nutrients that support restful sleep: Magnesium, calcium, tryptophan (from bananas, oats, seeds), B6, zinc, and iron.
Sleep is a healing land. I wake up every morning feeling energetic, joyful, and grateful.
💃 MOVEMENT– Healing in Motion
Movement and exercise aren’t just for gaining muscles; they are anti-inflammatory and help the body process trauma.
I started slow. At the time, I was already suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, and I had to force myself to move. I began with gentle walking, slow dancing, and stretching. Over time, I was jogging, sprinting, rebounding, and sometimes dancing for hours.
After intense movement, I can literally feel joy flushing over me. I feel lifted, energetic, and incredibly alive.
Movement releases:
Endorphins – natural painkillers
Dopamine – improves mood and motivation
BDNF – repairs the brain
Anandamide – floods the body with bliss
Reduces cortisol and tension stored in muscles
Movement has become medicine for my nervous system and helps me reconnect with my body.
🌞 THE POWER OF SUNLIGHT– Beyond Vitamin D
I live in a romantic love relationship with the Sun. My heart lights up on sunny days or when I catch the early light of dawn. As a child, I was alone with livestock most days — and the Sun became my quiet companion. I’d gaze at the Sun for hours (I don’t recommend it), but it was the only warmth I had.
Even today, I do gaze at the Sun in early morning hours (when UV is low), and every time, my soul feels in awe.
Sunlight gives us more than Vitamin D, It:
Boosts Serotonin – boosts happiness and stabilizes mood
Regulates melatonin – supports deep sleep
Red light therapy – reduces inflammation and promotes healing
Enhances nitric oxide – supports blood circulation and heart health
I’ve heard patients heal faster when they’re wheeled outdoors.
🎵 MUSIC: A Medicine for the Mood
Oh, music, who doesn’t love music? Even though in a chaotic mind, it may sound just like plain noise!
Even as a child in survival mode, I remember feeling lifted by bits of music even though I didn’t grow up with the luxury of turning on a radio. Later, as a mother, I would hold my babies and dance them to sleep, swaying slowly as songs played.
Today, I don’t listen to music as much as I'd like to, but I sing to myself, sometimes for hours. Music quiets my mind and anchors me in the present. I feel overwhelming joy.
What music does:
Boosts dopamine
Reduces cortisol
Stimulates emotional memory
Increases dopamine and oxytocin (especially through singing)
Promotes calm, relaxation, and mental clarity
Calming instrumental music, 432Hz tones, and ambient rhythms can help relax and reset the brain.
🌸 FLOWERS: Smelling The Connection
Flowers weren’t a huge part of my childhood or healing, but I love them deeply now. When I’m walking or hiking, I often stop to smell them, sometimes even pick a little nectar and taste some petals.
This small act reconnects me with the beauty of Mother Nature.
How smelling flowers supports healing:
Calm the limbic system (where trauma lives)
Lowers stress hormones
Increases serotonin for a better mood and mental clarity
Brings us back to the present and grounds
Even just stopping to smell a flower reminds the nervous system that beauty still exists. There is still beauty in this world. And you are part of it.
💛 GRATITUDE: From Survival to Peace
The lack of maternal love destroyed me the most. It left a wound that whispered for decades: "You are not worthy. You are not lovable."
That belief lived in me for most of my life, until recently, when I chose to embrace myself.
I’ve accepted that nothing can change the past, but I owe it to myself to love and cherish who I am now. I wake up and go to bed with gratitude. I no longer seek love from the outside; I LOVE myself (and this can be the most challenging part in healing). Gratitude shifted my mind from what I lacked to what I have.
How gratitude can help:
Turn inward
Find safety within
Feel whole again
🌟 Final Thoughts: You Are Already Healing
Healing isn’t about forgetting the trauma; it’s about remembering your power to rise from it.
You don’t need to do everything at once. Begin gently. Feed your brain real nourishment. Move. Rest. Breathe. Sing. Sleep like your life depends on it, because it does.
And if you’re wondering where to start: start with one moment of stillness. One glass of green smoothie. One hug to yourself. A few minutes in the sunlight.
You have the power to heal, Githu.
P.S. I guide women to nourish their bodies to heal. This is a sacred space to open up your wounds and transform your health. If you feel called, check out FOODHEAL Healing Hub
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