The intimate connection between trauma, the body, and spiritual awakening is a journey many of us encounter but few fully articulate.

In my recent, profound conversation with Faye Laroux, we explored how the body serves as both a vessel for trauma and the ultimate portal to transformation.

Faye's path began on the prestigious stages of the American Ballet Theater, where at just 17 years old, she was immersed in a world of elite performance, perfectionism, and what she describes as "grooming" culture. The ballet world, while beautiful from the outside, contained darker undercurrents of control, misogyny, and voicelessness. As Faye explains, dancers are trained to let their bodies be shaped and directed by external forces, a pattern that can open vulnerabilities in other areas of life. This early conditioning created a foundation for both heightened sensitivity and susceptibility to manipulation.

What's particularly striking about Faye's experience is her perspective on trauma itself....

The journey of spiritual awakening often conjures images of dramatic, life-altering moments – thunder, lightning, profound revelations that suddenly change everything. But what if the most transformative awakenings happen quietly, subtly, with a gentle touch that reorganizes everything from within? This is what Claire Lottier calls "the gentle piercing" – an awakening that doesn't break you wide open in a single moment, but softens you from the inside out.

In our constant search for belonging, we often confuse external manifestations with internal truths. We seek dream homes, perfect relationships, and career success, believing these external achievements will satisfy our soul's longing for home. As Claire discovered through her own experience of manifesting (and then losing) her dream home in France, these external forms are merely reflections – sacred mirrors meant to guide us deeper into remembrance of who we truly are. What seems like loss becomes the greater gift when it leads us...