I remember sitting cross-legged on the floor of a small room in India, watching an older woman comfort a crying child. There was no discussion about emotional regulation. Nobody was explaining attachment theory. She simply pulled the child towards her, held him against her body and continued talking to the women around her. The crying softened. His head settled against her shoulder. Within a few minutes, he was watching everyone else again. Culture shapes how we experience the body long...

There is something very intimate about being touched when you are vulnerable. A hand on the shoulder can communicate reassurance without a single word. An embrace can make someone feel held when language has become difficult. Even the briefest contact can sometimes bring a person back into their body after years of feeling disconnected from it. But the same gesture can have an entirely different effect. For someone who has experienced trauma, touch can bring up sensations that arrive before...

A little while ago, I finished what I thought had been a fairly quiet day. I had worked from home, answered a handful of emails, read a few articles and spoken to a couple of clients online. Nothing particularly stressful had happened. There were no difficult conversations, no looming deadlines and no unexpected crises. By early evening, I should have felt reasonably settled. Instead, I felt oddly restless and tired at the same time. I remember walking into the garden because something in me...