Stepping into My Truth in Corporate America

Severe childhood trauma can feel like relentless waves of pain that never seem to rest. It is like living in a prison cell within your own family dynamic, one that you did not choose and one that you cannot simply walk away from. When psychological, physical, and emotional pain repeats itself for years, it often leads to chronic trauma symptoms. The root cause is prolonged exposure to highly stressful events with little to no opportunity for recovery in between.

I often explain it as living with constant fire alarms going off inside your body. When the alarms never stop, your nervous system never has the chance to settle. You become conditioned to constantly play defense, anticipating the next threat while living in a perpetual state of anxiety. For much of my 21-year career in Corporate America, this was my reality.

In the corporate world, we spend much of our day sedentary while carrying a tremendous amount of emotional and mental labor. We navigate deadlines, relationships, difficult conversations, constant change, and high expectations. Managing these demands becomes even more difficult when they are compounded by the symptoms of chronic stress.

Throughout my career, managing those symptoms meant relying on anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. They provided relief, and I am grateful they helped me through difficult seasons. However, something inside me kept telling me that I was managing the symptoms rather than addressing the root cause.

At first, I assumed my anxiety was simply the result of building a demanding career at a young age. I started my banking career at just 18 years old and quickly climbed the corporate ladder, earning promotions almost every year. At 21, I was selected to join a national project where I met my future husband. Just three months later, I packed up my life and moved across the country to begin a new chapter with him.

By the age of 22, I had welcomed my first child into the world, gotten married, was working toward my associate degree, and was managing the demands of a growing career. The responsibilities continued to multiply, and so did the stress.

Then came COVID.

Only six months after becoming a new manager, I suddenly found myself leading a team through one of the most uncertain times in modern history. At the same time, I was finishing my bachelor's degree, 15 years after I had first started college. That is an entirely different story for another day. Overnight, my husband and I became homeschool teachers while continuing to navigate the growing demands of our careers.

I became desperate to find relief from the chronic stress that seemed to live inside my body. I knew I needed something that would help me heal from the inside out.

That was when I decided to try yoga and Transcendental Meditation.

Both of these somatic practices became an incredible starting point. They sparked my curiosity about self-care and the mind-body connection. For the first time, I began asking different questions. Instead of wondering how to simply survive stress, I began wondering whether true healing was possible.

Fast forward to 2025.

I enrolled in a 200-hour yoga teacher training in Costa Rica, hoping to embark on a journey of self-discovery. After reaching my 20-year milestone with my company, I was fortunate to take advantage of a sabbatical program, giving myself the time and space to focus on my own healing.

It was there that I first learned the phrase, the body keeps the score.

Everything began to make sense.

I learned that my developmental trauma from childhood, along with the years of accumulated stress that followed, had been stored within my body. Those experiences were not simply memories. They were unresolved emotions and survival patterns that continued influencing my thoughts, behaviors, relationships, and physical health. I had no idea how deeply my nervous system had adapted simply to survive.

While in Costa Rica, I was introduced to Conscious Connected Breathwork.

It became the catalyst I had been searching for.

Soon after returning home, I enrolled in a GPBA-certified breathwork practitioner program. One of the most beautiful aspects of the program is its Twin Trail philosophy. As practitioners, we begin our own deep healing while simultaneously learning how to safely hold space for others as they begin theirs.

Healing years of chronic stress is like peeling back endless layers. It is not linear, and it is certainly not a light switch that can simply be turned on and off. Some days feel incredibly empowering, while others invite you back into the work with greater compassion and patience.

I have learned to celebrate every small victory, trust that consistent self-care creates a ripple effect throughout every area of life, and remember that healing cannot be rushed.

Chronic trauma symptoms, often associated with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), can develop after prolonged exposure to abuse, neglect, or ongoing adversity. They often include emotional dysregulation, a negative self-image, relationship difficulties, hypervigilance, flashbacks, dissociation, chronic guilt or shame, and periods of intense anger. Many people also experience these symptoms physically through chronic pain, fatigue, digestive issues, autoimmune conditions, headaches, and other stress-related illnesses.

My own story began in childhood.

I grew up witnessing domestic violence, living in poverty, experiencing emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and being moved from home to home throughout much of my childhood.

The list continues beyond what I have shared here.

Those early experiences quietly followed me into adulthood and into my corporate career. They influenced how I viewed success, handled pressure, responded to conflict, and related to the world around me.

The greatest gift has been discovering that awareness creates choice.

As I became aware of the effects of chronic stress on my nervous system, I was finally able to begin reclaiming my health through intentional self-care. Yoga, meditation, and breathwork have helped me return to my center in ways I never imagined possible.

Today, a more regulated nervous system has allowed me to experience both my career and my personal life with greater ease. Challenges still arise, but I no longer feel as though I am constantly fighting against life.

Instead of merely surviving each day, I have learned how to truly live.

That is the gift healing has given me.