“For me, resilience isn’t about pushing through or tolerating pain. It’s about flexibility ~ the ability to move with life rather than hardening against it.”

About this episode

In this conversation, we dive deep into the nuances of holding space, energy and holding the energies of neutrality.

What began as a chance meeting during a coworking session in Perth unfolds into a rich exploration of shared paths through meditation retreats, counselling, somatic work, and yoga philosophy. Mira reflects on how practices like Vipassana meditation, nervous system awareness, and embodied healing shape the way practitioners support others.

This discussion explores the nuances of resilience, the limitations of toxic positivity, and the delicate balance between witnessing pain and truly meeting it. We also dive into the practitioner’s role in holding space ~ how neutrality, presence, and relational care interact when working with trauma, growth, and transformation.

At its heart, this episode is an invitation for practitioners and seekers alike to reflect on their own beliefs about healing, the body, and the many paths toward embodied wellbeing.

In this episode

00:28 Meeting Mira Through Focusmate, connecting on Vipassana
04:41 Embodied Living and Resilience
09:32 Toxic Positivity and Healing
12:41 Vipassana Meets Somatics
30:18 When Clients Drop Down
31:45 Holding Space With Love
35:43 Trauma Pacing and Co-Regulation
49:22 Labels Resilience And Wholeness
53:26 Emerging Edge Closing Reflections

Resources from this episode

Meditation & contemplative practice

S. N. Goenka — teacher who popularised the modern Vipassana meditation retreats discussed in the episode. These are typically 10-day silent retreats focused on observing bodily sensations.

Vipassana meditation — a Buddhist-derived practice centred on observing sensation and developing equanimity.

Somatic & trauma-informed work

Arielle Schwartz, post-traumatic growth, the idea that people can experience psychological and spiritual development following trauma.

Peter Levine, creator of Somatic Experiencing, Pendulation and the titration, a body-based trauma therapy mentioned when discussing titration and pendulation in healing.

Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory informs many modern approaches to nervous system regulation and trauma healing.

Platform mentioned

Focusmate — the online body-doubling coworking platform where Gabrielle and Mira first met.

About Mira Rao

Mira Has been practicing yoga for 25 years and teaching yoga and body-based therapy for 10 years.

She completed studies in Linguistics and Journalism, holds an MBA and is currently completing her Masters in Counselling at Notre Dame University.

People seek Mira out when they’re burnt out on getting stuck in their past in therapy or whitewashing their pain with toxic positivity in coaching. They want to BOTH release old trauma and stress patterns, learn deep and steady self compassion, AND make significant changes in their life to move forward with resilience and confidence.

Mira teaches them practical ways to develop routines and rituals for embodied resilience that help them work through unresolved traumas, deal better with challenges and stress and start moving towards what they truly want in their lives. Mira’s links if you want to connect with her work.