The Ripple Begins

Hey there, If we haven’t met before, I’m Rach, a newly qualified Triple Vagal Method (TVM) Practitioner.

I have used writing over the years as a safe space to make sense of my thoughts in private, as well as share some of my thoughts with others via blogs and social media. Asking people to trust me, be vulnerable and go to the dark places, it only feels fair that I share a little about myself and how I came to be a TVM practitioner.

I stumbled across TVM as part of my own healing journey. Like many, I experienced a significant bullying in school, had some significant early trauma’s and didn’t receive appropriate care or access services at the time.

I didn’t feel like I was worth it.

I experienced depression throughout my teenage years and only managed this in adulthood via counselling, EMDR, CBT, play therapy, seasonal adjustments and long term anti-depressant medication. I never wanted medicating, but I wouldn’t be here without meds. Or therapy.

I understand the stigma around poor mental health. I lived it on my own for a while. I know how hard it is talking about it. That is one of the things I love so much about TVM. You don’t have to talk about it for it to be effective.

Asking for help is HARD. Not reaching out is harder. I chose my hard. I chose to stay and talk about it.

Not knowing what I wanted to do or be when I grew up, I studied Child and Family Studies and began working with autistic adults in the community, supporting them to live semi-independently. This led to some transition work and experience with younger people and children with additional needs. Soon I was working with children who were looked after in mainstream residential homes. I loved it. It was and is, the best and worst job in the world. It felt like home.

Here I spent 20 years, developing as a Residential Practitioner, caring for and about, as well as championing the children in our care. Over the years my passion, experience and knowledge expanded. I honed my skill set and progressed to Registered Manager.

I was 30 years old before I started any healing. Life hit a new low, but rock bottom is a great place to start building a new foundation. It was at this time a special human gifted me entry to the Great Manchester Open Water Swim for my 30th birthday. This changed the trajectory of my life. At the darkest time, when I gave real consideration to extinguishing the flame, I realised I had a choice and I chose to live.

Not just survive.

Live.

Like my life depended on it.

Because it did.

I wanted to feel.

To experience things learn what my body could do. I stopped smoking, I went to therapy, I set myself BIG goals and set out to achieve them.

Using swimming to connect the body and utilise bilateral processing, accessing mindfulness via hours of being face down in a pool or puddle, listening to the rhythmic bubbles, focussing on specific parts of my body in the water. I had found my Zen. Or rather, I had remembered how special the water was and how much I needed it. I paired this with CBT and EMDR therapy to address old issues still impacting my mental health.

I had always loved swimming as child, dreaming of swimming the channel, waking up with sore shoulders, exhausted. The smell of chlorine has powers of transportation for me. So does the smell of wetsuit. And lake. As for the sea, well, she is a different beast. She evokes all of the feels. We have a very special relationship. The sound and smell of her soothes me.

When Isak Dinesen said ‘I know of a cure for everything: salt water. Sweat, or tears, or the sea.’ They weren’t kidding.

Goal setting and multiple small achievements leading to bigger ones, regular access to nature, routine, consistency, endorphins along with the unwavering support of a fantastic coach and a new community, led me to places I had never dreamed of. Including France as part of a relay with my friends. The same group of us swam round Jersey a couple of years later. I still pinch myself.

I learned to love my body and what it could do. I pushed hard, realising early that I was built for comfort, not for speed. So I went long. Long swims. Long runs. Long cycles. All culminating in a couple of iron distance triathlons and ultra marathons. So much bilateral movement. Luke Warm is no good and all that. Poor Luke. I had a great internal metronome, wind me up, set me off and I could keep going for hours. Early trauma taught me to endure well. CBT taught me to restructure it.

I understood the value of a good coach and wanted to give the gift of swimming to others. I loved being at the pool. I loved being face down in a lake even more. I loved enabling and lifting others. Undertaking the level 1 and 2 ASA coaching qualifications enriched my experience of swimming and allowed me to enable and support others accessing the joy of swimming and open water, while enhancing my understanding of the craft.

There is something very magical about being a tiny human in a huge body of water. Particularly if it is vast, deep and cold. Every swim is different. Being in the water teaches a myriad of things. Weather on the day changes the whole experience. Both the external environmental weather as well as the inner, mental health and mood variety, Swimming brings unexpected tools, transferable for navigating life on land. It is life-saving.

Being held in the water, trusting it will hold you, floating. Being part of nature, visiting the fishes in their home. Feeling rain patter on your back. Cold patches, warm patches. Learning how to move with the water, rather than fighting against it. Surrendering to the unchangeable, controlling what you can.

Bubbles. Breath. Body.

Like many, the pandemic hit me hard. I moved to a new local authority and new (to me) residential home. Change is hard, even when its chosen and necessary. What I didn’t know when I started was, I had entered peri-menopause round about the same time. I also didn’t know I am neurodivergent. I’d questioned ADHD over the years, but put difficulties down to trauma and life circumstances at the time. Front-line safeguarding and care delivery is hard enough at the best of times, after a couple of years, I found myself in a perfect storm and I burnt out. I didn’t have full access to my coping mechanisms due to the pandemic. My hormones were a mess and old traumas were triggered.

Support from professionals, family and community, along with a splash of serendipity, meant I could heal and was afforded the opportunity of training as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner. It was during this time of deep diving into common mental health conditions, causes and treatments that I discovered Triple Vagal Method as part of my own on-going work.

I knew immediately that I wanted to take this modality to others. I accessed more TVM to stabilise my nervous system and increase vagal tone.

Returning to university in my 40’s confirmed suspicions about neurodivergence - helpfully, I learned additional CBT and mindfulness tools to manage common mental health conditions, but also learned unexpected things about myself. It became evident that, although brilliant, the conveyor-belt nature of the NHS doesn’t suit my style of working.

I believe too much in the therapeutic relationships (if such a thing is possible). 30 minutes per session, felt like it was only just starting and then it was over. As a client, I know how long it takes me to settle into a therapy session. Many of the low intensity treatments were stability and preparation for trauma work and meant changing therapists as well as going back on a waiting list. This was heart-breaking as someone wanting to make a positive impact to facilitate healing for others.

I had support to attend the Inner Alchemy retreat in Spain, September 2025 and it exceeded my expectations.

I went to Spain with the hope of learning about the polyvagal ladder and how to support and facilitate healing through nervous system for self-regulation and trauma release.

I came home with so much more than that. I came home with friendships, personal insights, a heart cracked wide-open and feeling more solid, whole and healed in my body than I thought possible. Integration has been lengthy.

Now its now and I have fully landed.

I have completed my case studies as well as my practice hours and I’m ready to bring my weave of skills and knowledge to the world - well, Leeds, with occasional travel to more exotic parts of West Yorkshire and across the UK.

The ripple has started and who knows how far it will travel?