178. Breathwork After Betrayal: Somatic Healing Helps Release Trauma Stored in the Body W/ Hali Roderick

Hello hello, my amazing, beautiful listeners. Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here today.

I am really excited for this conversation because I’m joined by my dear friend Halle. I feel a little teary even introducing her. I just love her. Halle and I work closely together through Choose Recovery Services, and we’re also preparing for an incredible women’s retreat in Costa Rica that you are absolutely invited to join.

Halle has so many gifts, and one of the most powerful is her work with breathwork. She helps women reconnect to their bodies in a way that feels safe, grounded, and deeply healing. That’s what we’re talking about today.

Halle, I’m so grateful you’re here. Can you start by sharing a little about yourself and how you found your way into breathwork?

Halle’s Story and Breathwork Journey

Thank you for having me. The feelings are mutual. I truly consider you part of my tribe, both personally and professionally.

I work primarily with betrayed partners and some couples, and I help facilitate intensives through Choose Recovery Services. One of my greatest passions is working in person with clients. There is something incredibly powerful about being in the same physical space, feeling each other’s nervous systems regulate, and creating safety together.

I first found breathwork through a local yoga studio. I honestly had no idea what I was walking into. I thought it would be a meditation class. It was not. I walked out thinking, I don’t know what that was, but when can I do it again?

That experience changed everything for me. Breathwork became a major part of my own somatic healing journey. I eventually felt called to learn how to facilitate it because I realized how deeply trauma lives in the body. We can talk and process trauma endlessly, but if we don’t address the physical imprint, we miss a huge part of healing.

Why Breathwork Can Feel Intense After Trauma

One of the first times I experienced breathwork was in the jungle in Mexico, and it was intense. I’m a breath holder. That’s part of how my nervous system learned to survive. So opening my breath in that way felt scary and out of control.

Why does breathwork sometimes feel overwhelming, especially for people with trauma?

Our breath is powerful. It’s the one thing we carry from the moment we are born until the moment we die. For people who’ve experienced trauma, there’s often a protective inward collapse. Breathwork invites expansion. That alone can feel unsafe if your body doesn’t feel safe.

In somatic breathwork, the breathing pattern shifts the chemistry in your body. You’re taking in more oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide, which causes blood vessels in the brain to constrict slightly. The thinking brain quiets down. For people who live in survival mode, a quiet brain can feel unfamiliar or even scary.

You might feel tingling, stiffness in the hands, emotional release, or a sense of losing control. None of this is dangerous, but it can feel intense if you’re not prepared. That’s why trauma informed facilitation and creating safety beforehand is essential.

Trauma, Breath, and the Body

Betrayal trauma often feels like a bomb going off in your life. Everything collapses at once. Safety, trust, identity, even your sense of self. The body goes into shock, and the trauma gets stored because there’s no space to discharge it.

Breathwork helps create a pathway for that stored survival energy to move through and release. It allows the body to complete responses that were interrupted at the time of trauma.

In the first half of breathwork, the nervous system becomes activated. In the second half, grounding and regulation bring the body back to safety. That full cycle is part of healing.

Emotional Release and Being Witnessed

During breathwork, people may cry deeply, feel rage, or experience powerful emotional release. For many women, it’s the first time they’ve felt safe enough to express emotions they were never allowed to show.

One of the most powerful aspects of this work is being witnessed. Having someone present who can say, I’m right here. You’re not alone. That co regulation creates safety and allows the body to let go.

This is why we’re not meant to heal alone.

Clearing the Cache and Choosing What You Carry Forward

I love the analogy of breathwork as clearing the cache. We all walk around with dozens of open tabs in our minds. Breathwork helps shut the system down, reboot, and start fresh.

Another analogy is the backpack. Over time, we fill it with rocks from painful experiences. Breathwork helps unpack the backpack. Then, in the grounding phase, you get to choose what you put back in and what you leave behind.

That choice is powerful.

Finding the Right Breathwork Experience

Not all breathwork is the same. The style I practice is Somatiq breathwork, which emphasizes body wisdom and trauma informed facilitation.

What matters most is the facilitator. Your body will tell you if something feels safe or not. Avoid spaces that feel dark, unsafe, or involve substances you’re not comfortable with. Your body already knows how to heal. A facilitator’s role is to hold space, not fix you.

Starting Where You Are

If you’re not ready for a breathwork session yet, start small. Notice your breath. Place a hand on your chest or belly. Pay attention to how often you hold your breath. Bring compassion to that awareness.

Breath is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to reconnect to your body.

Invitation to Costa Rica and Closing

This July, we’ll be bringing breathwork, somatic healing, and deep restoration to Costa Rica. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or carrying too much, this retreat is an invitation to reset, reconnect, and choose what you want to carry forward.

Halle, thank you for this conversation and for the work you do.

Thank you. I hope listeners feel encouraged to explore breathwork when they’re ready. It’s one of the most powerful ways to move stored trauma without having to talk about it.