Jaya Narayan Expressive Arts Practice

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Jaya Narayan Expressive Arts Practice

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Somatic Trauma Therapist | Body-Based Therapy | Fairfield & Preston, Melbourne

Trauma-informed somatic therapist specialising in body-based therapy, creative arts therapy, and Psychodrama for complex trauma, PTSD, chronic pain, IBS, anxiety, depression,

15/04/2026

It takes a very long time
to trust
permission
to sense vulnerability
develop capacity
accept the fear
memories
of manipulation and control
reestablish autonomy
without problem solving
just
softening into
a shared space
allowing
us to breathe
silently slow... spacious ...
unhurried

11/04/2026

"Freedom is supposed to feel like air after drowning. But I've surfaced, and I still can't breathe."
― Joy Michelle Austin

The change to a different choice is so hard when survival roles feel safe enough.
The new feels so destabilising.
Without soft surfaces and people who can hold the shock of toppling — reassurances that even after everything falls, you will be ok — the first step is hard to take.
In this exploration, I want to prove that nothing has changed.
When things topple, I feel relief.
Yet I am curious to keep trying.
I am waiting for someone to tell me I am ok — that stepping into the unknown won't swallow me whole.

08/04/2026

regrets and disconnection
insurmountable pressures
stagnant
untenable gripping
gaps between
expectation and outcome
letting others down
unfulfilled wishes

how can I trust what is waiting to happen next?
turning towards

tenderness
acceptance
withholding criticism
opportunities to pause
linear time

04/04/2026

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity ~ Simone Weil

Each moment of therapeutic relational engagement is a choice. An ongoing quiet awareness of what is being considered and what is being set aside. As a therapist, I listen to the impulses in my body and invite the client to identify what has energy for them. We move out of the narrative from the explicit to what lies beneath, what is almost imperceptible. The shift allows us to adopt an experiential/experimental attitude. I watch how the beginnings - what occurs when we gather just before we begin- inform the thread of what may happen. The criss-crossing amazes me. Sometimes I lead, and other times they conduct. Afterwards, I re-live these moments in my choreography, guided by my hands and allowing the rest of the body to follow. It is a dance — fluid sometimes, clunky others. All of it matters. All of it is the work.

or

01/04/2026

asymmetry in nature

applauded

as the gifts of abundance

and judged in humans

as too much

disobedience celebrated in plants

the joys of meandering

while classified as dangerous in people

tangled undergrowth recognised

as nourishment for the soil

germinating fear and disruption

amongst individuals

migratory birds

acknowledged when crossing thresholds

yet silenced in kin

Are we alike - part of the soil

28/03/2026

"The interpersonal nourishes the personal into existence while we remain permanently part of each other." ~ Bonnie Badenoch
The relational interaction between me and my environment is ongoing and reciprocal. The environment, as a metaphor, includes the unsaid and the implicit. I am continuously moulded by everything below the level of consciousness — unconscious beliefs sedimenting, layering themselves as a bodily imprint. I notice it in the way my body caves in and becomes heavy. I feel a lump in my throat when being with both the familiar and the unfamiliar.
In this exploration, I meet and oppose the contours of my body through the bean bag. As I push into and against it, it pushes back and dissolves. I shift, adjust, contort — trying to find the position that feels right. The place where I fit without force.

24/03/2026

when anxiety sits alongside longing

I see you

when fear of getting it wrong

bridges our connection

when speaking about shame and envy

opens up relational spaces

when spontaneous choices

steps aside the urge to disappear

when imperfect sharing

contains tears, laughter and care

when experiencing what I need

allows joining in

when speaking about awkwardness

Fosters belonging

I, you, we

21/03/2026

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul." — Emily Dickinson.
I am uncovering something powerful about prayers, not only for myself, but for all of us.
I gather what I perceive are universal needs. One quality at a time. Safe Accepting people. Joy. Spontaneity. Rest.
A ritual of bringing towards and holding. Of saying — this belongs to me. This belongs to us.
I hold it close and feel the vibrational quality of it. The weight of something waiting to be received.
Into the basket it goes.

18/03/2026

Messy weaves
edgy entwining
criss crossing tension
neglected at the Hem
binding...unravelling
stitched expectations
colours bleeding
threads of not being enough
tangled sense of self
Sewing doubts
warping, wefting and fraying
our hands tells
the knotted story
seams left open

14/03/2026

"Long after the danger is past, traumatised people relive the event as though it were continually recurring in the present." — Judith Herman.

What does it mean that memory is forgotten, but the imprint remains?
I explore this question experientially. I take away physically how the gesture was formed and stay with what remains. I notice how important it is for me to be loyal to what is in my immediate vicinity — this object, this ground, this moment. I hold this marker as a reassurance of safety as I move through the space.

I reflect on what I know from this moment: there is no reason for my belief, but a deep knowing of its significance.

I wonder more about what else constitutes my unconscious responses—reflexes, posture, breath, tensing, bracing? In my practice, I appreciate having the lens of expressive movement. Gesture makes the process concrete and softens the intensity of tracking sensations from the inside.
The idea here is not what comes next or how I might change—but to notice. To bring awareness to what is occurring now.

10/03/2026

diverting to franticness
cloaking disappointment
shrivelled tightly
Disowning dreams
Hopelessly numb & disconnected
unsure of what supports me
I tighten the grip
sealing the heart
distrusting self and others
spiralling in past associations
ungrounded in vulnerability
interrupting STeadiness
not here and now
Away

or

07/03/2026

"What we call chaos is just patterns we haven't recognised yet." — Chuck Palahniuk.
Growing up, I was valued as a go-getter, someone who worked really well under pressure. As I've reflected on this identity, I've begun to understand something about adrenaline overdrive. This surge sharpens focus and generates energy—but it's designed for short bursts, followed by quiet and rest.

The problem is, when chaos became my way of feeling alive and connected to myself, the adrenaline stopped being a tool and became a need. That external voice of acceptance—the praise for being capable, for handling it all—never became my inner voice. Instead, it turned into something that sounds perpetually dissatisfied, something that takes me to the edges of my capacity and keeps me on a slippery path.
I'm exploring these patterns as I live them. I notice how difficult it is to reduce my expectations, even when things become unstable and risky.

Even though I know conceptually about giving myself permission and celebrating what I can do, I still feel that nagging sense of "not enough." I'm learning to recognise when I'm confusing the rush of stress with genuine passion or purpose—when I'm manufacturing urgency because calm feels unfamiliar.

This is ongoing work, discerning what truly matters and how much is enough.

What did you sense in my offering? Do share in the comments.

Address

Eve Studio
Melbourne, VIC
3072

Website

http://jaya-narayan.com/

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