Caitlin Olson - ITP.

01/08/2026

Let me reintroduce myself. ✨✨

I’m Caitlin, a somatic practitioner and yoga teacher based in Okotoks.

I came to this work in my early 30s after my body reached a point where it could no longer keep up. Burnout, chronic anxiety, autoimmune and reproductive health challenges, and a nervous system that felt constantly activated. I had done talk therapy and understood myself, but my body was not feeling any safer or more settled.

Talk therapy just was not working for me in the way I needed it to. And I know I am not alone in that.

On my path of holistic health, I began to understand how deeply stress and cortisol impact the body over time, and how closely the nervous system is connected to physical symptoms, anxiety, and pain. That understanding led me to somatic work, a practice that changed my life.

Somatic work gave me something I had not experienced before. Presence in my body. Emotional discharge without needing to explain everything out loud. A way for my system to release what it had been holding instead of constantly managing it.

That experience shapes how I work now.

The women I support are often thoughtful, self aware, and exhausted from trying to heal through effort alone. Many have done therapy or personal development work and still feel like their body is stuck in high alert. They are looking for accessible, non invasive, empowering body based work that helps them feel safer and more connected from the inside out.

I do not just help people feel calm. I support them in processing, understanding, and releasing what their body has been holding. This work is deeply validating, empowering, and for many, quietly awakening. 🌊

This work is slow, honest, and deeply human.
And you really do not understand it until you experience it for yourself 🤍

I continue to deepen my education and training in this field. Trauma informed care is not optional in this work 🦋

If you’re new here, I’m so happy you found this space 🫶🏻

01/05/2026

01/03/2026

This is a gentle somatic movement that can support grief, sadness, or emotional heaviness.

Wrap yourself in a blanket or something with weight.
Let your feet feel the ground beneath you.
Rock slowly forward and back or side to side.
Keep the movement small, steady, and predictable.

The combination of pressure and rhythm gives the nervous system a clear signal of containment.
When the body feels held, it no longer has to brace or manage everything at once.

Nothing needs to be forced.
Release isn’t the goal.
Safety and support come first, and softening often follows naturally.

If your body has been carrying more than words can touch, this is the kind of work we explore together.
You don’t have to do it alone.

Sessions available in Okotoks and online.
Link in bio to book or learn more 🤍

01/02/2026

Rage needs somewhere to go.
Not to be analyzed. Not to be released nicely.
Just somewhere safe and solid.

This wall press gives the body resistance.
Your hands push, the wall pushes back.
That feedback tells your nervous system you’re not powerless, you’re contained.

How to do it
Stand facing a wall.
Place your palms flat, elbows soft.
Lean your body weight forward and press.
Let your breath deepen naturally.
Let your jaw unclench or tighten if it needs to.
If sound wants to come out, let it. A growl, a yell, even a low hum counts.

You might notice shaking as you press harder.
That’s not loss of control.
It’s mobilized energy moving instead of getting trapped.

Why it works
Rage is often protective energy with nowhere to land.
Firm pressure plus effort gives it direction.
The body completes a response it didn’t get to finish.

You’re not too much.
Your nervous system is asking for leverage.

Curious about this type of bodywork? Comment RELEASE for more information 🫶🏻

01/01/2026

You’re not that little girl anymore.
That’s true.

For a long time, I didn’t think about her at all.
Not because I was avoiding it.
Because it wasn’t an option.

Most of my childhood is blacked out.
Not vague. Not distant.
Gone.

I also know this.
My mom worked relentlessly to raise us on her own.
She carried more than anyone should have had to carry, and she did it anyway.
What she gave us came from effort, endurance, and showing up day after day.

Both things can be true.
I’m deeply thankful for her. ♥️

So when memories show up now, it’s strange.
They don’t arrive gently.
They don’t come with context or meaning.
They just appear.

What’s different isn’t that I remember more.
It’s that I don’t disappear when I do.

There’s a version of me now who can stay upright in it.
Who knows where she is.
Who isn’t trapped back there.

That’s what it means to leave that place together.
Not dragging the past forward.
Not pretending it didn’t happen.
But no longer being stuck inside it.

01/01/2026

I love goal setting. I’m not anti ambition.
But the “new year, let’s go” energy skips an important step.

Before we pile on new habits, new standards, and new pressure, we need to know if the body is actually prepared to carry any of it.

Because motivation doesn’t fix exhaustion.
Manifestation doesn’t override dysregulation.
And willpower doesn’t rebuild a nervous system.

Goals require capacity, not just desire.

So before you plan the year, realign with the body first.
10 somatic questions to help you do exactly that. ⬇️
1. When do I feel most regulated during a normal day?
2. What consistently leaves me feeling depleted?
3. How does my body let me know when I’m doing too much?
4. What pace feels doable for me right now?
5. Where am I pushing out of habit rather than choice?
6. What kind of support would actually make things easier?
7. What does my body need more of this season?
8. What environments help me feel calmer and clearer?
9. What feels nourishing to maintain, not force?
10. What would “enough” look like for me this year?

Save this. Come back to it when pushing harder isn’t the answer. 🧡

12/31/2025

The area just beneath the collarbone connects to muscles and nerves involved in posture, breathing, and protection of the upper body.

When the nervous system has spent time under stress, this region often stays subtly active, even during rest. Over time that can show up as lifted shoulders, a rounded chest, or tension near the base of the neck.

Slowly tracing beneath the collarbone and gently massaging where it meets the shoulder gives the brain clear sensory information. That input helps improve body awareness and can support a shift toward a more settled state.

Move slowly and stay curious. Notice pressure, temperature, or small changes in the shoulders or breath. Even minor shifts matter.

This is not about changing anything. It is about helping the body register where it is and what it feels.

Try for 30 to 60 seconds and stop if it feels like enough.

✨

12/29/2025

Most nervous systems don’t need more effort or insight. They need more time to slow down, and enough support to feel safe doing so. When life moves fast, transitions stack, and everything feels urgent, the body stays on guard — not because something is wrong, but because it’s doing its job.

Regulation isn’t something you think your way into. It happens when the body experiences pacing, consistency, and space to arrive. Sometimes that support looks incredibly simple: five extra minutes between tasks, leaving the house without rushing, arriving without bracing. Those small buffers change how the nervous system interprets the world. They reduce urgency, lower physiological stress, and create the conditions where settling and connection can actually happen.

This is the foundation of my work as an Integrative Trauma Practitioner. Body-based, nervous system–focused, and grounded in practical support that meets people exactly where they are. I work with individuals who feel overwhelmed, chronically stressed, disconnected from their body, or exhausted from pushing through — not to fix them, but to help their system find more ease, safety, and capacity over time.

Healing support shouldn’t only be available to people with unlimited time or resources. It should be accessible, realistic, and adaptable to real lives. That’s why I’m offering an introductory package of three somatic sessions at a more accessible rate. Not to devalue this work, but to widen access to it and offer a meaningful starting point.

This approach supported my own recovery and fundamentally changed how I live in my body. If I can help someone experience even a small return to safety, presence, or trust in themselves, that matters deeply to me. If this feels like something your body has been quietly asking for, now may be a good time to learn more.

Sessions are available in studio in Okotoks, Alberta, or online.

12/23/2025

“You handled it so well.”

That sentence gets said to people who are hurting more than anyone realizes.

What it often really means is you did not make it uncomfortable for anyone else. You did not fall apart publicly. You did not ask for too much. You kept showing up. You kept functioning. You kept the wheels turning.

And yes, from the outside, that can look like strength.

But what rarely gets named is the cost.

When we stay quiet to survive, the body does not forget. When we override our needs to keep the peace, the nervous system keeps score. When we push through grief, betrayal, overwhelm, or fear without enough support, the impact does not disappear just because we looked composed.

It shows up later as tension that will not release. As exhaustion that sleep does not fix. As anxiety that seems to come out of nowhere. As a body that stays alert even when life finally slows down.

This is not weakness. This is adaptation.

Many of us learned early that being palatable was safer than being honest. That holding it together earned approval. That breaking down was risky. So we learned to cope quietly. To keep going. To handle it well.

There is compassion here for that version of you. She was doing the best she could with what she had.

And there is also permission to tell the truth now.

You are allowed to acknowledge that something hurt. You are allowed to name that your body paid a price. You are allowed to stop proving how strong you are.

Healing is not about blaming the past. It is about listening to what your body has been trying to say all along.

If this resonates, you are not broken. Your nervous system adapted to get you through. And it can learn that it is safe to do things differently now. 💗

12/22/2025

Sometimes I get foggy.
Not in a big, dramatic way.
Just a quiet, slightly checked-out way.

It usually happens when I’m really tired.
When I’ve been “on” for too long.
When my brain hasn’t had much space to land.

Nothing is wrong.
My life isn’t falling apart.
It’s just my system asking for less.

I notice it now because I’m more aware.
And because I’m more grounded, I don’t spiral about it anymore.
I don’t try to snap out of it or analyze it to death.

I slow down.
I do fewer things.
I let my attention rest on something simple and familiar.

This kind of fog is incredibly common.
Most people just don’t have language for it.
Or they assume it means something bigger than it does.

For me, this is the work.
Not fixing or forcing anything.
Just knowing what my body needs and responding with a little more care 🤍

12/13/2025

Integration is what happens when nothing is being pushed.

It’s the quieter moments in a session. The pauses. The shared stillness. When we slow down enough to notice something small together and there’s no rush to explain it or make it change.

In those moments, the nervous system isn’t being asked to perform or process faster. It’s just realizing it can stay here. That it’s supported. That it isn’t alone while it notices what’s happening.

This is where learning actually happens. Not through intensity or big releases, but through small, manageable experiences the body can stay present with and come back from.

It’s honestly such an honour for me to witness this. To sit in that quiet with someone. To hold space while their system takes the time it needs, at its own pace.

That’s why less is often more. Gentle pacing. Small sensations. Enough space for the body to catch up.

When things slow down like this, change doesn’t have to be forced. It integrates.

💗🕯️

12/11/2025

This one looks simple, but I know it can feel weird the first time. If it feels safe for you, give it a slow try. When your legs start to shake, that is usually just your body letting go of tension it has been holding. Nothing to fix or force.

Pause anywhere your body reacts, move only within your comfort, and let your system set the pace. You are not doing it wrong if something shows up — that is kind of the point.

Ps. I know sometimes we read “feel safe” and think… what does that even mean?
Signals your body might be a little stressed could look like:
• breath staying high in your chest
• shoulders tightening
• jaw clenching
• stomach tension
• legs wanting to brace
• feeling fidgety or checked out
• moving faster than you meant to

None of these are “bad.” They are just cues your system is a bit activated.
Slowing down or pausing is always allowed. Your body decides the pace.

If you want support understanding your own body cues, this is the work I do 💗 I see clients online and in person in Okotoks.