Charlotte Preston

Charlotte Preston Charlotte Preston is a Certified Somatic Experiencing® therapist based in Dorset, UK, working with adults, teenagers and groups.

She specialises in somatic approaches: Somatic Experiencing trauma therapy, bodywork & movement practices. I offer embodied movement group classes & one-to-one somatic therapy, online and in-person in Poole, Dorset, UK. I work with yoga, qigong, somatic movement, reiki, massage therapy and I'm currently training in Somatic Experiencing.

13/01/2026

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Don't know where this came from, but this evening I was a poet, and I didn't know it. I wrote this in response to a post saying 'mental health content is produced these days faster than we can psychologically metabolise it' and I thought... that's so true. And such an important point to be aware of.

What do you think?

A bit of a longer post today and a personal share. There was a time in my early twenties when the suggestion “go gently ...
11/01/2026

A bit of a longer post today and a personal share.

There was a time in my early twenties when the suggestion “go gently with yourself” made me feel physically sick.

Not metaphorically.
In my body.

Softness felt dangerous. Weak. Disgusting.
My nervous system associated rest, ease, and letting go with threat and shame. So pushing, controlling, striving and punishing myself felt safer, even when it was exhausting and harming my health.

I’m sharing this because many of us carry similar patterns, even if they show up differently on the surface.

When we begin to unpack our childhood stories, and gently start to feel the emotions that were never safe or allowed back then, something powerful happens. Shame begins to loosen its grip.

Shame doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It often enters our system in childhood, through unmet emotional needs, family dynamics, generational trauma, or unwitnessed social oppression. When our experiences weren’t seen, protected, or named, our nervous systems made meaning in the only way they could.

Very often that meaning becomes:
Something is wrong with me.
My feelings don’t matter.
My body can’t be trusted.
I need to be harder on myself to be okay.

That belief can quietly ripple through our adult lives, shaping how we relate to rest, safety, pleasure, boundaries, ambition, food, relationships, and our own bodies.

For me, real change didn’t come from forcing myself to be calmer or more “gentle.”
It came gradually, through relational therapy and somatic work, learning to meet the parts of me that had been pushing so hard, and allowing long-held emotions to be felt safely in the body.

That’s where unshaming begins.
Not by fixing ourselves.
But by understanding why our nervous system adapted the way it did, and offering it new experiences over time.

If you recognise any of this in yourself, you’re not broken.
Your body learned what it needed to survive.

And with the right pacing, support, and kindness, new ways of being really can become possible. 🌿

Comment or DM 'Somatic' if you'd like to receive details of my specialist somatic therapy sessions, based on Somatic Experiencing trauma therapy, and compassionate presence.

This felt like kind of a bold statement to make. But it also felt most present and true for me today. And I'm making a p...
08/01/2026

This felt like kind of a bold statement to make. But it also felt most present and true for me today. And I'm making a practice of expressing my inner voice more. It can feel scary, sometimes. Still. 

There are loads of things I love on social media, too.
Funny, cute, supportive, educational and entertaining posts.
Communities I’m genuinely glad to be part of.

And there’s also a lot of noise.
A lot that can feel exhausting to take in.

Having boundaries around this really matters.
Unfollowing or muting what doesn’t feel good for your system.
Limiting the pings and notifications.
Anything we take in has an impact on the nervous system.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about individualism.
About how our culture leans towards performing, proving ourselves, and pushing.

That’s a burden we were never meant to carry alone.

We’re not meant to carry the world on our shoulders by ourselves.
In more rooted cultures, there’s communal support, relationship with land, rhythm, season, shared meaning.
Not everything rests on one nervous system trying to cope.

Maybe part of healing is letting ourselves come back into relationship.
With people.
With nature.
With a wider web of life that can hold some of the load with us.

You don’t have to do this all alone.

🧡

There are loads of things I love on social media too.Funny, cute, supportive, educational and entertaining posts.Communi...
08/01/2026

There are loads of things I love on social media too.
Funny, cute, supportive, educational and entertaining posts.
Communities I’m genuinely glad to be part of.

And there’s also a lot of noise.
A lot that can feel exhausting to take in.

Having boundaries around this really matters.
Unfollowing or muting what doesn’t feel good for your system.
Limiting the pings and notifications.
Anything we take in has an impact on the nervous system.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about individualism.
About how our culture leans towards performing, proving ourselves, and pushing.
That’s a burden we were never meant to carry alone.

We’re not meant to carry the world on our shoulders by ourselves.
In more rooted cultures, there’s communal support, relationship with land, rhythm, season, shared meaning.
Not everything rests on one nervous system trying to cope.

Maybe part of healing is letting ourselves come back into relationship.
With people.
With nature.
With a wider web of life that can hold some of the load with us.

You don’t have to do this all alone.

🧡

January so far. 🤍If today was your first day back at work, well done on making it through. I tried really hard today to ...
05/01/2026

January so far. 🤍

If today was your first day back at work, well done on making it through.

I tried really hard today to get some words together and they weren't flowing. It reminded me of an intention : to move at a pace that allows me to stay connected with myself. Sometimes, that will mean feeling and experiencing being slow, or stuck. Feeling the stuckness allows movement to the next place. That's one of the reasons I'm interested in not using AI to break through the stuckness. It feels like it allows me to truly embody where I am, and respect that.
It also reminded me that sometimes the thing doesn't flow because we're trying too hard. And being in nature and outside I feel there's always a good reminder : could it be this simple? There's always a sense of flow here. Being here reminds my body of that sense of flow.

Tomorrow I'm holding an online session, 6-7:30pm UK time, where we'll gather as a group and explore somatic practice to help meet yourself where you are. It's free, and would be lovely to see you there. Link in bio if you'd like to join us.

x

Happy New year! How are you doing?I've noticed the subtle creep of tension in my body over the last few days. I hadn't r...
02/01/2026

Happy New year! How are you doing?

I've noticed the subtle creep of tension in my body over the last few days. I hadn't really set any new year intentions yet, but there was a feeling in the background of 'maybe I should have?!' this was interesting to notice. Like just by osmosis there's a tension in the air.

At the same time, I'm an advocate for learning how and choosing how we can focus our attention, in ways that are supportive to us.

How can we do this in a way that's less overwhelming for our nervous system?

It makes sense that setting new year intentions is overwhelming.
Especially if your nervous system has been carrying a lot.
Especially if you’re recovering from stress, trauma, pain, chronic symptoms.
Especially if “big goals” have tipped you into overwhelm before.

This post is an invitation to a different approach.

One that values:
• staying connected with yourself
• easing pressure rather than adding more
• working with capacity, not against it
• little steps, taken often
• the long view of healing and change

Growth and healing don’t need to come from pushing.
They can come from listening.
From building safety.
From simple, repeatable practices that help you feel more present in your body, day by day.

If you’d like support with this, I’m holding a free online workshop next Tuesday 6th January, 6–7pm UK time.

We’ll explore a foundational somatic practice you can return to throughout the year, to support regulation, connection, and intention-setting without overwhelm.

To receive the details, comment “Gather” below,
or sign up via the link in my bio.

It would be great to see you there. 💚

I don’t often share much about my personal life here, but I felt called to write a little about this man, and about gett...
01/01/2026

I don’t often share much about my personal life here, but I felt called to write a little about this man, and about getting engaged to Andy in 2025. It was a really joyful moment of last year.

Having him by my side feels like such a peaceful presence. And yes, I’ve absolutely resisted that peace and wanted to run away with every fibre of my being, because it wasn’t something my nervous system was used to 😂

We’ve known each other since I was about 14 and he was 16, but we got together around ten years ago, when I was 30. We’ve grown alongside each other over that time, and he’s been a huge part of me experiencing secure attachment after a very chaotic early life. Being in a secure relationship has felt terrifying at times, for no obvious reason.

Somatic therapy helped me understand and move through the resistance I felt to safety and stability in relationship. I’m sure it’s actually brought us closer. Andy has always been loving, steady, and encouraging. He’s supported me to keep going with my healing work, and to follow whatever dream feels alive for me.

Before this, I was in a few abusive relationships and felt a strong pull towards people who were emotionally unavailable. I never imagined after that I’d be with someone so reliable. Someone who wasn’t verbally or physically abusive. Someone who didn’t lie, threaten, coerce.

Things felt different with Andy right from the start. I remember sitting with him under a tree in a London park, watching the branches move against the sky. There was a sense of peace I’d never experienced before, just being beside someone.

And yes, I resisted that too. There was some running away. I’m deeply grateful that he didn’t give up, and that we were able to move through it together 🙂

Any relationship takes practice. It’s been a beautiful experience of learning to be more present and connected in my life, with both the ease and the hard moments. I feel like I’ve landed more firmly on the ground, with love. What a precious gift that is 🧡

29/12/2025

Something I've been experiencing lately is a feeling of a plateau, or a transition phase. And also strongly a sense that there's integration happening. It feels necessary to be here now.

Do you relate to this idea, of seasons and periods of contraction, expansion and transition... and if so, which phase are you in? It would be great to hear from you in the comments below

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Important reminder, especially so for this time of year. Let's make it clear 🤍Loved this post from
26/12/2025

Important reminder, especially so for this time of year. Let's make it clear 🤍

Loved this post from

Hiya, how are you doing? Seasons greetings. I very much appreciate being connected with you here. I felt like writing th...
26/12/2025

Hiya, how are you doing?

Seasons greetings. I very much appreciate being connected with you here.

I felt like writing this post because this time of year can bring up a lot. Sometimes there can be the sense that if we're feeling anything other than comfort and joy, we must be doing something wrong. But it makes sense if you're feeling a lot, so let's make this less taboo...

For many people, the holidays heighten loneliness, grief, physical symptoms, comparison, and old emotional patterns. It can feel disorienting when the outside world is focused on celebration, while your nervous system is stretched, tired, or asking for less.

If you’re not feeling festive, there is nothing wrong with you. You’re not being negative or focusing on the wrong things. You’re responding to a time of year that places extra demands on our bodies, nervous systems, and emotional capacity.

For some, this season is genuinely enjoyable, connecting, and restful. For others, it is heavy or complicated. And for many, it is a mix of both.

Wherever you find yourself, your body is having the experience it is having. Supporting that experience, rather than arguing with it, often helps more than trying to override it.

🤍

Here we are at the shortest day of the year 🕯️How are you doing? This is a quieter season.A yin time.A threshold that as...
21/12/2025

Here we are at the shortest day of the year 🕯️

How are you doing?

This is a quieter season.
A yin time.
A threshold that asks us to listen beneath the surface.

The Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year and, with it, the subtle turning back toward light. The days begin to lengthen from here, slowly. Almost imperceptibly. And yet something has shifted.

This time of year already stretches many of our nervous systems. The festive time, the expectations, and the sensory load. There are times when we will be feeling that in a pronounced way, too : perhaps you've moved through a lot of intensity, or are in a period of recovery or healing. Maybe you're moving through perimenopause or menopause. Hormones play a role in how we buffer stress, and when they’re changing, we can feel more open, more sensitive, more affected.

Transitions in our life are no small thing. Theyre often a deep recalibration. One that can blur the lines between emotional, mental, spiritual, psychological. There can be moments of clarity, creativity, and insight here, even as the outer world feels harder to navigate or make sense of.

Moving through darker, quieter inner landscapes is not a failure or a detour. It’s part of living.

We struggle with these spaces partly because we live in a culture that avoids endings, has little room for grief, and rushes past what cannot be hurried.

This threshold doesn’t ask you to push through or transcend it.
It asks for attention.
For presence.
For the capacity to stay with what’s unfolding.

This is a time that asks something of you.
And it also belongs to you.

We get the message 'chin up' 'cheer up love, it might never happen', 'it could be worse' this kind of thing just causes ...
16/12/2025

We get the message 'chin up' 'cheer up love, it might never happen', 'it could be worse' this kind of thing just causes shut down, often from a young age. Have you ever heard something like this? How did it feel to receive? Id love to hear from you in the comments.

I felt inspired to write this post because I see daily how much extra suffering can be caused by the way we judge or shame our emotions - from the sense that some are 'good emotions' and some are 'bad emotions'. 😕 This creates so much more suffering on top of our primary experience.

We can unpick this! Somatic work helps us to embody our emotions, as sensation. Not all at once, but in a gradual way. So you can feel them, without them being overwhelming.

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