Living a Life in Balance
Licia Sky on Embodied Trauma Healing: Insights from a Near-Death Experience and Psychedelics
With Licia Sky
Licia Sky explores embodied approaches to trauma, reflecting on a near-death experience and psychedelics.
Listen to the conversation
Licia Sky on Embodied Trauma Healing: Insights from a Near-Death Experience and Psychedelics
Licia Sky
Inside this conversation
Journey into Trauma Work and Meeting Bessel van der Kolk
Intuition and Listening in Healing
Childhood Mysticism
More themes
- Multicultural Upbringing and Identity
- Generational Trauma and Family History
- Spiritual Experience at Age 12
- Integration and Search for Understanding
The guest
Licia Sky
Licia Sky is a somatic educator, bodyworker, artist and singer-songwriter, and a co-founder of the Trauma Research Foundation. Her teaching uses movement, voice, writing and experiential exercises to explore bodily awareness and connection. She works with people affected by trauma and teaches mental-health professionals. Her personal experiences in this conversation should be distinguished from clinical research findings. Official biography.
From the host
Reflections on the conversation
What stayed with me from this conversation
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Speaking with Licia Sky, I was struck by the way this conversation connected the relationship between physical experience, emotional regulation and a felt sense of safety. These subjects are often discussed separately, although in a person’s life they can influence one another continuously.
I was struck by how often people learn to explain their experience intellectually while remaining disconnected from physical signals. Body-based awareness can add an important dimension, provided that it is paced carefully and integrated with appropriate psychological and medical assessment.
The central lesson for me is not that the body replaces the mind. It is that human experience is interconnected. Movement, breath, touch, sleep and sensation may matter alongside language, reflection and relationships, with every intervention selected for the individual.
My broader reflection is that balance is not a fixed destination. It is the capacity to notice what is happening, understand what may be driving it and respond with greater awareness. Professional support can help create that capacity, but it must remain grounded in the person’s circumstances, choices and safety.
Episode summary
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Licia shares moments from her own journey, including a near-death experience that transformed her understanding of life, love, and presence. She reflects on the power of embodied awareness, how the body remembers what the mind forgets, and why slowing down is essential to finding balance.
Together, they discuss the future of psychedelic therapy, the importance of integration and guidance, and how music, movement, and community can help us return to ourselves.
Tune in for a deeply human conversation about embodiment, trauma, and the art of coming back to balance.
A somatic educator, artist, and bodyworker, she guides individuals and trains professionals in using movement, voice, mindfulness, and creative expression as tools for healing and connection. With over 40 years of experience as an artist, musician, and therapist, her approach weaves together polyvagal theory, parts work, and the latest research on trauma and the body.
Throughout the discussion, we return to the importance of looking beneath visible symptoms or behaviors. The aim is not to force one explanation onto every experience, but to understand the combination of history, relationships, body, environment and meaning that may be relevant for this individual.
The full transcript
Original-language transcript · EN