From Unravelled to a Ripple of Wellness

There was a time when I barely recognised the woman in the mirror.

Years of giving, chasing, and unmentionable trauma had left me building a life that looked fine from the outside, yet never felt safe on the inside.

Life’s moments had happened — the kind that most only see in nightmares — ones I couldn’t possibly have controlled, yet still I carried these memories, slowly being pulled down by them into the murky waters of despair, knowing that if I held on to them any longer, I would drown, and yet, I couldn’t let them go — just in case I could somehow go back and change them all.

My nervous system was shattered and it no longer felt mine. 

Rest felt impossible, and love felt numb.

Living with PMDD and PTSD, I moved through the world hijacked and always on edge, trying to “fix” what I thought was broken. I wore a mask of competence so polished that no one could see how tender, messy, and undone I truly was.

Until one day, out of the blue, I met a man who saw behind the polished mask — someone who reminded me of the woman I had been before all the hurt; the woman who laughed easily and explored freely.

I began strength training and slowly found myself again. I began to fall in love with this incredible man by my side, and at the same time realised how out of love I was with corporate grind.

My partner felt the same, so we quickly made the decision to walk away from corporate life altogether.
We packed our lives into a 1966 VW split-screen camper and headed for Cornwall with no grand plan — just an agreed devotion to living a soul-led life.

We learned to live under the stars instead of schedules, we washed dishes and clothes in buckets, and woke to the soft lull of the ocean.

In the stillness, I rested. I wept. I came back to my body, only to find that, every so often, I would disappear again.

I studied. I moved. I broke down some more, and then one day, I finally began to soften.
I stopped measuring my worth by how exhausted I sometimes became. I stopped beating myself up for how difficult some days felt in my head — Especially the days when just putting on my socks felt an overwhelming task.

Unknowingly, this was the start of my healing journey.

Over the days and weeks, exhaustion came and went, and as time passed I softened further, I began to realise that I had been trying to fix something that was never broken (me!).

I stopped listening to the mischievous chatter within my head and began to notice that, all I had longed for, was to simply feel safe — To feel seen, heard, held, and confident in who I was.

So, I began practising self-compassion. I laid down the load I had been carrying from my past, and life began to feel lighter. 

Finally, I began to emerge from the dark, murky waters.

The stronger I became, the more I wondered how many others were living with struggle.
How many souls were out there, secretly burning out just to look like they were holding it all together?

So I decided to find out. I took a leap of faith and founded A State of Mind Studio

A modern-day sanctuary that offers what I had been searching for: a place where soft power becomes iconic, and nervous system care becomes a legacy.

Not a place to “fix,” but a soft space for people to discover themselves again. A space to feel seen, heard, held, and connected...

Moving forwards, I now reside in a tiny home by the sea. I travel the world with the man I love — sometimes in Mariana (our beloved camper, where this love story began), and sometimes to hotels, ships, or lakeside cottages.

We spend days working from beaches — an entrepreneurial journey that most people can only imagine in their most beautiful dreams.

I teach Pilates, yoga, body confidence, and emotional regulation to as many people as possible. 

I whisper love letters to nervous systems and offer soft strength along the way. 

I walk the wellness pathways that I teach, and in doing so, I am blessed to meet the most incredible souls: sometimes souls in their rawest state, sometimes souls unsure of who they are anymore, ones overcome with overwhelm, and sometimes souls that are completely lost.

But always, no matter who they are or what story they live, together we discover new pathways — ones that lead them to emotional regulation and body confidence.

If you are here and ready to begin the next chapter of your story, please no this...

You don’t need to feel strong to begin and you don’t ever need to feel “fixed” to belong.

All you need is simply to arrive — one breath, one footstep at a time — with a promise from myself that you will always be met exactly where you are, together creating a ripple of wellness that travels across oceans.

Gina Louise
Founder of A State of Mind Studio 🤍