Exiled & Rising: Trauma Recovery & Somatic Healing
This is not a podcast for the mainstream. This is for the silenced, the cast out, and those whose stories never made the headlines. A Groundbreaking Trauma Justice Podcast from a Genocide Survivor and Somatic Therapist. Deeply embodied, politically urgent, and spiritually grounded space led by a therapist who survived war and genocide herself. Ana Mael is not just talking about trauma—she has lived it, survived it, and now guides others through it with radical clarity and compassion. This podcast is a revolution in trauma conversations: it moves beyond mindset tips and breathwork into trauma justice, relational repair, and systemic truth-telling. Each episode invites listeners to stop healing in isolation—and to begin naming, reclaiming, and rising from what hurt them. Exiled and Rising is for survivors of war, systemic injustice, and complex trauma—especially those living in exile from land, identity, or community. With raw truth and radical tenderness, Ana Mael offers unfiltered guidance on how to heal when you’ve been cut off—literally or metaphorically—from your home, safety, or sense of self and how to raise up and call for justice. “This podcast is not about surface-level healing. We are not fluffing the feathers or shaking the crystals here.” No glamour edits. No AI voices. Just real voice, lived experience, and trauma-focused truth. Social and Cultural Relevance: Ana’s work is a mirror for our time. In a global climate of rising authoritarianism, censorship, and the silencing of marginalized voices, this podcast becomes both a somatic protest and a innate act of resistance. “If you have been silenced… Welcome.” Ana gives voice to the body in a time when speech itself is policed. This is especially potent for: Activists and whistleblowers Immigrants and undocumented individuals Survivors of trauma who were never given words for what they endured A deep-dive podcast blending somatic healing expertise, micro-teachings, and lived survivor experience. Each episode distills trauma recovery, nervous system insights, and political consciousness into guidance that helps you reclaim power, safety, and self. This Podcast Is a Home For: Overfunctioning Immigrants, Exiled & Displaced – Those who overwork to prove worth Survivors of War, Genocide, & Systemic Oppression – Healing from identity loss and rebuilding life Refugees, Stateless, Undocumented People – Navigating erasure and exile Children of Exiled or Immigrant Parents – Carrying generational wounds Those Ostracized from Family or Church – For who they are, what they believe, or how they love Those Seeking Somatic Recovery – Learning to regulate and reconnect with the body Anyone Ready to Resist Spiritual Bypassing – And choose embodied, justice-based healing What It Offers: Real Stories of Survival & Healing – From Ana’s own war journals to survivor interviews Expert Somatic & Trauma Recovery Insights – Practical tools for regulation and healing Space for the Cast Out – Centering those excluded from mainstream healing narratives Healing as Activism – Moving from survival to embodiment, from harm to advocacy Radical Human Truth – With no scripts, no glamour edits, no “fixing”—only truth Premium Membership – What You Get in the Private Community Take your healing deeper with exclusive, high-value content: Extended, Deep-Dive Episodes – Personal stories and expert somatic breakdowns Therapy-Based Takeaways – Direct applications for therapy, journaling, and integration Keynotes & Summaries – Distilled insights to anchor your healing Full Transcripts – For reflection, accessibility, and in-depth study Bite-Sized Somatic Lessons – Micro-practices for nervous system healing Science of Trauma – Research-backed techniques to help reset your body’s stress response Listener Q&A + Expert Sessions – Ask Ana your questions and receive trauma-informed answers Ad-Free Listening – No filler, no distractions, just healing and clarity Meet Your Host: Ana Mael Ana Mael is a genocide and war survivor, somatic therapist, and founder of the Somatic Trauma Recovery Center. She has dedicated her life’s work to helping survivors of war, forced displacement, systemic oppression, and complex trauma reclaim their identity, dignity, and self-trust. As a bestselling author, Ana’s book, The Trauma We Don’t Talk About, became a #1 bestseller in over 10 categories, including Mental Health, Personal Testimonies, and Memoirs. Based in Toronto, Canada, Ana works directly with clients and educates mental health professionals and counselors on the complexities of displacement, exile, and war trauma recovery. She leads training programs, provides trauma-informed therapy, and conducts pioneering research to bridge the gap between somatic therapy and global crisis trauma care. "From Trauma to Resilience. From Wounds to Resistance." Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for mental health treatment or doctor care and advise. Please consult your mental health and/or medical care provider for individualized care.
Episodes
Ana Mael explores why trauma teaches us to stay silent, and how reclaiming your voice becomes the first act of healing.
What happens when your body believes that asking for help will hurt someone else?
In this episode of Exiled & Rising, somatic experiencing therapist Ana Mael unpacks one of the most devastating trauma responses — the fear of being a burden. She explores how childh...
The Insult That Silences Your Truth. In this episode of Exiled and Rising, Ana Mael delivers a rare, political critique of the “strong archytpe” narrative that dominates Western psychology and social media.
Speaking as both a trauma therapist and a survivor of the Balkan wars and genocide of the 1990s, Ana exposes how the language of resilience often conceals collective avoi...
Some people enter a room and look for the best seat.
Others enter and look for the exits.
If you know where every door, window, and fire escape is before you even sit down—this piece is for you.
I call it being a Trauma James Bond: the body that survived danger so long, it still thinks the mission isn’t over.
It’s a love letter and a gentle tease for everyone who has ever felt “too alert...
In this pivotal episode, Ana Mael — trauma therapist, nervous-system specialist, and survivor of the Balkan wars — takes listeners into one of the most misunderstood trauma states: Resignation Syndrome.
Ana Mael names what few have dared to: Resignation Syndrome — the global epidemic of nervous-system collapse that hides behind resilience culture.
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Ana teaches that shame around pleasure is not morality — it’s trauma. Reclaiming joy is not betrayal of your past but devotion to your life.
Ana Mael’s “Pleasure Is Shame” — one of her most layered and psychologically rich pieces, combining trauma theory, embodiment, and intergenerational survival dynamics.
ANA TEACHINGS & PROGRAMS
A survivor’s nervous system toggles between collapse and compulsion; healing begins by honoring both protectors and learning to pause in micro-doses.
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Get the Book: The Trauma We Don't Talk About https://amzn.to/41SjKKL
❤️ Please donate .
Ana’s new Exiled & Rising episode — one of her most intimate and practical teachings on relational healing.
Ana teaches that true healing begins when others stop denying your reality and simply stay — seeing, listening, and acknowledging without defense or blame.
Core Teaching
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Healing requires acknowledgment, not fixing.
Ana distills trauma-informed relationa...
The burden wound begins in childhood. Being treated as “too much” or “a burden” by parents creates a deep, embodied wound. The imprint becomes identity. This is not just a passing experience but attaches to the child’s developing sense of self, carried into adulthood. The body remembers. Shame and burden are felt in the soma, even when never spoken aloud. The wound repeats. It shapes adu...
Ana dismantles the myth that shame is self-generated. She frames shame as something imposed from the outside—by abusers, toxic environments, and systems of oppression—and then internalized by the survivor.
Buy Book: The Trauma We Don't Talk About https://amzn.to/41SjKKL
Want to go deeper? Check the link below for Ana’s somatic course on healing intimacy and learning to safely open, r...
- “Fascism begins not with violence but with silence — and if self-care replaces collective care, healing becomes complicity.” Ana Mael
- Fascism starts in the ordinary, not the violent. Ana reframes fascism not as sudden authoritarianism with guns, but as a slow erosion of empathy: disinterest, detachment, and normalized silence.
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Spiritual bypass as complicity. She names how “stay i...
From scanning to sanctuary: A guided re-meeting with your own eyes as the first safe place after exile. Somatic Healing.
Somatic Programs for Trauma Recovery: https://exiledandrising.mykajabi.com/
Buy Book: The Trauma We Don't Talk About https://amzn.to/41SjKKL
✨ Please donate and support podcast continuation:
https://exiledandrising.castos.com/donate?_gl=1*143ufxc*_gcl_au*NDc5MTE5Mj...
Da li tražiš način da olakšaš teret traume bez godina terapije? Ana Mael, somatska terapeutkinja za PTSP, deli jednostavne i praktične alate koje možeš primeniti odmah. Nauči kako da izgradiš kapacitet svog tela za otpuštanje, poverenje i otpornost.
U ovoj epizodi Exiled and Rising, Ana Mael, somatska terapeutkinja specijalizirana za PTSP i oporavak od traume, vodi te kroz jedno od najva...
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Practical grounding tools for acute panic – She offers listeners two simple, repeatable practices to interrupt spirals of panic in high-stakes moments:
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Naming the external disruption (“It is okay if the mad one disengages or leaves”).
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Asking, “Who is doing my job right now?” to anchor in the adult self.
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Parts work meets somatic awareness – Ana bridges in...
Anxiety and Panic Attacks are not weakness — it is the body’s way of remembering. Trembling, shaking, racing heart, panic attacks — these are survival responses held in the nervous system, resurfacing when something reminds your body of old fear. Wind, a suitcase, even an innocent comment can awaken memories of exile, neglect, abuse, or violence.
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Book: The Trauma We Don't Talk About https://amzn.to/41SjKKL
Key Takeaways Your roots may be wounded, but you are not only your wounds. Naming what has been done is an act of truth-telling, not shame. You carry both beauty and sorrow — both are true and both are yours. Belonging is not limited to family: you are from survivors, from humanity itself. Even when violence is part of your o...
Ana personifies the internal battle of trauma survival: one part of the self is exhausted and wants to collapse, while another part — fueled by inherited trauma — screams for vigilance and relentless productivity. The piece exposes how trauma fragments the self and turns survival into a conflict between shutting down and never stopping.
Book: The Trauma We Don't Talk About https://amz...
Book: The Trauma We Don't Talk About https://amzn.to/41SjKKL
Why is it so easy to give — but so hard to receive? If you struggle to accept love, help, compliments, or even pleasure, it’s not because you’re broken. It’s because trauma wires the body to equate receiving with danger.
In this episode of Exiled & Rising, Ana Mael — Somatic Experiencing Therapist for PTSD and Trauma Reco...
This piece is for every survivor of abuse, including those whose pain is resurfacing now with the release of the Epstein files. ❤️PLEASE: share it on your own platforms — socials, Substack, WhatsApp, group chats. There are survivors who may never find me directly, but they can find this through you. Every share helps someone remember they are not alone ✊❤️
We live in pandemic of injustic and injustice doesn’t disappear when ignored. It embeds itself in the body — in exhaustion, in sickness, in silence.
Ana Mael wrote "With Smirk, Injustice Spoke Back" to give Injustice a voice. Not an abstract idea, but a force that grows when denied, minimized, or dismissed. Injustice speaks through our nervous systems, through our relationships, and thro...
When Hugs Feel Awkward, Intimacy Feels Impossible. Why does intimacy feel so hard — even with someone you love? Why do hugs feel stiff, awkward, or unsafe? Why do some couples avoid touch altogether? It’s not weakness. It’s not that you’re “broken.” It’s your trauma body remembering.
In this episode of Exiled & Rising, Ana Mael — Somatic Experiencing Therapist for PTSD and Trauma Rec...
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