Loving Your Life Again | Toxic Relationship Recovery & Nervous System Healing For Women Ready to Heal

Christina Sommers | Somatic Coach & Breathwork Facilitator
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Loving Your Life Again is a warm, honest, and deeply grounded podcast for women who are still inside a toxic, emotionally abusive, or addiction-affected relationship — or who have just found their way out — and are finally ready to stop surviving and start healing for real. Hosted by Christina Sommers, trauma-informed breathwork facilitator and somatic coach, this show offers clarity, nervous system tools, and the kind of real talk that actually meets you where you are — so you can find your way back to yourself, your faith, and the life you were always meant to love. If you're exhausted from carrying everything and everyone, if you feel stuck but can't quite name why, or if you've tried the five-step resets and nothing has actually stuck — this podcast was made for you. Whether you're walking on eggshells around his moods, quietly enabling an addiction you never signed up for, or holding a marriage together while slowly disappearing inside it — you are not alone, and you are not crazy. With story-first teaching, embodied healing tools, and conversations rooted in faith, each episode is designed to help you feel less alone, more grounded in your own body, and one breath closer to real peace. Christina has walked her own journey through toxic relationship, addiction, and survival mode — all the way to wholeness — and she brings that lived experience into every single episode, alongside twenty years of grounded, practical wisdom. What you'll hear: Real conversations about toxic relationships, narcissistic abuse, emotional abuse, and loving an addicted spouseNervous system healing, breathwork, and somatic tools you can actually useFaith-rooted healing for the woman who's been wrestling with God in the middle of her pain If you're asking any of these questions, you're in the right place: Is this even abuse if he doesn't hit me?Is it okay to leave if my husband is an addict — what does God say about that?Why do I feel so crazy — and why can't I trust myself anymore?Will I ever feel like myself again? This is the podcast for when you're done performing peace and ready to find the real thing. Tune in — and take the next breath back to loving your life. 🤍

  1. 19h ago

    What Happened to Fun? (Fun as a Signal of Safety)

    Before you dive in — every week I send A Moment to Exhale, a short note with one real story and one small tool you can actually use, so healing doesn't feel like one more thing you have to figure out alone. Join at breathofrenewal.com/exhale. What if the fact that you can't remember the last time something felt fun isn't a small thing — it's information? In this episode, Christina shares a personal pattern she's been caught in: setting intentions around fun, falling back into old routines, and what she's finally learned about why that cycle isn't failure. Drawing from a real moment in an advanced facilitation call and a somatic experiencing session, she explores why fun doesn't just reappear after a hard season — and why your nervous system may actually be the thing standing in the way. If you've done the work, healed, rebuilt, and something still feels flat, this episode is for you. Christina closes with a gentle somatic practice to help your body remember what fun even feels like. Timestamped Show Notes 0:00 — Introduction0:41 — Welcome & Show Overview1:42 — When Did Fun Disappear?2:40 — The Cycle of Falling Back Into Old Patterns5:20 — A Seed is Planted: Fun at Work6:16 — Somatic Exploration: Where Did Fun Go?8:47 — Childhood Stories & the Guard We Built13:46 — Fun as a Nervous System Signal14:51 — Why Fun Feels Unsafe After Survival Mode16:19 — Somatic Practice: Let Your Body Express Fun21:45 — Closing & Call to Action🤍 If you're ready for support putting this into your own life, you can book a conversation with me here: breathofrenewal.com/space-to-exhale #toxicrelationshiprecovery #nervoussystemhealing #loveyourlifeagain #breathofrenewal #somatichealing #healingjourney #christianwomen #joyafterhealing #whatisyourbodytellingyou #startingover Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  2. Jul 28

    Loving an Addict: When Enabling Feels Like Devotion

    🤍 A Moment to Exhale: If you've ever loved someone with an addiction, this is a quiet place to keep going between episodes — one story, one nervous system tool, and a reminder every week that you're not carrying this alone. Join at breathofrenewal.com/exhale Loving an Addict: When Enabling Feels Like Devotion In this deeply personal episode, I open up about what it actually means to love someone with an addiction — and the quiet, gradual way that love can cause you to disappear. I break down the difference between devotion and self-abandonment, explain enabling and codependency without shame or clinical labels, and share some raw moments from my own story I haven't told this directly before. This one's for the woman who has given everything trying to love someone back to life — and is finally ready to turn some of that love back toward herself. What You'll Hear 🌿 Why enabling almost never feels like enabling while you're in it 🌿 The real difference between devotion and self-abandonment 🌿 What codependency actually is — without the shame or the clinical language 🌿 One small, somatic way to start choosing yourself again Timestamped Show Notes 0:00 – Introduction — the theme of the episode: what happens when deep love slowly makes you disappear2:21 – What Is Enabling? — why it doesn't look like weakness from the inside, it looks like love6:00 – My Story — covering, managing two versions of reality, and the moment I realized how deep in it I actually was15:02 – Understanding Codependency — what it really means, how it develops, and why it doesn't end when the relationship does18:51 – Gaslighting & Self-Abandonment — how not pushing back on an untrue version of events was also enabling, and why that was survival, not weakness21:16 – Why the Patterns Don't Stop — the grooved pathways in your nervous system that persist after the relationship ends, and why that's something to get curious about, not ashamed of22:45 – Turning Love Back Toward Yourself — practical, grounded ways to begin redirecting love inward26:45 – Breathwork & Grounding Practice — a guided moment to come back into your body29:14 – ClosingIf this episode named something you've been carrying quietly, you don't have to sort through it alone.  Book a no-agenda conversation: A Space to Exhale 🌿 Ready to go deeper into unwinding these patterns for good? Join the UNBOUND waitlist, no pressure, simply to receive information as it becomes available: https://www.breathofrenewal.com/loving-your-life-again #toxicrelationshiprecovery #nervoussystemhealing #loveyourlifeagain #breathofrenewal #codependencyrecovery #healingjourney #christianwomen #lovinganaddict #selftrustjourney #startingover Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  3. Jul 21

    "Can I Get Divorced?": Faith, Free Will, and Finding Your Way

    Before you hit play — this one might bring things up. If you want somewhere to land afterward, A Moment to Exhale shows up in your inbox each week with the story behind the episode, a tool to help you process what surfaces, and a reminder you're not carrying this alone. breathofrenewal.com/exhale 🤍 What happens when your faith is the very thing making it hardest to choose yourself? In this deeply personal episode, Christina — breathwork facilitator, somatic coach, and host of Loving Your Life Again — walks through one of the most tender and complex tensions women of faith face: staying in a difficult marriage because of God, vows, and the fear of what leaving means about who you are. Christina shares her own story — a cross-country move on blind faith, a near-fatal car accident, and the night she cried out to God and finally heard something back — alongside a powerful reframe of the scripture that kept so many women (including herself) stuck. She also names what no one talks about: that leaving doesn't make it stop hurting, that your body keeps score long after the situation changes, and that "just pray harder" without the real work is spiritual bypassing. In this episode, you'll walk away with: Permission to grieve — the marriage you wanted, the love that doesn't just switch off, even when leaving was rightA different way to hold the verses that have felt like they were holding you captiveThe truth about free will, and why loving someone fully still couldn't save them for youThis episode is for you if your faith feels like both your greatest comfort and your heaviest weight right now. If this one stirred something in you and you want to talk it through, I'd love to sit with you — no judgment, just a safe space: breathofrenewal.com/space-to-exhale #toxicrelationshiprecovery #nervoussystemhealing #loveyourlifeagain #breathofrenewal #faithandhealing #somatichealing #healingjourney #religioustrauma #selftrustjourney #startingover Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  4. Jul 14

    Walking on Eggshells: The Exhausting Work of Managing Someone Else's Peace

    You walk into a room and you already know. Before anyone says a word. Before he even fully walks through the door. Your body has already adjusted — softer voice, different topic, a joke you don't find funny, just to test the temperature.  This episode is for the woman who has been doing this invisible, exhausting work for so long she doesn't even realize she's still doing it — even if she's already left.  In this episode, we talk about hypervigilance — what it actually is, why your body learned to do it, and why "just relax" was never going to work. We also go into what real peace actually feels like versus the external peace you've been manufacturing to keep everything calm on the outside.  You'll walk away with:  A name for something you've been living but couldn't explain An understanding of why your nervous system is still bracing — even in safe situations One simple breath practice to begin telling your body it can stand down Stay Connected:  🤍 Want to talk it through? There's a link below to book a conversation, no agenda, just a safe space: A Space to Exhale 🤍 Free newsletter: breathofrenewal.com/exhale #walkingoneggshells #toxicrelationshiprecovery #nervoussystemhealing #hypervigilance #emotionalabuse #somatichealing #loveyourlifeagain #breathofrenewal #healingjourney #christianwomen  Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  5. Jul 7

    Is It Me?": What Gaslighting Does to Your Self-Trust (And How You Get It Back)

    Have you ever walked away from a conversation wondering if you're the one losing it? Maybe you don't even have a word for what's happening yet — just a quiet question running underneath everything: is it me? Or maybe you already know the word "gaslighting," and you're still not sure what to actually do with it. In this episode, Christina opens up about what gaslighting really feels like from the inside — not the textbook definition, but the slow, quiet erosion of trusting yourself. The minimizing. The blame-shifting. The moments your own memory gets talked right out of you. And what happens when faith or addiction gets tangled into the mix, too. You'll walk away with: Language for something you've felt but maybe never been able to nameA simple, real tool that helped Christina hold onto her own realityThe reminder that there is a day coming where you trust yourself againIf this is you — or if it sounds like someone you love — you're not alone, and you're not imagining it.  🤍 Want to talk it through? There's a link below to book a conversation, no agenda, just a safe space: A Space to Exhale 🤍 Free newsletter: breathofrenewal.com/exhale #toxicrelationshiprecovery #gaslighting #nervousystemhealing #loveyourlifeagain #breathofrenewal #somatichealing #healingjourney #christianwomen #emotionalabuse #selftrustjourney Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  6. Jun 30

    I Took the Pause I Teach — Here's What's Coming Next

    I stepped away. Not because I ran out of things to say — but because I needed to do the thing I actually teach. Integrate. In this first episode of a new season, I'm sharing why the podcast went quiet, who this show is really for, and what's coming next. This season, we're calling it The Invisible Threads — because so much of what keeps women stuck in toxic and emotionally abusive relationships doesn't have a name yet. Gaslighting. Walking on eggshells. The faith questions nobody answers. The love that quietly costs you yourself. And if part of your story includes loving someone with an addiction, that has a place here too. In this episode, you'll hear: Why I paused the show, and what it taught me about integrationWho this season is for — wherever you are on the road to healingWhat The Invisible Threads means, and what we'll be naming togetherNew episodes drop every Tuesday. Hit subscribe so you don't miss what's next. 🎧 A Moment to Exhale, my weekly newsletter, is the easiest way to stay close between episodes: breathofrenewal.com/exhale #toxicrelationshiprecovery #narcissisticabuserecovery #nervoussystemhealing #loveyourlifeagain #breathofrenewal #somatichealing #healingjourney #christianwomenhealing #emotionalabuserecovery #cominghometoyourself Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  7. Mar 17

    Capacity and Choice: Why Growth Requires Integration

    Have you ever made the decision to change your life… only to find yourself slipping back into the same patterns? You know what you want. You’ve made the choice. And yet something inside you keeps pulling you back to what’s familiar. In this episode, Christina continues the Capacity and Choice series by exploring why real change often feels harder than we expect. It’s not because you lack discipline. It’s because your nervous system may not yet have the capacity to hold the life you’re trying to build. Through a personal story about a powerful weekend of integration, Christina shares what it looks like to slow down, listen to the body, and allow real expansion to happen. This conversation breaks down the difference between pushing for growth and building the nervous system capacity to sustain it. In This Episode• What “capacity” actually means in nervous system work • Why implementation often falls apart even when you know what you want • How survival patterns like overworking can become subtle forms of numbing • Why growth happens in layers, not all at once • What titration means and why expansion must happen in small doses • The role of rest and integration in real transformation Key TakeawayGrowth doesn’t happen by forcing change. Capacity grows when we pace ourselves, allow integration, and gently expand what our nervous system can safely hold. Sometimes the most powerful step forward is creating space for your body to process. Resources Mentioned🫁 5-Minute Nervous System Reset www.breathofrenewal.com/reset 🌿 The Renewal Room – Breathwork Membership A space to practice breathwork and somatic tools together while gently expanding your capacity for the life you’re creating. www.breathofrenewal.com/membership Share the EpisodeIf this conversation resonated with you, share it with a woman who might need the reminder that nothing is wrong with her nervous system — it may simply need more space to grow. Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

  8. Mar 11

    Cocoon Season: When Your Old Identity No Longer Fits

    Have you ever felt like you're working really hard… but nothing is actually moving forward? Like you're busy, exhausted, doing all the things — yet somehow every day feels the same. In this episode, Christina shares a moment from her own journey when everything suddenly felt like Groundhog Day. The effort was there, but the clarity and momentum felt stuck. Instead of pushing harder, she began asking a different question: What if nothing is wrong… and something deeper is actually shifting? This episode explores what many people call ego death — or what Christina calls cocoon season — the space between who you used to be and who you're becoming. Christina shares how identity shifts affect the nervous system, why overworking and perfectionism often resurface during growth, and how building capacity and choice helps you move forward. If you've ever questioned your path, your purpose, or whether you're doing enough… this conversation is for you. In This Episode• Why growth can feel like Groundhog Day • What "ego death" actually means • Why Christina calls it cocoon season • How identity shifts affect the nervous system • Why overworking often returns during expansion • The role of capacity and choice in real change Breathwork InvitationChristina created The Breath of Renewal Circle as a space to reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and expand your capacity safely. You can join as a member or attend a single breathwork session to experience the work. https://www.breathofrenewal.com/membership If this episode resonated with you, share it with a woman who might need to hear it too. Support the show If something in this episode is still sitting with you — stay there a moment. You don't have to rush to the next thing. And when you're ready, I'm here. The kindest thing you can do is share this with a woman who needs to hear she's not alone. And if you haven't yet — hit follow and leave a review. It helps more women find their way here. 🌐 Start here: www.breathofrenewal.com/start-here 📱 Instagram: @breath_of_renewal ✉️ hello@breathofrenewal.com Until next time — one day, one moment, one breath at a time back to loving your life. 🤍

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About

Loving Your Life Again is a warm, honest, and deeply grounded podcast for women who are still inside a toxic, emotionally abusive, or addiction-affected relationship — or who have just found their way out — and are finally ready to stop surviving and start healing for real. Hosted by Christina Sommers, trauma-informed breathwork facilitator and somatic coach, this show offers clarity, nervous system tools, and the kind of real talk that actually meets you where you are — so you can find your way back to yourself, your faith, and the life you were always meant to love. If you're exhausted from carrying everything and everyone, if you feel stuck but can't quite name why, or if you've tried the five-step resets and nothing has actually stuck — this podcast was made for you. Whether you're walking on eggshells around his moods, quietly enabling an addiction you never signed up for, or holding a marriage together while slowly disappearing inside it — you are not alone, and you are not crazy. With story-first teaching, embodied healing tools, and conversations rooted in faith, each episode is designed to help you feel less alone, more grounded in your own body, and one breath closer to real peace. Christina has walked her own journey through toxic relationship, addiction, and survival mode — all the way to wholeness — and she brings that lived experience into every single episode, alongside twenty years of grounded, practical wisdom. What you'll hear: Real conversations about toxic relationships, narcissistic abuse, emotional abuse, and loving an addicted spouseNervous system healing, breathwork, and somatic tools you can actually useFaith-rooted healing for the woman who's been wrestling with God in the middle of her pain If you're asking any of these questions, you're in the right place: Is this even abuse if he doesn't hit me?Is it okay to leave if my husband is an addict — what does God say about that?Why do I feel so crazy — and why can't I trust myself anymore?Will I ever feel like myself again? This is the podcast for when you're done performing peace and ready to find the real thing. Tune in — and take the next breath back to loving your life. 🤍

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