Show Notes
Why healing becomes a prison when it doesn’t include justice, relational repair, and acknowledgement? In this direct, unfiltered episode of Exiled and Rising, Ana invites you into the truth that most trauma spaces avoid: healing alone is not enough. Drawing from lived experience and years of working with those displaced by war, harmed by family, or erased by systems, in first part you will learn why
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“Doing the work” often keeps you stuck
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Praise like “you’re so strong” is not empowering—it’s dismissive
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Spiritual language can become a tool of silencing
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Your nervous system knows when repair hasn’t happened—no matter how much breathwork you’ve done
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Some healing spaces are not meant to be “inclusive,” and why that’s not a flaw—it’s a boundary rooted in dignity
This is not a conversation about love-and-light healing. This is a reckoning with the deeper layers of trauma: relational, systemic, and embodied.
This episode is not gentle—but it is honest.
It is not about rising above—but about refusing to carry it alone anymore.
You’ll feel called in, not called out.
You’ll hear the truth you may have needed for years:
You’re not broken. You’re not too much. You’re not behind.
You’re navigating a healing world that often tells you to meditate your way out of harm while refusing to name what actually hurt you.
This episode gives you language for what your nervous system already knows:
Breathwork can’t fix betrayal.
Affirmations can’t replace accountability.
And healing without justice isn’t healing—it’s another abandonment.
If you’ve ever sat in a wellness space and felt invisible…
If you’ve ever been praised for your strength while still bleeding inside…
If you’ve ever wondered if your pain was your fault—
This episode is for you.
It’s a reckoning.
It’s a remembering.
It’s an offering of truth, rage, and relief—on your terms.
Key Topics Covered:
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The myth of solo healing and how it becomes a trap
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Why spiritual bypassing and “positivity” can retraumatize
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The difference between internalized and externalized abandonment
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The body’s demand for relational justice, not just regulation
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What it actually means to seek justice—without revenge
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Ana’s radical truth: “Healing is not your job alone. It never was.”
Lessons & Takeaways:
✔️ You are not failing at healing—the model may be broken
✔️ Your desire for repair, truth, and justice is not a flaw
✔️ Healing must happen in the context of what hurt you
✔️ You have a right to say: “I need acknowledgment. I need justice.”
✔️ You don’t owe anyone your strength. You deserve to be held in your truth—not admired for your endurance
If this episode stirred something in your bones…
If you’ve been made to feel that your pain is personal failure...
If you’re tired of carrying everyone’s comfort while your wounds remain unnamed...
Share this episode. Leave a review. Support the work.
This isn’t just a podcast—it’s a space for truth, justice, and radical repair.
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From Trauma to Resilience. From Wounds to Resistance.
Meet Your Host – Ana Mael
Ana Mael is a genocide and war survivor, somatic trauma therapist, and founder of the Somatic Trauma Recovery Center. She has dedicated her life’s work to helping survivors reclaim their identity, dignity, and self-trust after war, displacement, systemic oppression, and complex trauma.
Her podcast, Exiled and Rising, is not about surface-level healing. There are no platitudes, no quick fixes—only deep, uncompromising truth about what it takes to move from wound to resistance, from trauma to resilience, from exile to rising. Ana’s voice is a powerful force in the trauma field, bridging somatic therapy with real-world survival.
She is also the bestselling author of The Trauma We Don’t Talk About, a book that has reached #1 in over 10 mental health and personal development categories. Through her research, clinical work, and lived experience, Ana is redefining what it means to heal from trauma—not just intellectually, but in the nervous system, in the body, and in the very essence of self.
What You’ll Find in Exiled & Rising Premium
- Unfiltered Conversations on Trauma Healing – No vague advice, no empty words. Ana delves deep into the physiology of trauma, the wounds of exile, and how survival impacts identity.
- Somatic Healing Tools That Work – Each episode delivers science-backed, embodied strategies to help regulate the nervous system and rebuild safety.
- Personal Stories That Resonate – Ana doesn’t just teach—she lives this work. Her own survival story, alongside the experiences of her clients, makes this podcast a lifeline for those who have felt invisible.
- A Call to Reclaim Your Space – Whether you’ve been exiled from your homeland, your community, or your own body, Ana’s mission is to help you take your rightful place in the world—without apology.
This podcast is not about "moving on." It’s about rising in your full, unshaken power. If you’ve ever felt unseen, unheard, or unworthy—this is where you belong.
