Etikett: self-healing

The Power of Words in Everyday Life – When the Numbers Start Speaking

The blog is growing, the words are finding new paths – and I just cut off thirty centimeters of hair.
This post is about the power of words in everyday life, about how we choose to see life, the weather, and ourselves – and how our words shape reality.

Don’t Miss Friday’s Post

Friday’s post will be one that stirs a little.
It’s about jealousy – that feeling so often mistaken for love, but which in truth is rooted in fear.
About how trust can fall silent, how love can be suffocated, and what happens when we dare to look behind control.

It’s personal, honest, and important.
Published Friday morning here on malix.se.

Read this post in Swedish:

Ordens kraft i vardagen – När siffrorna börjar tala

The Power of Words – When the Numbers Start Speaking

Over the past few days, I’ve followed my Google statistics with curiosity.
Not to chase results, but to understand what happens behind the scenes.

Posts I wrote long ago are coming to life again.
People are searching for words like self-healing, gratitude, and feelings stuck in the body – and they end up here, with me.

That means the texts live on – taking a life of their own in the quiet rooms of the internet.
Google doesn’t just show numbers. It shows what people seek, and what truly moves them.

When someone stays for a while, when someone returns, when the words carry something real – the algorithm understands that there’s something here worth showing to more people.

That’s what I want to create: a space where authenticity grows slowly, in its own rhythm.

Before and After – When Thirty Centimeters Get to Rest

@carinaikonennilsson
♬ originalljud – carina

Yesterday, thirty centimeters of hair fell to the floor.
What remained was me – a little lighter, a little freer, but still me.

Carina Ikonen Nilsson smiling after cutting thirty centimeters of hair, reflecting the power of words and how change can feel both light and freeing.

It feels wonderful to have shorter hair. I can’t wait to wash it and feel how light it is.

When the Power of Words Shapes a Conversation

Hairdressers have a special way of keeping conversations alive.
We talked about life, work – and finally, the weather.
That gray, rainy heaviness that so many mention these days.

I heard myself say:

“The more we talk about the darkness, the darker it feels.
We can’t control the weather, but we can choose how we feel about it.”

And there, among hair strands and mirrors, it struck me – our words create our reality.

If I choose to see November as a time for rest, warmth, and light, then that’s what it becomes.
When I light candles, wrap myself in a blanket, and drink tea, I feel gratitude instead of gloom.

It’s the same with everything: how we speak about life shapes how we experience it.
If I say something is heavy, it becomes heavier.
If I say there’s light, I often find it too.

When the Blog and Life Grow Side by Side

Just as hair needs care, so do words.
Right now, the blog feels like a living process – growing in rhythm with me.

The statistics show more visitors, but it’s not about numbers anymore.
It’s about trust – between me and you who read.
That my words find their way to someone who perhaps needed them that very day.

AHA – Between the Lines

It’s not about the weather, the hair, or Google.
It’s about focus – choosing what to see and what to give meaning to.
When I choose light, gratitude, and rest, the world itself doesn’t change – but my experience of it does.

Reflection – Between the Lines

I’m reminded of the power of words in everyday life – how small shifts in language and thought can change the feeling of an entire day.

Maybe it’s right now, in November’s darkness, that the biggest transformations take place.
When we cut away the old, let words rest, and choose new thoughts.
That’s when the light finds its way in – even if it comes from a candle rather than the sun.

Closing Words

Yesterday has already settled into history.
Tomorrow waits somewhere ahead.
But right now – this is where life happens.

A Little Reminder

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow.
I’ll be exploring jealousy – that feeling that can tear apart both relationships and the individual.
A topic that touches, stings, and perhaps awakens recognition.

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A calm lake at sunrise — nature and stillness supporting trauma the body remembers and healing in the present moment.

Trauma the Body Remembers – Survival Strategies & Self-Healing

Av Carina Ikonen Nilsson

den 5 november 2025

i Personlig utveckling & tankar, Reflektion & självläkning

Trauma the body remembers isn’t only about what happened.
It’s about how the body keeps reacting — as if the danger is still here.
In this text, I explore how these survival strategies arose to protect us and how we can slowly shift from enduring life to living it.

Translation available / Läs på svenska

Swedish version: Trauma kroppen minns – överlevnadsstrategier och självläkning

Trauma is the impact — not the event

Although two people can go through the same experience, their wounds may be very different. What shapes trauma is not the event itself but the degree of fear, loneliness, and powerlessness in the moment.

The body asks:
“Safe or danger?”
Then it keeps the reaction alive as a protective pattern.

Trauma feels permanent.
However — we can soften its grip.
It is part of your story, not your identity.

Scientific insights — what research shows

Trauma lives in the nervous system, not only the memory
(Bessel van der Kolk — The Body Keeps the Score)
The body remembers through fight-flight-freeze
(Polyvagal Theory — Stephen Porges)
Early trauma affects stress regulation and brain development
(NIMH)
Healing is possible through safety and connection
(Judith Herman — Trauma and Recovery)

What could not be processed then —
the body carries now.

Trauma the body remembers — even when our mind forgets

Triggers can appear quietly:

A tone of voice.
A look.
A smell.
A single word.

Suddenly, the mind goes blank.
Or feelings flood in.
The heart races — while you smile as if everything is fine.

The body isn’t sabotaging you.
It’s protecting you.

Survival strategies — brilliant solutions when hope was thin

We often judge ourselves for how we cope. Yet these patterns were wise strategies when we were small or powerless:

Being quiet, polite, never needing anything
Taking care of others to stay safe
Avoiding asking for support to dodge rejection
Becoming invisible so no one would get upset
Perfectionism — worth measured by performance

These strategies are not weakness.
They are evidence of brilliance in a difficult environment.

When protection starts holding us back

Even when life is now safe, the body reacts as if danger remains:

Saying yes when everything inside says no
Pulling away when someone comes close
Taking on everyone’s responsibility
Smiling through pain
Losing your voice when you need it most

Exhaustion becomes constant.
Headaches and stomach issues become companions.
The body speaks louder:

LISTEN. I am ready to heal.

My reflection — from surviving to living

I believed my discomfort was normal.
That I must always push.
Always stay strong.

But healing began when I slowed down.

I started asking:
“What do I need right now?”

Cold-water swims became moments of truth.
The cold warms the soul into stillness.
The body releases its grip.
And for hours afterward — life feels possible.

When I say no, my body celebrates.
When I say yes, it comes from within:

Yes to Stellas Lekland
Yes to picking up Alfred from practice
Yes to the lake
Yes to writing this without guilt

Because I matter.
And my body knows it.