Permissions of Breath

What happens to the heart when the walls come closing in?
When the thunder makes one hide amidst the shadows?
Just breathe. Give yourself permission to just…simply…breathe.
When the season changes and the cold sets in…When the sparkle of frost covers the glory of fragrant flowers…
Take a long inhale to feel the bitter cold as it touches your lungs.
Let it all out, do not hold the coldness change you.
As the sun comes up the hunger for warmth is birthed into fantasy
A spark of hope in a world, a life, so crowded.
In these spaces give yourself permission to stretch your halves to the sky.
Dance to the melody of the birds and listen for the promise of rainbows
But most importantly, no matter what
Don’t forget to breathe.

With first-hand experience living through the atrocities of both domestic and international human trafficking, Victoria offers a wealth of knowledge from a compassionate survivor-led perspective through her work in the non-profit realm.  As the co-founder of Scarlet Road, a Pacific NW non-profit that helps offer support to local survivors of sexual exploitation and as a trauma-informed yoga practitioner in Washington state, Victoria’s extended work as a specialized outreach professional and as a trainer for both youth and adults around abuse prevention and crisis response, collaborate with passionate avenues of creative writing meant to make that which is seen as unmentionable, approachable and able to heal.