I’ve just returned from a remote village in Laos, where I went to visit an old friend – my karate teacher – to continue my study of the deeper levels of Goju Ryu. Not just the punches and kicks, but the esoteric, almost metaphysical principles that underpin the martial art. The stuff that can’t be measured, only felt.
One thing my teacher kept saying over and over again struck me:
“It’s only a game.”
At first, I didn’t understand. A game? Karate? Life? Society? But over time, the meaning landed hard. He was referring to the roles we play, the unspoken rules we follow, and the stories we create around what we “should” be doing. These are the traps we walk into willingly, unknowingly. And this “game” — of status, money, image, control — is the very thing that keeps most people stuck. Especially those of us who have lived with trauma, with CPTSD, (Complex-PTSD) with constant anxiety. The game fuels it.
On the long drive out of Laos, sat on the flatbed of a truck, looking over paddy fields and jungle, I found myself imagining what the local farmers did all day. But as I looked around, I couldn’t actually see any farming — no fields being tilled, no livestock being moved. There were harvested rice fields, yes, and plots near homes, but not the “busy farming life” I had pictured. That’s when it hit me: I wasn’t seeing them. I was seeing my own imagination. A story I’d created in my mind about what their lives must look like.
We all do this. We create imagined versions of others’ lives, and even our own. We impose meanings, project beliefs, and live inside our internal stories. But imagination, powerful as it is, can either trap us — or set us free.
In Western life, we’ve become experts at living in the head. Thinking, planning, worrying, analysing. We run imaginary scripts all day long about what people think of us, what might go wrong, what’s expected. This is especially true for people with PTSD or CPTSD — where your imagination becomes hijacked by fear, by past trauma, by worst-case scenarios. It’s exhausting. And it’s not real.
But what if you could reclaim your imagination?
That’s the deeper level of Goju Ryu I was studying — awareness, softness, the ability to feel and respond, rather than just react. When you move from imagination to embodiment, from story to presence where there are NO rules, something magical happens. You start living now, not back then or “what if”. And that’s where healing begins.
It’s Only a Game… But a Dangerous One
The “game” my teacher referred to is the same one many of us are trapped in: trying to meet expectations, please others, fit roles, obey rules that don’t serve us. It’s the game of ego, status, performance, and false identity. But the most dangerous part? Most people don’t realise they’re even playing but hidden rules.
People with trauma often try to be good soldiers in the game. We try to hide symptoms, push through, stay productive, and appear “fine”. But underneath, we feel fractured. And because society rewards us for playing our role — being strong, being busy, being silent — we keep playing, even as it damages us.
The farmers in Laos, by contrast, had very little — but they radiated peace. Always smiling, always willing to share. Their wealth wasn’t in possessions or power, but in presence. They seemed to live in alignment with themselves — not pushing to be something else. And they weren’t living in constant stress. It made me realise: Freedom isn’t about having more. It’s about needing less to feel whole.
But breaking free from the game isn’t just about awareness — it’s also about action. Real, grounded, daily choices that bring you back into your body and help you feel safe enough to start living differently.
One tool I often give clients after hypnotherapy is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). It’s deceptively simple — tapping on key meridian points while voicing what you’re feeling — but deeply effective. I call it emotional acupuncture. It helps people release emotion without needing to re-live it. It’s something they can do at home as a daily reset. EFT helps regulate the nervous system and offers a gentle way to shift out of fear and into calm.
Movement is another key. I always encourage clients to walk outside daily — not for fitness, but for freedom, and to focus on the now — the present. Movement pumps toxins out of the system, helps regulate the trauma response, and reconnects you with your body. It’s often when people start to move again, after years of freeze or overwhelm, that real emotional breakthroughs begin to unfold.
As someone who has studied Goju Ryu Karate for many years, I understand movement not as force — but as wave, flow, even magnetism. While many see martial arts as punching and kicking, Goju Ryu means both soft and hard. The “soft” takes years of study — the breath, the subtle shifts, the constant push, the ability to feel. As my teacher said, “allow the enemy to decide how they want to die” — not always in violence, but in understanding that the power lies in your stillness. That’s where true mastery lives.
And then there’s nutrition. The modern diet, full of sugar and chemicals, it could be said, designed to keep us in stress. It destabilises blood sugar, triggers emotional swings, and causes energy to crash. A more natural way of eating — whole foods, fewer processed ingredients — helps the body reset. Especially when sugar is reduced, you’ll notice clarity and calm begin to return. I support clients with food diaries, fasting protocols, and healthy snack swaps that align with how they want to feel. This isn’t about dieting — it’s about fuelling a better future.
Finally, the use of hypnosis allows you to navigate your imagination, recenter your subconscious, and let go of what’s been holding you back. Hypnotherapy creates space for the nervous system to breathe, for the mind to rewire, and for new possibilities to take root. It helps you begin to see a positive future, not as a fantasy, but as something you deserve and can step into — starting now.
So yes, we all live in our imagination — but you don’t have to be a prisoner there. You can learn to reframe or even step out of ‘the game’. You can remember that what you imagine isn’t always what is. And that’s where your freedom lives.
🌿 Ready to Break Free from the Game?
If you’re feeling trapped in stress, trauma, or just disconnected from your true self — you’re not alone. Through hypnotherapy, emotional release, and practical daily tools, I help people just like you find clarity, peace, and purpose again.
📞 Book a free discovery call today — let’s talk about where you are now, and where you could be.
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🧠 Real healing starts with one choice: to stop playing the old game.