You’ve survived. Now it’s time to learn to live with freedom.
You look like you’ve got it all together.
It might look like - The business. The family. The friends who say, “I don’t know how you do it.”
You keep everything running with grace and grit.
But underneath?
There’s a constant hum. The tension that never quite releases. The startle at the sound of a slammed door. The exhaustion that lives in your bones, even on “good” days.
You’ve mastered surviving.
But you’ve outgrown survival.
The Current Struggle
You live in constant readiness, scanning, predicting, bracing. Even in safety, your body stays alert. You feel disconnected from yourself, unsure what you actually like, need, or want anymore. Freedom feels unsafe, quiet becomes suspicious, joy feels temporary.
You’re in emotional burnout, juggling recovery, work, and care for everyone else.
You carry guilt for still struggling, whispering “I should be over this by now.”
You don’t trust your own judgment. Gaslighting taught you to doubt your instincts.
You’re lonely, even in rooms full of people. Triggers feel random, and shame follows.
You feel pressure to perform healing, to be “the success story.”
And you still believe softness isn’t for you.
None of this is a flaw.
It’s evidence that your body is still protecting you.
Why It’s Not Your Fault
You’ve done everything they told you to do. Therapy gave you understanding, but your body still panics. Podcasts inspired you, but your chest still tightens at rest.
Mindset work helped for a while, until you realised trauma doesn’t speak affirmations.
You tried medication, meditation, manifestation, all helpful, none enough.
You were given strategies to think differently, not feel differently.
No one taught your body that safety isn’t a trick.
No one showed you that peace has a texture, a sound, a rhythm that can be learned.
You don’t need more insight.
You need integration.
The Hidden Problem
You think you’re burnt out, unmotivated, or “too sensitive.”
But really? Your nervous system has never learned what safety feels like.
You’ve built freedom on top of survival.
You appear calm, productive, in control, but inside, your system is running old code.
Every attempt to rest triggers alarm bells.
Stillness once meant danger, so your body calls it unsafe.
The world rewarded your trauma responses, over giving, perfectionism, control, so you’ve never been allowed to stop performing them.
You’re not broken. You’re brilliant at surviving in unsafe conditions.
Now it’s time to learn how to live in safe ones.
The Shift: From Surviving to Living Free
You don’t need to become someone new.
You just need to remember who you are underneath the armour.
The survivor who wants peace that lasts.
Joy without guilt.
Softness without fear.
This isn’t about giving up control. It’s about finding a kind of safety where you no longer need it.
Imagine waking up rested instead of wired.
Imagine sitting in stillness and feeling relief, not panic.
Imagine being fully present in connection, work, and life, not always braced for loss.
That’s what this work unlocks.
Introducing The Survivors Circle
Created by Lejla Dauti and Jo McMeechan, The Survivors Circle is a trauma-informed programme and retreat for survivors who have outgrown survival mode but don’t yet know how to live beyond it.
It’s not therapy.
It’s not another motivational weekend.
It’s a reclamation.
A remembering of safety, softness, and embodied strength.
Meet Your Facilitators
Healing through lived experience and clinical expertise.
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What’s Inside the Programme
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Trauma education you can feel
Learn why your body reacts before your mind does and how to regulate it gently.
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Somatic practices that work in real life
Simple, body-based tools to calm your system anywhere: during a meeting, in traffic, or after an argument.
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Community that gets it
Survivors like you. No pity, no pressure. Just space to exhale.
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Integration support
So what you learn here stays with you, in your routines, relationships, and rest.
Your Pathways
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The Programme: Six weeks of guided online learning, nervous-system tools, and live circles.
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The Retreat: Three days in person for deep rest, reconnection, and embodied freedom.
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The Community: Ongoing support for living what you’ve learned.
You can join one or all. Every path leads you home.
The Transformation Possible
When your body learns safety, everything changes.
You stop mistaking calm for danger.
You stop confusing chaos with love.
You begin to rest, for real.
You respond instead of react.
You set boundaries that protect peace, not fear.
You live, work, and connect without the quiet hum of threat.
You stop surviving peace and start embodying it.
By the end, you’ll know what it means to trust your own body again, not because someone told you to, but because it finally feels safe to do so.
Future You
Let’s fast-forward a few months.
You wake up and breathe deeply before the day starts, no rush, no dread.
You move through conversations without shrinking, apologising, or bracing for backlash.
You take time off without guilt, because you finally know that rest doesn’t mean collapse.
You hold space for others and still feel connected to yourself.
You lead, love, and live from calm, not chaos.
You’re no longer performing “fine.”
You are fine.
Because safety isn’t an act anymore, it’s embodied.
Why Now
Because your body doesn’t heal on wishful thinking, it heals with consistent, safe practice. Because every year you spend in survival mode is another year your joy stays on hold. Because your nervous system is ready, even if your mind isn’t sure yet.
We open enrolment just a few times a year so we can hold this work properly, with care and capacity.
If you’re reading this now, this is one of those times.
You’ve waited long enough to feel free.
Your body is ready for peace, even if your brain still doubts it.
The Invitation
You’ve already done the hardest part. You survived.
Now let’s teach your body how to live in safety, softness, and self-trust.
Come breathe again.
Come rest your armour.
Come home.
Because peace is for survivors like you.
And it’s waiting here.
Deepen Your Journey, Join the Retreat
Once you’ve begun learning how to live freely through The Survivors Circle Programme, the next step is to experience that freedom in your body.
The Survivors Circle Retreat takes everything you’ve learned in the programme and brings it to life in the real world through nature, connection, movement and powerful equine-facilitated learning.
Hosted between accommodation near Bristol in the South West to our four acre nature based site, this immersive experience gives you the chance to:
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Work alongside our herd of gentle horses to explore boundaries, trust, and connection
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Practice nervous-system regulation in motion, not just in theory
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Reconnect with your body through breathwork, movement, and stillness in nature
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Rest, reflect, and restore in community with other survivors
No experience with horses is needed, just an openness to what unfolds.
This retreat is deliberately intimate, with only six spaces available to ensure each participant receives personal support.
It’s the perfect bridge between understanding safety and truly feeling it.
If you’re ready to go deeper, the retreat is waiting for you.
Inclusion and Accessibility
At The Survivors Circle, inclusion and accessibility are not afterthoughts. Our practice is deeply rooted in intersectional feminism. It is the foundation of everything we do.
Our spaces are held for women, non-binary, trans and gender-diverse survivors who have experienced gender based violence and who feel aligned with our work.
As a queer and neurodivergent-led organisation, we know what it’s like to feel unseen, misunderstood, or excluded from support spaces. That’s exactly why we’ve built something different, a space where you don’t have to hide parts of who you are to feel safe enough to heal.
Our Commitment
We are committed to creating environments that are:
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Gender-inclusive: Our programme centres women, trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse survivors. While many in our community are women, what matters most is that you resonate with our work and values.
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Neuroinclusive: Designed with sensory, cognitive, and emotional accessibility in mind. We use clear, plain language, build grounding and regulation into every experience, and offer options to rest, pause, or step away without explanation.
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Disability-inclusive: Both our online and in-person spaces are designed with accessibility in mind. Venues include level access, breakout areas, and sensory-friendly environments. Our online content includes captions, transcripts, and alternative formats wherever possible.
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Trauma-informed: Our facilitators are clinically trained and experienced in holding safe, regulated spaces. We prioritise psychological safety and self-agency at every step.
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Intersectional and accountable: We recognise that inclusion isn’t static. We listen, learn, and adapt through ongoing consultation with communities whose experiences differ from our own.
What You Can Expect
When you join The Survivors Circle, you become part of an environment that values honesty, consent, and care.
We:
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Ask about your access requirements, sensory needs, and pronouns as part of onboarding.
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Share venue accessibility and sensory information in advance.
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Provide options for visual, auditory, and written learning styles.
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Offer quiet spaces and flexible participation for those who need time to regulate.
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Take clear action against discrimination, harassment, or exclusionary behaviour of any kind.
Our inclusion practice is alive and evolving. We actively welcome feedback and continuously refine our approach because doing better starts with listening.
Working Across Intersections
We know trauma doesn’t happen in isolation. It intersects with gender, race, disability, class, neurodivergence, and identity.
Our team includes practitioners and facilitators with lived experience across these intersections. We are constantly learning from the communities we serve, consulting with LGBTQIA+, disabled, and neurodivergent survivors to ensure that our language, content, and delivery are as inclusive as possible.
We also hold deep respect for the specific experiences of gender-based violence, patriarchy-based trauma, and other forms of oppression that shape recovery differently for different people. Holding space for inclusion doesn’t erase those realities. It expands the circle so that everyone who needs it can belong.
Accessibility in Practice
For in-person gatherings and retreats:
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Detailed accessibility and sensory information is provided before attending.
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We check in ahead of time about access needs, dietary requirements, and pronouns.
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Our facilitators receive trauma-informed and inclusion training to ensure everyone is supported safely and respectfully.
For online experiences:
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Content is available in multiple formats (text, audio, captioned video, transcripts).
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Our website includes alt text, font and colour contrast adjustments, and plain-text options.
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We use calm, uncluttered design to support focus and accessibility for neurodivergent learners.
Accountability and Feedback
Inclusion is not a static checklist; it’s an ongoing practice.
If something isn’t working for you, or if you need an adjustment we haven’t considered, we want to hear from you.
You can contact us directly to share feedback, request accessibility support, or discuss any concerns in confidence.
Contact us: lejla@lptms.co.uk
Access our Plain Text Website: ACCESS HERE
Read Our Full Inclusion & Accessibility Statement: HERE
The Survivors Circle is built on a simple truth: healing is for everyone.
We will keep listening, learning, and evolving so that every survivor who steps into this space feels seen, supported, and safe enough to show up as themselves.
The Survival Circle Online Programme
- 124£Every monthSpread your cost by paying monthlyValid for 4 months
- 12 Weeks of live, guided workshops led by Lejla Dauti
- 4 Weeks of structured aftercare and reflections groups.
- Recovery focused sessions.
- Nervous system education.
- Practical tools for managing triggers, anger and emotions.
- Guidance on language and self expression during recovery.
- Safe online community with peer support and discussion.
- Downloadable workbooks and healing resources.
- Access to replays for any missed live sessions.
- Invitation to an optional post - programme group check-in
- Best Value495£Pay In Full
- 12 weeks live, guided workshops led by Lejla Duati.
- 4 weeks of structured aftercare and reflection groups.
- Recovery focused sessions.
- Nervous system education.
- Practical tools for managers triggers, anger and emotions.
- Guidance on language and self-expression during recovery.
- Safe online community with peer support and discussion.
- Downloadables workbooks and healing resources.
- Access to replays for any missed live sessions.
- Invitation to an optional post - programme group check-in.