Francesca Emilia has been through it—the kind of darkness that makes you question everything. But instead of staying stuck, she fought her way back. Not with quick fixes or overnight breakthroughs, but with small, quiet moments of healing that slowly brought her home to herself.
She’s not here to sugarcoat the process. Healing is messy, painful, and anything but linear. But it’s also full of unexpected joy, movement, and freedom. From saying yes to solo travel to building a community where people can heal together, Francesca’s journey is proof that you don’t have to stay lost.
In this interview, she opens up about what it really takes to heal, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and the power of trusting yourself—even when everything feels uncertain. If you’ve ever felt like you’re stuck in survival mode, this conversation is for you. Keep reading—you are not alone.
The Healing Journey: From Darkness to Light
TBN: Francesca, healing is often described as “coming home to yourself.” When did you first start to feel like yourself again? What did that moment look like?
FE: To be honest, I don’t think it was one big moment, it was a series of really small ones. Like the first time, I laughed and actually felt the joy of it in my body. The first morning I woke up and didn’t feel a familiar weight on my chest. That ecstatic dance I went to and finally felt free. The first time I let myself be still without needing to numb or escape. It wasn’t a sudden return, more like small little shifts all leading me back home.
TBN: Healing can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re just starting. What’s one simple daily practice you swear by that anyone can incorporate into their routine?
FE: I will always say yoga. There are so many different styles, teachers, and approaches, which can feel overwhelming at first, but it also means there’s something for everyone. It might take some time to find what resonates with you, but in the meantime, you get to explore, to find the practice that meets you where you are—whether it’s a powerful flow, trauma-informed yin, or something else. Yoga is such a beautiful way to reconnect with yourself and your body. For me, it was a gateway into so many other avenues of healing. I know I’m a bit biased as a yoga teacher, but when people ask me where to start, my answer is always the same: yoga!
TBN: Looking back, was there a turning point in your healing where you realized you were truly making progress? What changed?
FE: Things really began to change for me when I started healing my nervous system—when I realized just how frozen, dissociated, and depleted I had been. The moment I recognized my dissociation and made the commitment to truly come alive again, everything shifted. I moved through wave after wave of emotions, traumatic memories, and deep pain to find my way back to a more regulated self. And in the process, I became incredibly resilient. There was this new sense of strength, this inner power that came from surviving and processing everything I had carried for so long. If I could make it through that, I knew I could handle anything. I knew I had changed because, for the first time, I felt genuine pride when I looked back at my path.
Nomadic Travel & Embracing Change
TBN: Francesca, you took a huge leap in buying a one-way ticket to Central America. How did it feel to finally say yes to a dream you had for so long? Has travel played a role in your healing?
FE: Buying that one-way ticket felt like both freedom and fear wrapped into one. Travel has this way of breaking you open. It forces you to face yourself, your patterns, your fears. It also reminds you how vast and beautiful life can be, and creates so much space to tune into your intuition. Nomadic travel is a dream of mine coming to fruition, and it’s so magical. Leaving is hard, goodbyes are incredibly hard. But change is good, and staying the same would have been much harder.
TBN: What is something that travel has taught you?
FE: Lana Del Rey said it best: “Everywhere you go, you take yourself, that’s not a lie.” Travel doesn’t let you escape anything, especially not yourself. No matter how far you go, your thoughts, patterns, emotions, and baggage come with you. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s an invitation. An invitation to meet yourself in new places, to see yourself through a different lens, to face all of it, and grow. Travel has shown me that healing isn’t about running away. You can’t run away from yourself no matter how hard you try. Travel is about learning to cultivate this deep sense of home within yourself, no matter where you are.
The Messy Reality of Healing
TBN: You’ve said healing isn’t pretty—it’s messy, nonlinear, and really hard at times. What would you say to someone who feels like they’re doing it “wrong” because they’re struggling?
FE: I’d tell them that the constant struggle, pain, and relapse don’t equal failure—it’s all part of the process. There is no right way to heal. You just have to keep moving forward. One step at a time. One day at a time. It’s the only way to do it.
TBN: Healing isn’t just about fixing what’s broken—it’s also about rediscovering joy, right? What’s something that has brought you unexpected happiness along your journey, Francesca?
FE: Ecstatic dance. I went to my first ecstatic dance in Colorado this past May, and it was a revelation. It became a deeply healing way to reconnect with my body—to somatically release, to let go without overthinking. Dancing is pure joy. Moving, feeling, and simply being in my body without judgment is pure joy. It reminded me that healing isn’t just about working through pain—it’s also about reclaiming pleasure, freedom, and ALIVENESS.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Community, Growth, & What’s Next
TBN: Soul Studio is such a beautiful concept—healing in community rather than alone. Why do you think it’s so important to have support when working through trauma?
FE: Because trauma isolates you. It convinces you that you have to carry everything alone. But true healing happens in connection, with both yourself and others. Being witnessed, being heard, being held in safe containers, being reminded that you are not too much or too broken—this is of utmost importance.
TBN: You’ve already helped so many people through your work. If you could leave every woman reading this with one message, one truth to hold onto in their own healing journey, what would it be?
FE: You are already whole. Healing isn’t about becoming someone new—it’s about remembering who you’ve always been beneath the pain, the conditioning, the survival mode. Everything you’re looking for is already within you, and the love you are so desperately seeking is your own. Keep going, you are returning home to yourself.
TBN: What if you could talk to a younger version of yourself? What would you tell her?
FE: I would tell her: trust yourself, always. Trust your gut, even when it feels uncertain. You have everything you need inside of you, and your intuition will always guide you where you need to go. Don’t doubt your inner voice, even when the world tries to convince you otherwise. You know what’s best for you. Trust that.
Click here to check all the interviews from our “Empowered Women Empower Women” series.
