Introduction
You are not broken. You are being rebuilt.
Some conversations don’t try to fix anything.
They simply create enough safety for truth to surface.
This episode of Sessions From The Edge is one of those conversations.
I sat down with Hazel Ray, behavioural neuroscientist, educator, singer-songwriter, and host of the podcast Beyond the Human, to explore what happens when fear shapes a nervous system from childhood, and how meaning, language, and creativity can become a way back to self.
What unfolded wasn’t a neat recovery story.
It was a grounded, honest exploration of how identity rebuilds itself when the body and mind have lived under pressure for a long time.
Decode: When the Alarm System Never Switches Off
Hazel shares her lived experience of growing up with chronic fear, insomnia, intrusive thoughts, disordered eating, and later postnatal anxiety.
She speaks openly about:
Childhood trauma and long-term nervous system activation
Living with intrusive thoughts and visions, without pathologising the experience
How stress chemistry affects memory, perception, and identity
Why awareness is often delayed, not absent
What stands out isn’t the intensity of the story, it’s the clarity with which Hazel now understands it.
This is what decoding looks like when it’s done without judgement.
Align: Language, Journaling, and Rewriting the Inner Narrative
Alignment didn’t arrive as a single breakthrough.
It came through noticing patterns.
Hazel describes:
How journaling brings the prefrontal cortex back online during stress
The subtle but powerful shift from “you” thoughts to “I” beliefs
Why language matters when identity is under pressure
How music became a way to regulate, process, and stay present
She bridges neuroscience, spirituality, and lived experience without collapsing into theory or belief. Everything stays practical, embodied, and human.
This is alignment as practice, not performance.
Thrive: Creativity, Agency, and Living Like Time Matters
In the final part of the conversation, Hazel reflects on leaving a life that no longer fit — and trusting herself enough to choose differently.
We talk about:
Reclaiming agency after long periods of fear
Why living as if time matters isn’t morbid, it’s clarifying
Creativity as contribution, not escape
What thriving actually looks like when life has already been disrupted
Thriving, here, isn’t about eliminating fear.
It’s about no longer letting fear make the decisions.
Music as Medicine
Hazel performs three original songs during the session, including My Demon; a raw, honest expression of the inner voices many people carry but rarely speak about.
Music in this conversation isn’t entertainment, it’s part of the decoding.
A Note for Titans
If you’ve ever wondered whether your thoughts, sensitivities, or inner experiences mean something is “wrong” with you, this episode offers another lens.
Not everything that hurts is broken. Some things are asking to be understood, integrated, and expressed.
Hazel’s Links
Instagram at Hazelray_frequencies
Explore Hazel’s work on Youtube Podcast Beyond the Human
