Our purpose and the approach behind it
SHIFTwithin CIC is a women-led social enterprise based in Kent, working to improve outcomes for women and girls.
Our distinctive approach connects nervous-system education with practical, body-based learning. We draw on research, professional expertise and lived experience, and deliver our work through trauma-informed principles of choice, collaboration and respect.
We work with primary school children, offer targeted programmes for girls and women, and train the professionals and organisations around them.
Why we work across generations
Children’s experiences of belonging, respect and relationships help shape the adults they become. Supporting girls and women also means paying attention to the families, schools, workplaces and services around them.
Our work connects early learning with targeted support and professional practice. We aim to build the foundations for healthier relationships while responding to needs people are experiencing now.
Body-based learning and nervous-system understanding
Our nervous system helps us respond to the world around us. Stress can show up through changes in energy, muscle tension, breathing, attention or the urge to act or withdraw. The same situation can feel different to different people.
We offer accessible ways to explore these responses through movement, breath awareness, sensory experiences and creativity. People practise noticing what happens, making sense of it with curiosity and exploring what supports them.
Body signals are clues to explore. We do not assign one fixed feeling or meaning to a sensation, or expect everyone to experience their body in the same way.
Notice. Understand. Choose.
Notice
What is happening in my body, my feelings or the space around me?
Understand
What might this tell me about my needs or the situation? I do not need to have every answer.
Choose
What could help next? A small action, a different environment, a boundary or support from someone else?
The framework behind the work
Our Regulation & Relationships Framework connects four areas: Body, Self, Others and World. We explore body signals and feelings; identity and self-worth; communication and relationships; and the wider circumstances affecting our lives.
The S.H.I.F.T. method offers a repeatable way to pause and explore what may help:
Slow Down. Hear My Body. It’s Okay to Feel It. Find My Tool. Thank My Body.
Notice & Choose brings this learning into everyday life through accessible language and practical resources.
What trauma-informed means in practice
Choice and consent
Activities are invitations. People can adapt, observe, pause or pass. Nobody has to close their eyes, focus on breathing or share a personal experience.
Trust and predictability
We explain what to expect, the purpose of activities and the boundaries around privacy and safeguarding.
Collaboration and difference
We listen to individual preferences, consider sensory and communication needs and explore what feels useful together.
Support and context
We recognise the effects of adversity, discrimination and unmet needs. Trusted adults, supportive relationships and changes to an environment can matter as much as an individual tool.
Respect for experience
A person does not need to disclose trauma to receive sensitive support. Trauma-informed delivery does not mean every participant has experienced trauma or needs trauma treatment.
Drawing on evidence-based approaches
We draw on research-supported mind-body approaches, including elements of yoga, mindful movement and attention practices, and adapt them to the people and settings we work with. Research helps guide our choices alongside professional judgement and participant feedback.
The evidence varies between practices, age groups and settings. Our own programmes combine and adapt these elements, so we describe them as evidence-informed and continue to develop their evaluation.
We are interested in what people find useful, what changes over time and where an activity or programme needs adapting. We keep learning, review our claims and welcome opportunities to strengthen the evidence for our work.
Meet the founders
Tara Flynn | Co-founder
Tara is a Qualified Yoga Therapist with specialist child and adolescent training, alongside a background in family mediation, separation support, safeguarding and domestic abuse awareness. She develops creative, body-based programmes and practical resources that help people understand their experiences and explore what supports them. Her earlier career in corporate client relationships informs her collaborative approach to working with families and organisations.
Kim Rojas-Powell | Co-founder
Kim brings more than a decade of experience in women’s rights, equality and survivor support. Her background includes frontline work with the Metropolitan Police and Rape Crisis South London, alongside feminist programme development within the global trade-union movement. She brings expertise in trauma-informed facilitation, programme development, funding and evaluation, connecting people’s experiences with changes in organisational practice.
Together, we combine specialist professional knowledge, programme development and lived experience. Our shared purpose is to make understanding and practical support more accessible.