I write the manual I wish I'd had
I've spent more than a decade researching the neurobiology of trauma, the autonomic nervous system and somatic regulation practices. I started out of personal need: years in a high-pressure corporate career that ended in a health collapse my doctors couldn't explain.
I discovered that my symptoms weren't a character flaw or a purely psychological problem. They were the predictable biological response of a nervous system that had been in emergency mode for too long. And that response could be treated.
The story: when the body stops lying
For years I functioned the way so many people do: working too much, sleeping too little, ignoring my body's signals because "it wasn't the right time to stop." Anxiety, fatigue and digestive problems became background noise I learned to tune out.
Until my body became impossible to ignore. A racing heart at rest. Chronic insomnia with 3 a.m. wake-ups. Bloating that no diet could fix. Pain in places where every test said I was fine. And above all, an exhaustion so deep that rest didn't touch it.
Conventional medicine ruled out one organic cause after another. Hormones "within range." Blood work "normal." Exam "unremarkable." The unspoken diagnosis was clear: it was psychological. "Learn to manage your stress."
That's when I started researching seriously. Stephen Porges's Polyvagal Theory was the first piece that changed everything: I finally understood why I couldn't "think" my way into calm while my body was still in emergency mode. Then came Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, the research on the gut-brain axis and the neurophysiology of chronic pain.
What I learned started to work. Not all at once, and not by magic, but with a consistency conventional medicine hadn't given me, and with a biological logic that finally made everything make sense. My books were born from that research and that process.
The sources behind my books
Every book is anchored in published research, not wellness trends. These are the scientists and clinicians whose work forms the backbone of my writing:
The method: four principles behind every book
Evidence-based
Every technique and mechanism comes with its physiological explanation and its source. No pseudoscience, no magic promises.
Practical and cumulative
Short daily protocols, no special equipment, no meditation or yoga experience. Consistency matters more than duration; the body learns through repetition.
Written from the inside
Written by someone who has walked the path from collapse to regulation. The empathy isn't rhetoric; it's direct experience in plain language.
Systemic and connected
The nervous system, digestion, hormones and pain aren't separate compartments. They're a network that affects itself, and the books treat them that way.
Frequently asked questions
Is Elena Vives a doctor or therapist?
No. Elena Vives is a science and health writer, not a healthcare professional. Her books don't replace medical diagnosis or treatment: they're self-understanding and somatic regulation guides based on scientific evidence, written by someone who has lived the process and researched it for years.
Why does she write under a pen name?
The pen name lets her share her own story of health collapse and recovery honestly, without the limits a professional or personal context would impose. It's a common practice in personal-experience nonfiction when the author wants the content, not the identity, to come first.
What research are the books based on?
The neuroscience of the autonomic nervous system, Polyvagal Theory (Stephen Porges), Somatic Experiencing (Peter Levine), the neurobiology of trauma (Bessel van der Kolk), gut-brain axis research and the neurophysiology of chronic pain. The books reference studies published in scientific journals.
Which of her books are available in English?
Unlock Your Nervous System, Reset Your Gut, Rescue Your Hormones and Release Your Chronic Pain are available in English. Her menopause title is currently available in Spanish.
Start with the book that started it all
Unlock Your Nervous System: somatic exercises to heal trauma, release anxiety, and activate your vagus nerve in 28 days.
See the book →Already past the basics? Reset Your Gut takes the same approach to bloating, SIBO and the gut-brain axis.
Find Elena on Instagram, Pinterest and her Amazon author page.