itskaylastewart/Tiktok Kayla Stewart went viral in July when she posted a TikTok of her body after spending four years getting 30 tattoos removed from her arms The Californian shared a glimpse of her arms before the process in a separate video She tells PEOPLE that taking the steps to remove them was part of her "healing" that ultimately helped her "reclaim my body and my sense of self" Sometimes to start over, you need to start with a clean slate, and that's what Kayla Stewart has done. The 28-year-old Californian went viral in July when she posted aTikTokof her body after spending four years getting 30 tattoos removed from her arms. The removal process for Stewart began in May 2021, just a few months after she had added 22 new tattoos to the 11 she had already gotten over time. Stewart tells PEOPLE that she got the new tattoos during COVID, a period where she began spending time with a guy she met in Venice, who was a line artist and wanted to get into tattooing. "He was also in recovery from addiction — but not long after we met, he relapsed. I didn't really know how to navigate that situation. I just wanted to help, but I didn't have any experience with addiction, and I'd never been around it before," says Stewart. https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf Reflecting on the situation now, Stewart tells PEOPLE that she can see how "vulnerable" she was and how easily she was "taken advantage of" because of it. "He'd do anything to practice, and I became the person he practiced on," she says, noting that "it's hard to describe the mental and physical toll that took." The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! The tattoos for Stewart became like "trauma I was carrying on my body," and taking the steps to remove them was part of her "healing" that ultimately helped her "reclaim my body and my sense of self." "Emotionally, I feel free and liberated now that they're gone. I truly felt like I was walking around with scars — mainly on my arms, which were hard to hide unless I wore long sleeves. And I did — almost every day — for my own sanity and to protect them from the sun," she says. Stewart tells PEOPLE that the week after each tattoo removal session "was the most brutal," and recommends those who find themselves in a similar situation to eat a healthy diet, exercise and cut back on alcohol, as the lymphatic system plays a crucial role in tattoo removal by clearing ink particles from the body. "Blown away" by her results, Stewart says that she will "absolutely never" get tattoos again. Following her experience, Stewart underwent eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy,commonly known as EMDR, with one of her targets being the sound of a tattoo gun. "I definitely had an aversion to tattoos in general for about two years. But thanks to the therapy I've been fortunate to do, I can now appreciate and love them — for other people, just not for me," she says. Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. As for how people reacted to her tattoo removal, she says, "Everyone's been incredibly supportive and understanding," and that it is nice to see that her results have given other people "hope." Read the original article onPeople