The Healing Blog
Practical, body-centered tools for calming your nervous system, easing chronic pain, and reconnecting with yourself, drawn from Somatic Experiencing®, Feldenkrais®, Craniosacral Therapy, and Havening Techniques®.
Understanding the HPA Axis — and Why It Matters for Nervous System Regulation
The HPA axis (Hypothalamus–Pituitary–Adrenal axis) is one of the body’s primary systems for responding to stress. It’s a communication loop between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands. Together, they coordinate how the body reacts to challenge — whether physical, emotional, or environmental.
How Working with Your Body Can Calm Your Mind: A Somatic Approach to Anxiety and Stress
The body isn’t just the container for our stress—it’s also the pathway out. By learning to sense ourselves, move, and breathe with awareness, we can help our nervous system find its natural balance again. The result isn’t just relief from physical symptoms—it’s a deeper sense of safety and presence in our own skin.
What to Expect in a Trauma-Informed Bodywork Session: How Touch Helps Heal Trauma and Regulate the Nervous System
When people ask me what trauma-informed bodywork looks like, I usually explain that it’s a gentle, hands-on approach that helps the body (and nervous system) find its way back to regulation and safety.
What is Medical Trauma: Why It Stays With You and What You Can Do
You’ve been through a medical procedure or intervention — either planned or unexpected. It’s over and you’re home. It’s been months or even years and you’re still feeling upset about how you were treated or about something that happened, but your rational mind is telling you “it’s over, let it go.” But you can’t.
How to Map Your Own Nervous System
It’s helpful to be able to identify where you are on the nervous system “map,” so that you know what type of tools and exercises will be the most helpful to get to Ventral vagus state of connection and safety.
Somatic Exercises to Take You From Freeze State to Safety and Connection
When working within the Polyvagal nervous system regulation framework, we know that in order to bring someone out of a freeze and dissociated state, we need to gently mobilize their nervous system within their capacity. Here are some effective somatic exercises for working with the freeze state.
Trauma Informed Bodywork and Somatic Experiencing® for Narcissistic Abuse
The Feldenkrais Method® and Somatic Experiencing® are two robust somatic methods that help release chronic muscle tension and regulate the nervous system. One tool helped me learn to sense and feel safety in my body and to trust my own inner guidance again, while the other tool helped me release the powerful thwarted energy that got stuck in my body, causing me chronic pain and fatigue.
Physical Symptoms of Anxiety and Hyper-Vigilance
From a somatic, or body perspective, anxiety refers to the sensations generated by the body’s total response to a threat. Our body reacts to this threat because it will do anything to survive. When we remain in a constant state of hypervigilance, we experience predictable bracing and contracting patterns throughout our system.
How does Somatic Experiencing® Work?
Working with the body is key to allowing the activated charge, that has been trapped in the physical body since the traumatic event, to dissipate or dissolve, especially when the physical symptoms of that traumatic event show up months or years later as chronic physical pain and physiological symptoms of stress and anxiety.
What is Somatic Experiencing®?
Somatic Experiencing® is a body first approach to dealing with the problematic (and oftentimes physical) symptoms of trauma. It helps individuals create new experiences in their bodies; ones that contradict those of tension and overwhelming helplessness.
Calm Your Stress with These 4 Powerful Breathing Techniques
Did you know that slowing your breathing helps you calm down, and that taking a few minutes to do breathing exercises can help relax your mind and body, making it easier to cope with stress and anxiety?
Are You Stuck in Survival Mode? Look Out for These 8 Warning Signs
There are two main branches of your autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. Ideally there is a healthy balance between the two.
Dealing with Chronic Stress? Use This Technique to Soothe Your Amygdala
On a daily basis, we’re triggered by other people and situations, and often, this reaction is based on our amygdala innately and vigorously attempting to protect us from what it perceives as danger.
4 Handy Steps to Help You Practice Self Empathy
Self-empathy, or being capable of having empathy for yourself, helps you calm yourself during conflict or when you’re feeling stressed, angry, frustrated, anxious, afraid and other strong emotions.
How to Ease Your Knee Pain and Prevent Injuries
The knee is the most commonly injured joint and this is especially true in sports. But, unless there’s been an injury directly to the knee, like a torn ACL caused by impact or an accident, it’s unusual that a knee problem originates in the knee.
The Hidden Messages in Your Pain: Why You Should Pay Attention
Pain is your body’s way of communicating with you. It’s a signal in your nervous system that something may be wrong.
Tried and True Steps to Heal Ankle Pain and Knee Pain: Weeks After
A couple of weeks after spraining or straining an ankle or knee, it’s likely you’ll begin to feel a little better. At this point, you might be tempted to resume your regular activities. But here’s some advice to consider when moving forward.
Tried and True Steps to Heal Ankle Pain and Knee Pain: The First 72 Hours
The first 72 hours after an injury like a strain or sprain are critical for healing. Here’s a simple guide to ensure you’re doing all the things during that time frame following the incident.
Use This 5 Minute Self Care Practice to Ground Yourself
Havening is a psychosensory technique that calms the nervous system and help you feel grounded, calm and peaceful.
Here's the Technique You Need to Calm Your Mind and Transform Your Emotional State
Havening is a psychosensory technique that calms the nervous system and can help you feel grounded, calm and peaceful.
