My clients often ask me “how often should I receive a session?” There is not a one-size fits all answer, but here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding how often to schedule.
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.
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.
There are two main branches of your autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. Ideally there is a healthy balance between the two.
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.
One of my favorite restorative yoga poses is Supported Child’s Pose! This restorative pose allows you to stay in it for a bit longer than the version without props, and provides all the amazing benefits of the more athletic version without any discomfort.
It’s often overwhelming to figure out the next steps to take to recover and restore yourself. Now, over 3 years later, I recommend a triad approach that includes emotional/mental, medical/functional medicine and physical/nervous system repair.
We lie down in a comfortable position, close our eyes and for many humans, this is sufficient to create the internal and physical conditions necessary for sleep.
If you’re stressed or anxious, then it’s even more critical to nourish yourself in a healthy way. But unfortunately, many of us use our chronic stress as an excuse to overindulge in foods we know are bad for us.
In 2015, I had moved from Denver to Washington, DC to be with someone with whom I had fallen in love. But within weeks of arriving, red flags began to appear. I made excuses for each thing because I loved this man and believed he was the person with whom I would spend the rest of my life.
The Feldenkrais method is a process that helps a person shift out of old patterns for good. It helps you identify and change habits that might be causing you pain and discomfort in exchange for long-term healing and relief.
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle, non-invasive hands-on treatment for the whole body where the practitioner listens to the system through her hands for any patterns of inertia or congestion.
