You may have noticed that I blog a lot about calming your nervous system. From my tag line “Transform stress into strength”, the Practice Together weekly sessions of meditation, Qigong and Somatic movement are all modalities from which you can do yourself for preventative health.
- ARTICLE: How To Regulate Your Nervous System
- EVENT: Balance Expressive Arts Wellness Day, Sunday March 30th (3 spots left)
- APRIL EVENT: RESET SPRING CLEANSE -April 21 to 27th (VIRTUAL)
- WEEKLY SESSIONS: PRACTICE TOGETHER
ARTICLE: How To Regulate Your Nervous System
We don’t realize how much we hold emotional stress and physical tension in our body. The relief can be enormous.
It can elicit a huge inner sigh of Aaah!
One way to release emotional and physical stress is through Somatic movement, a system of neuromuscular education and a movement awareness practice. This work teaches us to recognize and release holding patterns and chronic pain resulting from injury, stress, repetitive strain, and habituated posture.
Somatic movement was founded by Thomas Hanna in the 1970’s to the early 90’s. He defined the soma as “the experience of the body”, the individual who perceives/senses and experiences “a living body in its wholeness”. He was a colleague of Moshe Feldenkrais and Matthias Alexander (Alexander Method) and developed the practice on the habituated state of forgetfulness of not using the body in its normal function referring it to as sensory-motor amnesia.
Somatic movement is a gentle and slow method using isolated movements to release tension in locations of the body that have been neglected or held tight from past injury or trauma.
Somatics applies the stretching process of Pandiculation, is an effective technique for relaxation of chronically contracted muscles, which increases with levels of conscious control over the movements. It is a movement pattern of strong muscle contraction (concentric contraction) with following slow release (eccentric contraction), which gives enough sensory stimulation to renew connections between sensory and motor neurons in the brain. The slow release movement is key to releasing the tension. Read more about somatic movement. Animals do this naturally . Stretching is a natural way to awake sleeping areas of central nervous system, which prepares animals for reaction to changings in the environment.
It is important to trust your body’s ability to organize itself!
I have experienced profound releases of tension multiple times with somatic movement. It has relaxed unexpected parts of my pelvis, chest, diaphragm, back or shoulders. I am often surprised when my posture shifts into a relaxed state without me having to adjust my neck, head or shoulders.
My friend Joan, finds somatic movement life-changing from her regular yoga practice. For her, yoga does not achieve the same release of openness or pain. She can do somatic movement exercises anytime when she’s feeling restriction in a certain part of her body.
The beauty of Somatic movement is that you are doing the work yourself. Join me on Thursdays at 10am for somatic movement sessions.
Expressive arts is another avenue for calming the nervous system. When participating in a creative activity, it deflects stressful thoughts and physical sensations of anxiety, leading you into an imaginary space of flow. One action follows into another without any expectations. It’s natural, easy, social and self-fulfilling.
A part of this process is the stimulation of the vagus nerve that plays a central role in the relaxation response.
Deep breathing, meditation , singing, laughter and music also regulate the mind and body through the vagus nerve..
The vagus nerve is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system. It plays a central role in “rest and digest” the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. From the Latin word “wanderer”, it originates in the brain, and wanders through the thoracic cavity, connecting directly to our main organs such as the heart, lungs, stomach, liver, pancreas and kidneys affecting many of our bodily functions.
- Connects from the brain to the gut
- Activates the parasympathetic (relaxation) response
- 20% of vagus nerve fibres control body systems of the heart, digestion, breathing and immune system
- 90% of vagus nerve communication is constantly sending sensory information ‘upstream’ from the gut to the brain.
- Vagus nerve stimulation reduces the disruption of tight junctions in intestinal epithelium (leaky gut) that leads to IBS, ulcers, gastritis, celiac or Crohn’s.
- Differentiates non-pathogenic & pathogenic bacteria in the gut
- Mediates immediate action from the central nervous system.
- The vagus nerve activates acetylcholine, a memory neurotransmitter to stimulate the various organs.
Stimulating the vagal nerve has been shown to help with symptoms relating to depression, anxiety disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Bulimia nervosa, poor memory, Mood disorders in the elderly, multiple sclerosis, chronic, fatigue syndrome, traumatic brain injury (concussion), migraines and more.
VAGAL TONE refers to the effectiveness of the vagus nerve. It can be compared to muscle tone. Increasing your vagal tone helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
When you have a higher vagal tone your body will relax faster after stress. Vagal tone is measured by tracking your heart rate alongside your breathing rate. Deep breathing and meditation will bring down the stress. Your heart- rate speeds up a little when you breathe in and slows down a little when you breathe out. The bigger the difference between your inhalation heart-rate and your exhalation heart rate, the higher your vagal tone allowing your body to relax faster after stress i.e. deeper inhalation breaths (from the gut into the chest) and slower exhalations.
You can activate your vagus nerve and increase tone with:
- Deep Breathing
- Meditation
- Laughing regularly and deeply
- Singing
- Massage
- Yoga
- Breathing exercises
- Probiotics
- Tibetan sound healing
- Inuit throat singing or Australian didgeridoo,\
NOTE: Overstimulating the vagus nerve can cause serious problems and emotional upheaval without proper guidance. (See your health practitioner for more information)
Our ability to regulate our nervous system is within us. You have the tools of your breath, awareness of body movement, an attitude of mindfulness and creative self-expression to tone the vagus nerve and approach life with calm.
EVENT: Balance Expressive Arts Wellness Day, Sunday March 30th
WHEN: Sunday, March 30, 2025, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
FEE: $150 for the day (including materials lunch and snacks).
LOCATION: Rani’s house, Toronto
Here, we will explore the diversity of BALANCE in our body, mind and environment.
Joining us is Layah Davis, Expressive Arts Therapist, Somatic movement practitioner, yoga and meditation teacher, and conscious dance facilitator who will be co-leading us on this day. I have known Layah for several years through our learning and she has a wealth of knowledge and experience.
We will explore the multifaceted elements of BALANCE through movement, sound, art, creative play (drawing, painting, clay, and writing), food and conversation within the spectrum of menopause and aging.
When one aspect of our life goes out of balance, it throws our whole system into chaos and shows up in mental and physical symptoms that inhibit our ability to function and thrive. Balance is part of our everyday life! It is part of our mobility, immune system, hormones, gut, digestion, mental and physical health, self-expression, relationships and the environment we live in.
Everyone is welcome and no art experience necessary.
READ MORE about Balance Wellness Day and SIGN UP! (Three spots left!
APRIL EVENT: Reset Spring Cleanse
Get ready for Reset Spring Cleanse week
WHEN: April 21st to April 27th, 2025,
FEE: $35
TIMES: We meet online (zoom) April 21st at 9:30 am to start and on April 27th at 5 pm to celebrate!!
Spring is a few days away. It gives me hope feeling my body relax from hiked up shoulders walking through the cold, snow and ice, throwing off the heavy layers of clothing, and resetting with renewed energy!
April is a great time to practice a spring cleanse with nutritious foods for nourishing the body.
The purpose of a cleanse is to clear the body of foods and chemicals causing sensitivities or allergic reaction that were stored up through the winter, and getting the mental cobwebs out with a clearer mind too.
Treat yourself to a spring cleanse for seven days! It will:
- Improve your body’s ability to handle and dispose of those toxic substances.
- Refresh your skin
- Clearing bowel elimination
- Elimination of cravings
- Possible weight loss
- A sense of relief, calm and ease
- Brighter eyes
- Feeling lighter and refreshed
WE DO THE CLEANSE TOGETHER!
You will discover new foods, enjoy delicious meals, feel fantastic and calmer.
READ MORE ABOUT IT AND REGISTER
WEEKLY SESSIONS: PRACTICE TOGETHER THIS WEEK!
Tuesdays and Thursdays, movement, meditation and Somatics.
Gentle movement prepares you for sitting in stillness for deeper mediation so you can relax into the experience. Becoming aware of your breath while moving slows down the heart rate, calms the mind and regulates the nervous system. Gentle movement releases the joints and tension in the body.
On Tuesdays, for the first 25 minutes, we practice qigong movement sitting and standing followed with a meditation for 25 minutes.
Qigong is an ancient health practice that originated in China some 3000+ years ago. It includes slow, graceful, movements synchronized with the breath to relax the mind into a calm state. It also helps to improve mental focus, and prevents as well as treats ill health and disease.
On Thursdays, we practice Somatic movement to release stress from the body and improve posture, alignment and functionality (from injury, stress or overuse).
Somatic Movement embraces simple principles of moving slowly, ease, comfort and gentle awareness. You can find out more about somatic movement here
The beauty of Somatic movement is that you are doing the work yourself. The movement is done lying on the floor, you will need a mat and cushions.
We meet virtually on zoom so you can join us from wherever you are!
Register for Tuesday’s meditation and movement session at 6:00 pm
Register for Thursday’s somatic movement lesson at 10:00am.
You’re first visit is FREE!
Pay what you can or join the calm membership and take as many classes as you wish for $35/month (meditation or somatic movement).
I look forward to sharing these practices and events together!
I appreciate hearing from you! Interested in a consultation, need an instructor for meditation, or Somatic movement? Contact me at [email protected].
My best in health,
