a lived story explaining therapeutic somatic repatterning...

Nervous systems…

Living together…

Inevitably will find opportunities for the old unprocessed stories of danger and pain to emerge, stories of when the nervous system never got to move the body to safety, when it never got to feel the experience of being seen or heard in a way that let the whole system fully release into safety, when it never got to truly resolve and settle.

And these opportunities can create new stories of the old paradigm, history brought into present.

And the spiritbodymind can get more and more tangled. Especially when two nervous systems are both trying to deal with old unprocessed woundings. The nervous system can so easily be made to believe the thing of the past is happening again. It can FEEL like it's happening again. And when this happens patterns will play out because, without other options, this is what the sensory-nervous-motor systems of the body will do: react. When this happens the body can feel simply awful, hopeless, helpless. This kind of situation can bring out all the fight, flight, collapse patterns your nervous system has as the "tools" to try to help you deal with danger and survival. Tangles and snarls.

And i am here to tell you that this kind of situation can also be an opportunity to learn to disentangle. With practice you, fully somatic human being that you are, have more options available to you than you know!!!

You CAN learn to recognize that the current situation is an opportunity to FEEL a vibration of an old unresolved pattern that needs healing.

You can learn to recognize that to FEEL this discomfort safely you MUST ground and orient your sensory nervous system into the actual literal present (NOT the firings of the stories pushing their way into your awareness, stories that explain and justify the refiring of the old familiar patterns of fear, anger, discomfort and the resulting patterned (re)actions).

You CAN learn to listen, feel, hear when these old familiar protective patterns emerge, and to actively engage with your body so that you can safely explore what the patterns need from you TODAY that will allow them to untangle a bit and eventually to transform.

Healing at this deep level IS possible.

I know because I live this in my life. It is a process for sure. I am still learning. I still get caught up in the effects of wounding that happened long ago as if it was happening again today. I struggle with the deep pain that can surface from small misunderstandings and the reactive protective patterns. I can still feel how helpless my mind becomes when this happens and it feels like it's happening once again.

AND

I have also felt the power of the practice I described above. I have felt this practice transform the very tissues of my body and allow me to have more capacity to move and act and be more whole in the present. This practice has helped me from letting that old energy and pain fully lead my mouth and my actions in my present. I have learned that i do have the power to feel and act on my deep desire to actively be more healthy and more sane, even in times of conflict. I have learned that I can be with those parts of me that are crying out or raging for help without being taken over by them. Accessing this capacity takes practice and that practice creates space for change and healing.

I live this practice.

And in my professional life as a somatic movement therapist I support others to do the same. This, for me, is the essence of my understanding of and approach to therapeutic somatic repatterning.
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I feel like I haven’t been able to explain therapeutic somatic repatterning this clearly before outside of a one-on-one session, but a recent situation in my life helped me feel and find these words. Let me know if you have questions, are curious and want to set up a consultation to learn more. Call 573-575-MOVE or email me!

Remembering Our Practices - Practicing to Resource - Resourcing to Resiliency

I am writing this because of the need for support that I am hearing/sensing from all quarters given the events in our nation's Capitol yesterday.

The events of yesterday 1/6/2021 and the reactions I’ve heard and seen in my world have really affirmed for me the importance of the things I share with individual clients and the participants to my various workshop. To say that I see a need for more capacity for safe embodiment is, at the least, an understatement. It is times like these when our very structure seems unstable that we most often recognize the importance of a regular practice of our resources. A regular practice that includes things like constructive thinking, The Check-in and active self-care during the settled times is the foundational work that helps us expand our capacity to be more resilient in times of great unknown and transition.

I invite you to remember, as we all move together through these turbulent, transitional times, that you have support., if you choose to access it.

At the most basic, you have the support of your breath, of the Earth under your feet, and of your sensory body to orient you into the present moment.

You have the support of your personal practice.

If you choose to, you have the support of a therapeutic relationship.

You have support.

I invite you to remember, you have the capacity to shift how you feel inside.

When the danger that is causing dysregulation is not actually near us and is a creation of our mind, we CAN choose to practice nourishing our nervous system instead of accumulating more pain/stress.

We practice nourishing our nervous systems so that they are able to perform as they are designed, to allow us to rest, digest, recuperate and to be actively responsible for our self-care. We practice nourishing our nervous systems SO THAT they can more readily react in cases where our body is actually in danger, when we truly need the chemicals of adrenalin, cortisol and epinephrine to help us survive and get to safety.

I invite you to remember, that you have support.

We can choose to practice deepening our relationship with the actions of breath, centering, grounding and orienting. These are the resources of our eternal selves. They were gifts given to us at birth to help our nervous systems regulate.

We can choose to practice self-regulation. We can choose to be the thermostat of our life, rather than the thermometer.

I invite you to remember you have the capacity to think constructively, instead of destructively.

"I am free to choose."

"I am free to notice ease."

"I am free to choose where I put my focus."

I invite you to remember, you are free to choose.

By actively doing the practice of recognizing and choosing where you put your focus throughout your day AND by observing HOW your whole Self is affected by what you choose to focus on (intentionally or unintentionally.), you can continually deepen your ability to make choices about your focus and your actions that further help you to co-regulate and self-regulate.

I invite you to remember, you have the capacity to learn and repattern.

We learn to self-regulate not simply to reclaim our place in our Comfort Zone.

We learn to self-regulate in order to ALSO be able to more safely go into the places in our lives that bring up challenging sensations, emotions, actions, beliefs and stories.

We learn to self-regulate in order to help us be able to grow and learn with less overwhelm or panic.

You can choose to self-regulate so that you can have more energy to change the things you can have some effect upon.

You can choose to self-regulate to increase your capacity to let go of what does not serve you and what you can not change.

You can learn to self-regulate so that you can better access attunement and reason within your Self, regardless of what is happening in the world outside of your skin container.

We each practice self-regulating so that we can give care to ourselves, our loved ones, each other and our community. We practice self-regulation to give space for ease and compassion to ourselves and to others.

I invite you to remember, you have support. We are all in this together.
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If you do not feel like you have the capacity to feel and/or access the support available to you or to explore these practices on your own, please contact me or another somatic therapist to help you deepen your practice of embodiment with professional support.

The Practice of Finding Safety Within and of Reaching Out with Confidence

When we use phrases like "going within," "getting in touch with myself," and "reaching out for help" we are cognitively calling on physical actions that are supported by the Bartenieff Fundamentals, especially the use of Developmental Progression and Connectivity.  Developmental Progression is one of the twelve basic Bartenieff Principles of dynamic movement.  It is the series of basic movement patterns established within your body through stage-specific developmental sequencing from conception until about two years of age.  

These patterns of this early life development are then access by all human movers throughout the entirety of their life span:  the adult version of these early development skills are called Patterns of Total Connectivity.   These Patterns of Connectivity are an active component of all that I share in my somatic movement work, whether I explicitly talk about them or not!

When we use phrases about getting in touch with ourselves or reaching out to another we are more specifically cognitively calling on our physical inner wisdom that is supported by the Pattern of Total Connectivity called Core Distal or Navel Radiation.  This pattern develops early in the womb and builds on the growing/shrinking foundational pattern of Breath, our very first developmental building block of movement!

Physically, Core-Distal is the pattern that supports us in moving toward the Core or Navel area of our bodies as well as in radiating outward to the farthest reaches of our Distal points of fingers, toes, tail and head.  Our ability to withdraw into ourselves and to extend to the farthest limits of our personal space is dependent on this early pattern.

Psychologically, Core-Distal is the developmental and connectivity pattern that supports us in safely going within and claiming our sense of self.  It is the skill of safely and comfortably going within that allows us to more confidently find connection with and move out into the Outer world.

Enhancing your skills of consciously moving with your Breath and Core-Distal Patterns of Connectivity supports you to more fully and resiliently move in all your more-complex activities of daily living!

Recently I have had several wonderful opportunities to introduce and explore the Breath and Core-Distal Patterns of Connectivity with folks at the Heart, Body and Soul Mindful Move Groove class,  in my monthly Movement Fundamentals workshop, as well as with some of my private clients In both the clinical and in the somatic education settings.  This blog post is my way of supporting the home exploration and practice experience of those who have moved with me recently as well as introducing this basic and yet powerful movement concept to those who didn't have a chance to be a part of one of these sessions.

To support your understanding of this pattern, I offer three videos.

In this first video she gives a brief explanation and then she moves the basic action of Core-Distal movement.  https://youtu.be/wDyvO70mlw8

In this second video the dancer uses the Core-Distal pattern as his inspiration to create a series of complex movement phrases.  https://youtu.be/HfTbo-gL2co

In this final video we have the opportunity to see several different young dancers exploring and sharing their perspective of moving with the Core-Distal Pattern of Connectivity (which they call Navel Radiation) as well as moving the other more complex patterns in the developmental sequence.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8fORKlNYFA

I hope that these videos are helpful to inform your understanding of this small basic part of the more dynamic and encompassing Principles of the Bartenieff Fundamentals.  I also hope that they inspire you to move yourself more consciously, whether with my support or otherwise!

As you move, I invite you to ask yourself:  do I move from my Core, or is my movement usually initiated by my appendages and/or, possibly, things outside of my Self? 

I wish for you, in all ways, to move so that you can Live Life More Fully!

If you have questions or comments, please share below or email me.  I look forward to moving with you in some way very soon!