From a somatic, or body perspective, anxiety refers to the “sensations generated by the body’s total response to a threat.” The body reacts to this threat because it will do anything to survive.
Physiological symptoms of anxiety and being in a hypervigilant state include:
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Chronic muscle pain (back, neck, shoulders, hips, pelvis, etc.)
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Heart palpitations or irregular heart beat
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Holding breath, shallow breathing or shortness of breath
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Migraines and headaches
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Contraction in throat, chest, belly
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Digestive issues (constipation or loose bowels diarrhea, etc.)
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Sleep issues, insomnia
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Fibromyalgia
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Sweating, especially palms of hands or soles of feet
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Heat or shivering
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Dizziness, light-headedness
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Pins and needles
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Trembling, shaking, twitching
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Feeling weak or tired
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A churning feeling in your stomach
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Nausea
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Feeling restless or irritable
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Difficulty concentrating
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Grinding teeth or pressing tongue into backs of teeth
Do any of these physical symptoms sound familiar?
If so, the good news is it’s not a bunch of different problems — it’s all one thing: a dysregulated nervous system, very possibly like this for many years, and possibly your body’s way of managing a fight or flight charge that was never released at the time of one or many traumatic events — either recent or from many years ago.
The Amgydala’s Role in Anxiety
Working with and through the body is so important when it comes to healing from trauma, because talking alone will not relieve physical symptoms. A combination of talk, touch and body-focused work does wonders for healing and changing patterns held in the body for years and decades.
One reason for the inability to feel physical relief is that the amygdala, the part of the brain that is scanning for danger because it’s wired for us to survive, continues to fire and send signals to the body to be vigilant. So the body continues to “brace” and “contract” in anticipation for the next bad thing to happen. The rational thinking part of the brain can’t come online until the more primitive, survival part of the brain calms down.
The Amygdala Exists to Keep You Safe.
The amygdala doesn’t listen to reason, it acts to keep you safe. When the amygdala, the part of the limbic system that protects us, perceives a threat, it triggers a fear or anxiety response that activates the body’s fight-or-flight system. This response can include increased heart rate and blood pressure, feelings of fear and anxiety, and increased stress hormone levels, and any of the symptoms listed above.
We can’t control our physiology with the thinking (rational) part of our brain. We can’t reason ourselves out of a burst of cortisol or rapid heart rate.
But we can use the sensory part of our brain to regulate our physiology.
Body-Focused Approaches to Regulate the Nervous System and Reduce Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
This is where “bottom up” approaches such as trauma-informed somatic techniques and trauma-informed bodywork are effective in changing the physiology of anxiety and regulating the nervous system.
The goal is not only to simply feel calmer for the moment and then fall back into anxiety, but to regulate the nervous system and create new, healthier neural pathways (also known as neural “habits”) that begin to overtake the older, habitual neural pathways of anxiety.
Neural pathways are simply the connections that form between the neurons, or brain cells, in your brain.
We work with the process of neuroplasticity – which is the ability of the brain to change and reorganize and to create new neural pathways.
With somatic methods, you actually change nervous system “habits,” but instead of doing this from the top down (i.e., mind over matter or forcing oneself to be or think a certain way) it’s done with a bottom up approach, which means including one’s body in the equation and following and listening with one’s focused attention to the sensations of the body to guide the process.
Slow Movement as a Pathway in the Body.
We use focused attention and slow, gentle, small movements to access this inherent plasticity of the brain.
Movement is the common pathway to all of our body systems: respiratory system, nervous system, muscular system, cardiovascular system, digestive system, urinary system, endocrine system, lymphatic system.
Our nervous system keeps us safe by knowing when to move toward, move away from, stay still to conserve energy, and so on.
The nervous system processes as a very slow pace. We move slowly to match the pace of the nervous system. We make small movements to create a non-threatening environment for the brain so that it can signal muscles to release.
The Nervous System Supports the Body to Move.
Fast movements heighten the sympathetic activity (fight and flight) and slow movements allow the nervous system to be in a parasympathetic state (rest and digest).
We move slowly to allow the brain to access this parasympathetic state.
When you’re in chronic pain or experiencing other physical symptoms of anxiety, your thinking brain is off line and the brain is noisy. The brain believes there’s a threat that’s eminent.
My offering of trauma-informed body-focused healing work can create an experience of safety, grounding and resourcing so that people can begin to work with the unprocessed trauma through the wisdom of their body.
What to Expect During a Whole Body Health Somatic Practice – Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma Session
For true emotional and physical healing, we can’t leave our body and how it feels and responds, out of the process. Each person needs something very specific in their healing journey, which is why it is so important to have a customized approach with sessions that are specifically tailored for you – a combination of emotionally-focused psychotherapy, parts work, anti-patriarchal reconditioning and body-focused Transforming Touch, Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma.
Your body doesn’t have energy – it is energy. When we allow traumatic stress that is contained in our nervous system to begin to move through our system – flow begins to happen in our body and we feel more energetic, grounded, healthy and alive.
We explore our fluid bodies through the language of sensation, co-regulating touch,and subtle movement. We have the opportunity of allowing time to slow down, to notice, let go and shed that which needs to shed, and to come through anew and refreshed.
For those who would like to focus on a body-focused, somatic approach, we begin by talking about your background, symptoms and history. We do this online and or in-person by sitting in chairs across from each other or you lie on your back on a table. When you are sitting in a chair, we can do some talk therapy, and you may also be asked if you are open to closing your eyes and noticing your feelings, emotions and body sensations that are happening for you in each moment.
For those who would like to do Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma Session – sessions consist of lying on a table with eyes closed – and I offer touch on several areas of the body: the head, stress organs, the belly, and joints in the body.
Therapeutic Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma is a gentle, backed-by-science method that enables qualified practitioners to work safely and ethically with the emotions stored in the tissues and organs of the body. It works to unlock and release emotional pain buried in the body, sometimes since before we born, in-utero, our early childhood and all way up to present day adult experience.
Using touch, we reset complex physiological systems and help harmonize energy flow in a person’s body. Often, we restore what was missing in the early years. Touch can give a client greater awareness of their body’s sensations and the ability to get to know themselves better from the inside out.
Bringing a compassionate presence to the body is another essential part of healing. It helps address the neural numbing, muscular bracing, and autonomic disorganization that are physiological by-products of grief, shame, anger, and fear.
Therapeutic touch works to heal the nervous system by providing an avenue for the body to process deep-rooted trauma and facilitate self-actualization. Through gentle, attuned touch, we can help to rebuild an underdeveloped nervous system that has been negatively impacted by early trauma.
Sessions are done fully clothed. Each session is one-hour, unless we are doing an extended session – and is unique depending on what you are experiencing on that day and would like to focus on during a session – we want to tune in and understand what’s really going on in your body – beyond pathology and diagnoses – to allow your body to move into a flow state, rather than to remain stuck in a stress response state – during the session and in the hours and days afterwards.
This work is support for you to feel more ease through deep embodiment, the immense gifts of slowing way down, how to lovingly hold and transform your story and become a master of our nervous system.
As you heal, you begin to feel your core as goodness; to deeply know that you belong, to feel a oneness with life. You can feel an unshakeable love in your heart that becomes a stable background in your life. The greater empathy and compassion you feel for yourself extends to all beings and the earth itself.
I will hold you with kindness, deep respect and space to be with you as you are. This deep presence will shift our felt sense experience of whole body mental and physical health care. My approach is open, spacious and flexible. I look forward to inviting you in to my space.
There is a great longing in each of us to uncover the secrets and mysteries of our individual lives, to relate more deeply and to uncover what is unique and truthful within ourselves and related to others in our lives. I look forward to seeing you in the depths of soul nourishment, vulnerability and courage.
When we begin to unravel the layers of emotions and patterns and re-route neural pathways, we have to connect back to our physical selves. Trauma forces us out of our bodies. This is why the somatic approach works so well.
When we approach the human system in a holistic, regenerative, systemic way, we build a foundation that is solid and has more capacity to experience difficulty. Yes, we will experience stress, pain, and loss like all humans do, and we will bounce back.
Ready to take the next steps in your healing?
I am honoured to walk alongside you on this path toward greater well-being, happiness, and fulfillment.
Who would you be if you felt nourished and loving towards yourself every day? Say ‘yes’ to what feels nourishing, joyful and expansive. Be ever so gentle with your heart.
Working together is a deeply nourishing, supportive and intensive collaboration between us. My intention is to allow you to bring your whole self, to explore all the areas that feel hidden or stuck and to celebrate all the deep pleasure that can come from living in our bodies. I am here to listen to the wisdom of your magical body together.
Together, we will work with body-based approaches, parts work, inner child healing, co-dependent patterns, shadow work and self compassion to support you in experiencing joyful aliveness – in your body, mind and heart.
Join US – NEW Drop-In Somatic Immersion series begins on Monday, September 23rd – 6:15pm to 7:15pm ET. Share your voice and your truth in community – how does the mother wound and patriarchy affect you? Let’s discuss and share together – healing the ancestral mother wound and the symptoms of patriarchy that keep us isolated and stuck – we need to share our experiences and voices together. A combination of sharing and discussion for 30 minutes and somatic healing, sound, movement & stillness for 30 minutes.
($57 CAD) – this class will NOT be recorded – so please join me live – I can’t wait to be with you – email me for payment information and I will send you a Zoom link to the session – [email protected]
Whole Body Mental Health & Well-Being from the Inside Out.
Deep healing at the level of the nervous system enables you to explore and expand your inner landscape where self – confidence and inner agency reside. When you heal your nervous system, you can more readily access deeper ways of knowing and being that include intuition, imagination, sensuality, and the subtle body of emotions.
The POLYVAGAL THEORY – SAFE & SOUND PROTOCOL OFFERING – The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) is an auditory listening intervention for adults and children – using headphones – that is intended to accelerate the effectiveness of other modalities by preparing each person’s emotional and physiological state. Dr. Stephen Porges (developer of The Safe & Sound Protocol & of The Polyvagal Theory) explains that we need a calm autonomic/physiological state for health, growth and restoration, and achieving this becomes the foundation of an effective therapy.
The SAFE & SOUND PROTOCOL is a way to support a change in your physiological state; opening the system to further neural change and improvement for other therapies that follow. The process is designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience. The intervention uses prosodic vocal music that has been filtered to train the middle ear muscles to focus in on the frequency envelope of human speech. You’ll find you are better able to feel calm – less chronically stressed and/or anxious. Clients who have experienced long-held trauma and are healing from PTSD, troubling chronic health concerns, chronic pain and troubling chronic emotional responses, can experience an increased sense of safety in their physiological state. The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP)+ Co-Regulating Touch Trauma Resolution Bodywork = Somatic Healing
FEMININE EMBODIMENT – get in touch with your feminine energetic dynamics, internal felt sense, your deepest heart, masculine and feminine energies, layers of dissociation, practice pleasure practices that can help you unravel pleasure and sensuality, heal the survival responses and defensive accommodations that keep us out of connection. Explore somatic blocks to expansion, heal chronic anxiety, illness and pain patterns, and have an open space to explore the deepest parts of yourself in relation to yourself, your work, your life and your relationships with others. This work happens on the table, in-person and online via Zoom.
HEALING FAMILY TRAUMA IMPRINT – 90-minute – in-person or online Zoom session – an opportunity to get to the roots of intergenerational trauma patterns & begin a path towards relational & relationship healing.
DISCOVER YOUR INNER MOTHER– Healing the Mother Wound – uncover your hidden family dynamics and trauma history – this is an opportunity to strengthen your internal relationship with your inner your self – as well as your mother, father and extended family – in ways that contribute to healing – get in touch to schedule an online or in-person session – www.kimcochrane.ca
HEART HEALING SOMATIC INTENSIVE SESSIONS – Heart Healing Somatic Intensive sessions are all about you, your path and healing. These can be monthly sessions or several sessions scheduled over a period of days to support you along your healing path.
My clients love this work, it is nourishing and gentle. It is wonderful for healing early developmental trauma, attachment repair and shifting to a more regulated place where the heart can freely open into abundance.
You may want to schedule these sessions as a focused time for letting go of all that you healing. Heart Healing sessions consist of combining several sessions over a short period of time. They are a great way to get out of your daily routine and be immersed in healing. We may meet for multiple sessions per day over a period of days. Since you will be out of your typical routine, this will give plenty of time for integration of the work and healing.
The Heart Healing Sessions are held in my office in Markham. You can schedule between several sessions over a period of days. Since this work is done away from your typical day to day life, integration of the work is deep and truly transformative.
I am sending softness, gentleness and love from my heart to yours. May you slow down and receive the wisdom your body is seeking to share with you breath by breath.
NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALING for COUPLES – (6 Session Package) Awaken in Relationship – Being Present to the Relational Wounding and the Pain We Carry – Ongoing Online Sessions for Couples – Learn to Process Deeply Held Emotion, check-in with each other regularly and learn to communicate from the heart and to connect deeply with one another again or for the first time.
Meet for a series of focused, online sessions to help uncover, understand and practice noticing ongoing nervous system triggers that keep you locked in a negative cycle of conflict / avoidance that is very difficult to resolve. Your early developmental trauma and co-dependent patterns are very much at play in your closest relationships and we can understand and work towards healing:
1) Your individual early developmental trauma patterns – what got missed or neglected and why.
2) Your individual nervous system patterns, responses and reactions – and how you can do your own healing work to soothe and ease your responses and pain.
3) How your family of origin plays a very significant role in your relationships now, how they do, and to work towards a healing program for your relationship, and for each person in the relationship.
4) Be with Relational Wounding & Defensive Accommodations when it shows up in your relationship – and how this effects emotional & physical intimacy.
5) Be with and Face Hot Button issues when they arise and cause conflict.
6) Take 100% responsibility for yourself in your relationship.
Our feelings, bodily sensations and relational patterns are clues to what is being held in the unconscious – so we must be present to them. Conflict can give us the opportunity to awaken out of the conditioning that we are a separate, disconnected self. Get in touch to learn more and work together – www.kimcochrane.ca
HEALING CODEPENDENT PATTERNS IN RELATIONSHIPS – healing through the body for codependent patterns in relationships – healing from resentment, blame, shame and addictive patterns – nurturing your inner child – learning your needs in relationships – and finding ease in the body, mind and heart for longstanding conditioned patterns.
Get in touch to learn more about The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP), Embodied Recovery, Nurture Surround & Family Systems Imprint Sessions & Individual Body-Focused Therapy Sessions, and Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma, NeuroAffective Touch – The Anxiety, Stress & Trauma Restorative Clinic – in-person and/or online – and to set up a time to work together: www.kimcochrane.ca
Using mind-body skills to stabilize your nervous system – befriending, grounding, slowing down, tracking and resourcing. We will listen to your body’s narrative while utilizing body-mind emotion dialogue. We will explore biological survival strategies and process historical trauma by creating moment-to-moment interpersonal experiences of safe connection. We will utilize non-cognitive senses of relational connection – auditory, visual, movement, and touch – co-creating manageable ways to defuse internal feelings of pressure, anxiety and stress.
The Anxiety, Stress & Trauma Restorative Clinic:
Creating Well-Being Through Nervous System Regulation.
Heal Relational Trauma – Break the Cycle of Inherited Family Trauma.
Nurturing Connection, Restoration & Building Resilience.
Easing the Body ~ Calming the Mind ~ Opening the Heart.
Somatic Experiencing ~ Somatic Practices ~ Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma ~ Movement Practices ~ Whole Body Systems Approach for Healing Inflammation.
Move Energy Through the Body – Movement & Breathwork – discover energetic awareness and simplicity.
Somatic Reclaiming – integrating your body, mind and heart.
Pre and Perinatal Therapies – consciousness begins before birth.
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy – restore integrity in our living, fluid body.
Somatic Healing work can be done effectively online, as well as in person – online sessions are available for those who would prefer not to come in to the office at this time, for those who live far away from the office, or prefer to work from your own home – [email protected]
Working together enables everyone who is willing to do the work an opportunity to decrease feelings of anxiety, pain, depression, chronic stress, pain or illness – as well decrease the chatter in the mind, and ground your mind and body with the depth of the intelligence found in the body. Experience lasting somatic transformation and feelings of calm, peace and wholeness – within your own body and within your relationships.
You will learn to feel and by doing so, you will move towards whole body health and well-being that you can feel within you.
Get in touch to learn more about working with me – www.kimcochrane.ca
