The human body adopts a stance of fear if we practice the patterned emotion. We tend to take it on and let it set up camp within our form. The negative belief that bad things will happen, seems to be shared across many groups and cultures. And bad things DO happen, but the forgone conclusion that they WILL is not a point in fact. Fear is an emotion to be real with, to experience it as it arises allowing it to change form. The energy that this form changes to often embodies the open and actionable force of courage. You can learn to flow with fear in a way that reduces it's negative impact and re-pattern your body and mind to hold courage and the action it inspires. I see the results of this every day...in myself and those I assist in their journey to wholeness. I've been a never ending student and expert of biomechanics for the past 25 years. And have witnessed in the way the body is held and carried, that the emotional manifestation and physical presentation are one and the same. When you cultivate practices that lift, open and empower your body to move forward, while choosing to be present with the moments of fear, you can transmute fear to courage. And there are releases, exercises and movement patterns that support this. If I can help you discover your path to creating this, I'd be honored to hear from you . Or get on my schedule for a complimentary consultation. Wishing you well :)

I don’t want to be crude, but when I see people’s bare feet it can be difficult not to notice some level of deformity in this crucial base of the body. While I wholeheartedly believe that the body’s strength initiates from our center (pelvis), it would be a big mistake to dismiss the ground force reaction we can generate beginning at our feet. If you stand, walk, jog or run, your feet’s function will impact the rest of your body. With ankle and/or foot immobility coupled with poor arch integrity, it will throw off the alignment and power your hips can generate. It’s a really dysfunctional feedback loop. I think the constant wearing of shoes is a contributing factor in tightening and weakening of the feet, although I think there’s more to it than this. This lack of stimulation as well as a general disconnection from feeling our own body as a continuous whole has created unintended abuse at the base of our anatomy. Do you have any awareness of your feet in response to the surface you’re on and where you lack the mobility to be strong? If you don’t, you’re certainly not alone, but you can improve your pain if you do. It takes a willingness to be in the present and feel the feels throughout your body. Connect to the sensation of your feet on the supportive surface and perhaps check in with yourself about why you may not have paid attention to this before? Our physical body relates to our emotional experience of ourselves…The Body Keeps the Score (as Bessel van der Kolk conveys in his book of the same name). So what might your feet share with you about the emotions you carry and how you may want to manifest differently in the body? On Friday, I will be live to explore the release and engagement of the feet. You may discover a bit more about how you can change your connection through to the earth’s surface. I’d love to see you then . Or message me if you’d like to reach out before then. I hope your Thanksgiving celebration brought you the connections you're seeking :)

This weekend, I had the honor of supporting another client as the realization sunk in...that meaningful change does happen. She is so committed to the process of growing and understands that she is held back from moving forward. But couldn't quite feel how. So we explored through connection to nature and some of the many resources that each of us have access to...when we know and choose to connect to these feelings. One of the many innate tools I helped her access is the calm yet expansive resource of the breath. There are probably hundreds of ways to engage with breathing that balances the nervous system. One of my most cherished teachings to my clients, is how to access profound focus on the breath to effect our return to the full diaphragmatic opening we were born to live in. And it was through this guidance and attention, that I witness the incredible change to a fullness of breath that was not there when we began. Not only did her breathing pattern change, but she accessed beautiful AND challenging emotion that helped her move through what was getting in the way. By days end, it became clear that her belief in healing the pain in her body and the emotions carried within it...was now steady and committed to her power to change. And the simplicity of following the bodies wisdom was the key. I just offered my knowledge and guidance to help this transpire. For me, it's the gift of helping and knowing the difference I can create that inspires me. If you're gut tells you I may be of support to you...reach out. I'm here to help you however I am able. Schedule with me ... or message me ... All the best :)

Have you ever observed how you breathe? Is it rapid, slow, tight, open, contracted or expansive? If you have no awareness of your breath and consistently align the way you live with the fast pace of our modern society, chances are that you err on the side of rapid, tight and contracted. Why? Because if you're response to life prevents you from looking up, opening your awareness and feeling in to the creative and expansive quality of the heart...it is likely that your breathing triggers some variation of fight and flight behavior. There are many ways to develop an alternative way of moving this energy of life. The phase of our breath that triggers the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, is our exhale. In general, as I've seen in myself and assessed in my clients, it's the exhale that's been cut short. When you bring focus to the length of the exhale, you engage the calming of the nervous system. This naturally begins to bring you into the present and releases many physical and emotional restrictions that loop you into a heightened stress response. And this fullness of release enables more ease and natural fullness to the inhale. The practices you undertake to facilitate this are impactful. But only regular actions will create a long term pattern of change. I'd love to show you how. Reach out to me and ask me how i can support you. And perhaps you'd like to join me Live on FB on Friday as i explore this with you. And as always, reach out to schedule a 30 minute complimentary consultation with me. I hope you're having a beautiful week and I look forward to connecting with you :)

If the way we carry our body reflects how we feel, then any part of our anatomy can be a contributor to a posture that expresses this. The pain we feel can originate in our self perceptions. And the genesis of this are experiences turned inward. It's really a bummer that, all too often, these are negative experiences we turn into an internal image which causes us to be hard on ourselves. We can do the same with the positive. Yet, we tend to get trained to focus on what we did wrong (or what someone else interprets as our error). And of course, the hyper focus on what's wrong can be a survival tactic to ward it off again. But, we hold this energy within us for an impending event that may never come. And there it lies, causing a body and mind out of alignment and robbing us of the function we were designed to move with. Pain in your shoulders can be one manifestation of an emotional contraction. How could this be? When your open heart and feelings of being safe are challenged without awareness that there is an alternative, your spine changes. Mobility decreases in the vertebrae and the muscles and fascia of the spine, scapula and shoulder joint. If this is you, your shoulders turn into a contracted heart and prevent the lift of the ribcage to open the life affirming diaphragmatic breath. There are so many anatomical parts that contribute to how your body limits expansion. But, when you are mindful of being present with the source emotion and then add the precision physical tools to release, the painful information held within can be liberated. If I can help you do just that, I would love to do so. Consider if I can support you moving through your pain. Schedule a free 30-minute session with me to discover if this work can support your journey. And join me on Friday for my Live to explore the holding of the shoulders. As always, wishing you well :)

I thought I'd write a different email to you this week...as it hasn't been the norm in our family. On Sunday, my husband and I said goodbye to our adorable Rottweiler of 10 years, Fran. There's a deep ache in letting go of these amazing critters that are a part of our families. If we pay attention, they're teaching us something...our little soulmates offering us to learn more about ourselves. And of course, teaching us the ultimate lesson of unconditional love. They're joyful, authentically themselves and so in the moment. What a gift they are for us to share in life together. Which of course, makes saying goodbye so hard. I've felt it in by body since Sunday, that incredible fatigue from feeling sad. It makes the truth so clear about our bodies and are emotions being inextricably intertwined. I've relaxed in the tough feelings and it makes it better. And my feeling that she's free and yet connected to us energetically is bittersweet. I just wanted to take this week and honor the soul of Fran who brought us so much pure joy and endless love. And wishing that you all have these kinds of souls to love, learn and journey with. Wishing you well 💙

In the realm of somatic awareness, a resource is any mechanism of finding safety/well-being within your body. In my experience, sadly, I find that so few people know that this state is even within their power to create. We tend to habitually relinquish our experience of well-being to forces outside of us. We can be so vigilant in relation to our environment, that any pain in the physical or emotional body predominates our perception of how we feel. When truthfully, if we scan our entire internal environment, there is health and good function alongside the dis-ease that's getting our attention. So the ability to learn how to resource yourself in your body and mind is a precious tool in accessing health even when we don't feel good. And it's not just a distraction, the habit of resourcing can lead to physiologic changes that dampen gene expression that cause ill-health, and stimulate gene expression that heals the body. There are potentially hundreds, if not thousands of ways to resource your body/mind. The practice of mindfully paying attention to your surroundings without judgement is an access point to your internal well-being. Tracking the movement of breath in your body is another. Noticing how your body is supported by the foundation of your seat, or even mother earth beneath you are resources. I know they sound very simple, but when you come to know safety within, through these resources, your world can change dramatically. Do you want to practice this me? You can start by joining be early this Friday, Live on FB to do just this. Or schedule a free 30 minute consultation and I can point you in the right direction. I wish you a beautiful week and looking forward to engaging with you in the near futrue :)

When I assess the movement of my clients, a common physical pattern I will witness is a "hardening" along the body's anterior (front). It shows up mostly in the thighs, hips and chest, but can certainly present anywhere along this anterior. It tends to result in tight quadriceps, iliopsoas (hip flexor)rectus abdominus (six pack muscles), pecs and the fascia related to these muscle groups. The weakness (and dysfunction) that results is in the hamstrings, gluts and spinal erectors (long muscles of the back). My theory about what creates this physical behavior (for many people), is a mental drive to push and force things to happen. In the body, that originates from the compensatory action of forcing from the front side. When we start using our innate capacity to move forward from our back line (back side muscle/fascia network), we engage the integrity that is our natural design. You become the force that you were designed to emanate. There is effort to it, but rather that pushing from the front where your strength is very limited in this way, you drive from the back side that was created to move you forward. You can feel the joy and assuredness when you move from this back line pattern. It takes a somatic process of opening the front and re-connecting to the power that is the back side...to know the feeling of you as the force. It's amazing for me to teach this way of being in the body. And I'd love to support you if this calls to you. Please message me here ...or schedule a free 30 minute consultation to zero in on your needs and the path forward.

Safety is a word that likely conjures images of predatory offense or inadvertent circumstances of being in harms way. Of course these fit that classification, but to the physical body, lack of safety can come just as readily from perception of imminent threat than a present moment of physical infliction. And unfortunately, these feelings of lack of safety are very prevalent in American society. It's a stress response to physical and psychological stimuli that shows in our medical system. The Journal of American Medical Association estimates that 60 to 80 percent of medical visits are stress related. To be alert, wise and emboldened when we are faced with danger could save our life. But to be constantly vigilant and reactionary to our psychological circumstances can take it away. To find that safety we need to be in balance in our alert yet restful state, is to cultivate an intelligently open body that reflects it. How can this be done? Somatic tools can teach you how to listen to your body's sensations and feelings as an access point to the heart capacity of intuition. Have you ever had a gut feeling to say no to something and then it worked in your favor when you acted in alignment with it? The wisdom didn't come from closing down with fear, it came with the openness of trusting your own guidance. And there are ways to develop this capacity. I'll be sharing one of those tools later this week. You can join me on my FB Live to learn it . And please feel free to schedule a complimentary 30 minute call if you think I may help. Sending all the best :)