My Offerings
I am interested in supporting people to discover their own balance and aliveness in body, mind and spirit so they can be connected, harmonious and effective in their world. I see this as a neuro-plastic reorganization of the brain/nervous system out of stuck patterns adopted through our conditioning, stress, trauma and relational wounding. This restores our nervous system to “factory settings,” and we find ourselves at ease, clear, powerful, effective and kind in our lives.
I see myself as an elder who has had a life full of study, practice and learning who can serve as a friend of your essence - supporting its full radiance in your life. I have no interest in being your external authority. I want to encourage you to contact and live from your own natural authority and clarity. I do this by listening and sharing understandings that reveal a map of our process of awakening as well as practices, processes and techniques which support you along the way in your awakening process.
The methods I share include simple, skillful of ways relaxing out of the stress response, of accessing the ventral vagal/social engagement system and increasing resilience so you can handle the stresses of your life without spinning out or collapsing. Our process will be informed by my life-long spiritual exploration and practice as well as the following methods each of which becomes skills you can utilize in your own walk through life.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a form of body (somatic) psychotherapy that was developed by Dr. Peter Levine. SE accesses and works with a person’s felt-sense of the body’s physiology to resolve chronic stress & trauma and restore resilience and balance to the nervous system. This can result in an alleviation of symptoms related to chronic stress and trauma such as depression, anxiety, chronic illness, sleep disturbance, etc.
Somatic Experiencing employs the awareness of body sensations to help people “renegotiate,” discharge, and heal their traumas rather than relive them repeatedly, or restrict their lives to avoid having the traumatic material re-triggered. With appropriate guidance we reveal the body’s innate capacity to heal and restore ease and well-being. The highly aroused survival energies (fight, flight, freeze) can be safely and gradually discharged. Our default setting becomes more ease, comfort and relationaly engaged.
More essentially, I work with SE as a way to be present with “what is,” which facilitates the awakening of consciousness while releasing trauma and stress.
The Flash Technique
The Flash Technique (FT) is a recently developed therapeutic intervention for reducing the disturbance associated with traumatic or other distressing memories and beliefs. Unlike many conventional trauma therapy interventions, FT is a minimally intrusive option in that it does not require the client to consciously engage with the traumatic memory. This allows the client to process traumatic memories without feeling distress.
FT has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the disturbance level associated with severely painful memories and debilitating beliefs, sometimes in as little as fifteen to twenty minutes. Like EMDR, FT utilizes eye movements or alternating tapping and is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories at the neurological level in the brain.
Pointing Out Your Essence
Recognizing our essential nature refers to a serendipitous moment when we initially recognize the primordially pure, spontaneously present awareness-being which is the ground of our being. Our natural state is open, cognizant and spontaneously compassionate. The descriptive words we may use are like a finger pointing to the moon. We have to look past the fingers to glimpse the moon. But in this case, the finger is pointing at the essential nature of our own mind. I can help you recognize that.
Once we’ve glimpsed the natural state, the practice is to return to the fresh immediacy of this clear presence for as long as it lasts before the conditioned, discursive mind recaptures attention. When we notice we’ve been distracted, once again we turn attention away from our current thought and look directly at the mind in which the thought arises and, without changing anything, rest once again in that indescribable state. Eventually, through this repetition of re-recognition, we come to live from this clarity and openness, spontaneous, wise and engaged sense of ourselves.
Emotional Freedom Techniques
EFT or Tapping can be a therapeutic accelerator. It involves tapping specific points along the oriental meridian lines with fingertips while saying phrases to oneself. In some cases this can be enhanced while hearing the phrases as well.
“I think all corporate offices where people work so hard to drive businesses should have programs like yours to help us connect with who we are and relax. Having the tools is very helpful - thank you!”
— NANCY R.