Mind meet body, body meet mind

As you know, my approach to therapy is highly somatic with an exploration of the integration of mind and body.  Over the years, I have worked with many people who have been existing through their head space, intellectualising and disconnected from what their body was telling them. 
 
In turn, I have also worked with clients who feel the emotions in their body so intently that they live with chronic illness and pain every day.
 
I came to somatic work by chance in my mid 30s.  I was working as a change psychologist in a high-level corporate environment.  I rushed around like the world was going to end, exhausting myself and probably those around me.  I had severe tension neck aches, only relieved by 6 Nurofen per day, which in turn ate away my gut health.  By chance, I went to an individual session for public speaking… to get better at it so I could continue to climb the corporate ladder.
 
What I left the session with, was no neck pain…..wow! 
 
By allowing myself to connect to my body and actually “do less”, I released my muscle tension and felt relief for the first time in a long time.   Over a number of years, I then learnt my own triggers of escalating tension and stress, how to be present and stay in the moment and how to honour the integration of mind and body for optimal performance.  I also learned how to see it and teach it in others and I try to bring it into each session with you, even if it is only how I model it when I am with you.
 
Have I perfected it…. No…….. I’m human and life throws us curve balls.  But I only have that neck pain now about once a year. 😊

There is a great deal of literature on this work including The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk; The Body Remembers, Babette Rothschild; and When the Body Says No, Gabor Mate. All of these authors are seasoned international therapists. Psychological therapy is catching up to the importance and impact of signs within the body.
 
Explain Pain, Butler and Moseley, is also a very interesting read from a physiotherapy perspective and considers the role of brain receptors in pain. The topic of Brain-Gut Health is an emerging field and warrants a post of its own. The Northern Gut Centre has solid online resources to introduce you to this topic. More recent mind body research looks at Polyvagal Theory and befriending your nervous system in how you respond. Deb Dana, Anchored, is a good starting read on this one and has lots of tools to explore. 
 
If you are interested in learning more specifics about somatic therapy, let me know.