THE EMBODY LAB BLOG
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Our Breathing Body: Breathing Practices to Attune to Your Nervous System and Come Back to Your Center
Our breath is a window into our bodily state (nervous system state) and is also the fastest way to modulate our bodily state and intervene at the physiological level. By changing our physiology, the breath has the power to affect our nervous system state and the emerging feelings, emotions, behaviors, and thoughts.
Burnout and the Radical Path of Non-Abandonment of Self
It takes an enormous amount of courage and vulnerability to talk about and get curious about burnout. At its core, burnout actually reflects a very important set of primal human needs and wishes - safety, belonging, and dignity. Burnout is simply a response to overwhelming life experiences. An adaptive strategy to the underlying need for safety, slowing down, and a holding environment where all parts of oneself are welcome, seen, heard, and acknowledged.
Back to the Land
Becoming as embodied and connected to the earth as we can is potentially one of the most deeply spiritual experiences we can have whilst on this planet. Rather than this never-ending quest to go up and out, connect with something greater, and be outside of ourselves, perhaps what needs to happen is to find a place of more balance with our earthly selves.
How I Found Somatic Healing
The first time I ever experienced an emotion in my body was one day in a yin yoga class, in pigeon pose. I felt these sensations bubbling up from deep within my hips, rising to the surface when I had historically fought so hard to push them down throughout my usual day-to-day life.
What is Ukemi?
“How do you ~do~ that?” is a frequent question usually referring to ukemi when directed to me. The quiet falls, smooth rolls, breakfalls, high falls, quick get ups, strong attacks - there are so many tangible skills, but the sum of all those together still don’t quite capture great ukemi. An uke can learn, practice, and do all those things, but where’s the je ne sais quoi?
Somatic Flow Writing Practice - The “One Living at the Edge”
Somatic Flow Writing is a practice to connect with our wisest Self. This wise Self is within each and every one of us and is also known as our true nature, higher self, or even Grace. The goal is for you to get curious about this version of you who is the natural leader of all the other parts that live inside.
Exploring the Hakomi Method of Mindful Psychotherapy
The Hakomi Method offers a unique approach to psychotherapy that combines mindfulness, compassion, and somatic awareness to foster personal growth and healing. Originally developed in the late 1970s by Ron Kurtz, Hakomi is influenced by humanistic psychology and Eastern philosophical traditions.
Embracing Nature: Eco Therapy for Somatic Trauma Healing
Eco therapy, also known as nature therapy or “green therapy”, is a therapeutic approach that taps into the healing power of nature to address various mental and physical health issues. Drawing inspiration from the vast expanses of natural resources and the calming effects of the great outdoors, eco therapy offers a holistic path towards healing and personal growth.
Excerpt from “The Mind-Body Guide to the Twelve Steps: Finding Joy, Sensuality, and Pleasure in Recovery—Integrative Spiritual and Somatic Practices for Healing from Trauma and Addiction”
Twelve Step recovery offers a profound approach for recovery from all types of addictions. The Steps can bring awareness to, and eventually freedom from, our dependency on unhealthy patterns, substances, and behaviors—whether it be drugs, alcohol, or sugar; overeating or undereating or compulsive exercise; compulsive shopping, workaholism, debting, or underearning; technology or sex or gambling or unhealthy relational dynamics—all of the ever-present behaviors that result in the devastation of our bodies, our relationships, and the Earth.
Mindfulness Therapies for Cultivating Presence and Inner Peace
Mindfulness is the art of being in the present moment, aware of one’s thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judgment. Emerging from a long line of ancient traditions, mindfulness therapies present an antidote to the stress of fast-paced modern life. They focus on bringing the practitioner back into the present moment and away from ruminating thoughts and anxiety.
Why to Include Coaching in Your Healing
When is it time to focus on healing - processing stuck emotions and changing old patterns of behaviour - and when is it time to focus on “doing”?
Tools for Self-Renewal, Manifesting and Creating Space
As we find ourselves midway through the year, it's a chance to realign with our intentions, aspirations, and desires. It's a opportunity to reconnect with our inner selves, assess our progress, and make adjustments for the second half of the year. Explore our Renew & Manifest journal prompts from our dear friend Chara Caruthers to manifest wholeness, fulfilment, joy and peace in the year ahead.
The N.U.R.S.E. Resiliency Protocol for Empowered Awareness
Working with our triggers to re-tune our nervous system and re-write our story.
What is Social Field Sensing and Why is it Crucial to Social Justice Work?
The beauty of Social Presencing Theatre is that it offers work in the personal body that helps us metabolize and develop stamina for the difficult feelings we experience once we allow inequities within the social body into our consciousness.
How to Build an Abundant Mindset
Love fills in the gap of loneliness and generates a euphoric sense of belonging, creating one of the strongest, naturally produced pain relievers. As humans, we are also hardwired to seek out and maintain these social bonds as a means of preservation. The irony for many of us is that just because we desire to be loved and have a biological drive for it does not mean that we can receive it—or for that matter—even tolerate the presence of it.
Yoga Therapy Treatment for Holistic Healing
The ancient tradition of Yoga is rooted in the mind-body connection and believes that any part of this interconnected system — comprised of body, mind, and spirit — can influence the rest of that system.
Somatic strategies for staying centered these holidays
The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration, and family gatherings. However, it can also be a time of stress, anxiety, and overwhelming emotions. If you're feeling overwhelmed or struggling to stay calm during the holiday season, somatic based practices and therapies may be able to help you feel more grounded, centered and peaceful through whatever this season brings you.
‘Soma’ is a Greek word for ‘the living body known from within’, or known to the Self. This ‘knowing’ signifies wholeness. Somatic therapy is an experiential approach towards mindbody integration and can assist you to find calm and peace in challenging moments.
An end-of-year thank you from The Embody Lab
The end of one year and the start of another is a time for reflection, renewal, and resetting. To thank you for being a part of this very special global community we have three offerings for you to support you in that process.
We wish you the most wonderful holiday season and we look forward to continuing our journey with you as part of the collective embodiment in 2023.
Thank you for being here with us.
The art of living like you love yourself
Are you living like you love yourself? What does this idea mean to you? Living like you love yourself is, in short, living in a way that honors who you are at every level of your being, recognizing that who you are is more than how or what you think, or your physical appearance, or your current situation or life circumstances. And in a world where your external power is often contingent on these very characteristics, Living like you love yourself optimizes your internal power by connecting you deeply to what feeds you and what stops you so that you can make choices, however limited or unlimited they may be that truly serve who you are. READ MORE..
The biology of trauma with Dr Aimie Apigian
What are the connections between biology and trauma? How can functional medicine help us heal faster? Dr Aimie Apigian explains what you’ll learn in her Biology of Trauma Workshop and how it can benefit you as a practitioner of somatics.