SOMATIC THERAPIES FOR COMPLEX TRAUMA, DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS AND CHRONIC ILLNESS

There is a very strong connection between our body and mind. If one gets out of balance it affects the other. For example if you have an accident and your body gets injured this will affect your mind and mental health and if you experience stress and mental challenges this will over time affect your body.

We all will have experienced some physical and mental challenges throughout our lives.

Some are small, some are huge. How they affect us is different for each of us.

If you are here, reading this, you are probably looking for some kind of support for the challenges that still trouble you. The challenges that didn't resolve by themselves and have become out of hand for you. You might have tried a variety of different things already or you are at the beginning of your journey of recovery. Wherever you are on your journey, whatever your challenges, we can discover together what you need at this moment in time.

My approach is a bottom-up approach with  a focus on working through the body with the mind. A lot of our emotions, experiences and traumas are stored in our body. They change our brain and nervous system, they are held in our muscles and soft tissue, they affect our organs. They affect our whole being on all levels. To address this complex system I am offering a tool box full of therapies that I've found to bring fundamental changes and deep healing for myself and my clients.

To heal from years of held trauma, dissociation or chronic illness will take time but it is possible.

BRAINSPOTTING

Brainspotting (BSP) is a relatively new type of brain-body therapy designed to identify and release trauma stored in the brain, promoting deep emotional healing and a renewed sense of empowerment, resilience and profound shifts towards well-being.

BSP can help you access and process trauma, attachment wounds, negative emotions, beliefs and habits around your mental as well as physical issues while in connection with a deeply attuned therapist. This dual attunement between therapist and client plays a huge role in BSP. When trauma happens there is often a lack of safe and healing connections and attunements with others. Being witnessed through the process of exploring an issue can bring deep healing in itself.

In a BSP session we will first explore an issue you want to work on and then locate a point in your visual field that helps to access locked trauma and emotions in the brain. We might then stay on that point and allow whatever comes up to be heard, expressed and processed. Sometimes an issue will be resolved within one session but when it comes to more complex trauma and dissociative disorder we might have to slow the processing down to avoid overwhelm and distabilisation. I often combine BSP with my other somatic therapies and holistic treatments which allows us to work in a unique way that is just right for you.

SOMATIC YOGA

Yoga is more than just a physical exercise regime to get fit and lose weight.

It is a way of living in the moment in peace, with love and respect for yourself, and the world around you.

It is a way of none harming, of honesty, gratitude and forgiving.

It is a way of understanding, accepting and honouring your body and soul.

It is beautiful, joyful and strong.

This new Somatic Yoga class is a unique blend of yoga, mindfulness and other trauma informed somatic therapies. This class offers a safe space for you to get back in touch with yourself and your body regardless of your abilities.
Beginners are welcome.

There are always modifications for all levels.
It's a space to befriend your body and rewire your nervous system.

You deserve to be happy with yourself, to love who you are!
Let's start your journey into health and well-being.

Please reach out and get in touch if you have any questions about this class.

Sundays 18.00-19.15

at Omnia Physio, Rugby, Warwickshire

WHAT IS TRAUMA INFORMED YOGA (TIY)?

When we've experienced trauma in our lives, and to be honest, most of us will have had some kind of trauma, it changes our mind and our body in many ways. I've often heard people say things like: 'It's such a long time ago, surely you must be over it' or 'Haven't you talked that all through by now? Just let it go!' Unfortunately that is not how trauma works. Trauma changes how our brain reacts to stress and perceived threats and depending on the kind of trauma, when it happened and how long it went on for this will affect not just our brain and nervous system but also the whole body and mind. We are again and again hijacked by responses of our body and mind as if we are still in a threatening situation. It can become very difficult to stay present in the here and now and the stresses of re-experiencing and re-living can lead to a multitude of physical and mental issues like anxiety, depression, sleep problems, eating disorders, controlling behaviours, addictions, chronic illnesses....

Often we believe talking about a trauma will help ease our physical and mental pain but this approach alone addresses only the mind and leaves the body behind.

In TIY we focus on the body in the here and now through yoga, bringing awareness to our nervous system and finding ways to self-regulate when we get triggered or dysregulated. When we think of yoga most of us think of a set of asanas, a flow of movement combined with breath work, followed by relaxation and meditation. The whole class follows the lead of the teacher. In TIY you, the student, leads. During trauma choice has been taken away from us, in TIY we learn to notice what our body and mind need, what we want, we invite choice back into our lives. The TIY model I use follows the 3 phases of trauma recovery: stabilisation, processing and integration. We will work intensely with understanding our nervous system, the fight-flight-freeze responses, how to recognise each of them within our body and mind and learning how to self-regulate ourselves. We befriend ourselves...

TIY is not a replacement for talking therapies but is especially beneficial in conjunction with the work you might do with a psychotherapist or counselor.

RMTi

RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT TRAINING INTERNATIONAL

PRIMITIVE REFLEX INTEGRATION

Rhythmic Movement Training is a movement based program that supports the integration of primitive reflexes. We are all born with them and as babies they have helped with and enabled us to reach our major milestones. Starting during labour when we emerge through the birth canal, followed with rooting and sucking when feeding, rolling over, coming to sitting, crawling and eventually being upright and walking as well as bonding and talking. They are the building blocks for a joyful and fulfilled life...

There is a multitude of different reflexes that are with us for a certain time and once we've learned what they were meant to teach us they integrate, they go to sleep in our brain stem, also known as reptilian brain.

But what if one or more of these reflexes don't integrate fully or if they are woken up again through trauma, illness or extreme stress?

Unintegrated reflexes are like hurdles. They affect how we learn, how we develop physically and how we feel. They affect our sensory processing and how we experience the world around us.

This is where RMTi comes in. Rhythmic Movement Training helps to integrate these primitive reflexes by first identifying which reflexes are unintegrated followed by a gentle movement program that helps to build stronger connections in the brain and our neural pathways. This leads to better co-ordination, concentration, sensory processing and emotional stability so that everyday tasks become easier and more enjoyable.

It has changed my life and it can change yours...

So, who is this for? Anybody and everybody. Age does not matter when it comes to reflex integration. There is no too early or too late thanks to the incredible plasticity of our brains. In my practice I focus on adults only but can make recommendations for RMTi consultants who work with babies and children.

SOTAI HO - OPTIMAL HEALTH THROUGH PERFECT ALIGNMENT

Sotai Ho is a very safe and gentle Japanese movement therapy that not only helps to ease painful joints & muscles but also re-aligns the whole body recreating optimal health.
Sotai Ho exercises correct imbalances in the structural body. If you look at the body as if it's a house we need a good foundation (feet) in order to keep our head upright without tension and pain. A balanced structural body will lead to better general health.

I usually start from the feet upwards with gentle movements to adjust and align your joints in combination with other practices that deepen our connection with our bodies and improve our nervous system bringing ease of movement as well as a calmer and clearer mind. Sotai Ho can be done with me as a thearpist in our sessions but it is a wonderful and powerful therapy to be done at home for your own self-care. Deep changes can happen when the movements are done on a regular basis, integrated into your everyday life.

REFLEXOLOGY

Reflexology is a form of acupressure massage on the feet or hands based on the principle that the whole body is mirrored in the feet and hands. In order to release blockages and to re-balance the whole body pressure is applied to reflex points that are related to the various organs in the body as well as to individual conditions.

Reflexology treatments are balancing for the whole body, mind and soul, which makes it such a successful and safe treatment for a vast variety of ailments and conditions.

Over the years I've found that reflexology is most beneficial in combination with essential oils which I add to my reflexology lotion specifically for your needs. 

Reflexology with Healing

Here I combine Reflexology with the ancient wisdom of healing from around the world like Reiki/Karuna Reiki and ancient shamanic techniques. During this deeply healing treatment I am not only working on your reflexology points in the feet but at the same time I work with a variety of energy healing techniques and deeply connect to unravel blockages that hinder your healing journey. This work is highly intuitively and each treatment will be completely unique. I will use reiki, distance healing, shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, psychic surgery and whatever else I might be guided to do.

REIKI & KARUNA REIKI

Reiki ("Rei" meaning spiritual or sacred and "ki" meaning energy) is a Japanese hands-on therapy that uses natural life energy to rebalance and revitalise your body and soul. It can be deeply relaxing, stress reducing and healing for emotional, mental as well as physical conditions.

Karuna Reiki is a healing system developed by William Lee Rand. It is evolved from Usui Reiki and Tibetan Reiki and brings even deeper connection and healing. 

"Karuna is a Sanskrit word that means compassionate action and this is not an ordinary kind of compassion, but one that comes from an unbounded sea of love." (William L. Rand). This can be felt deeply in Karuna Reiki sessions.

In my sessions I combine the art of Reiki and Karuna Reiki with a variety of other healing techniques like extracting dark energies and cutting of cords, working with spirit, animal and plant guides, aura massage and chakra balancing. I also use the energetic power of essential oils and incense to work in a more subtle way within your aura.

During a treatment I will be guided to whatever is needed at the moment of this particular treatment for your healing and your greatest good. 

Reiki can be experienced as a one off or occasional treatment but deep changes can come from more regular work in conjunction with my other therapies where we can gently work through the layers of our story that moulded and shaped us.

My treatments are not attached to any belief system and work very well on its own or complementary to any other form of medical or therapeutic treatments.