Something that has comforted me over the past 7 months is that we are all in this together. The whole world. Everyone. However this global pandemic has touched your life personally, every single person has been touched by it in some way. Whether you yourself or a loved one has gotten sick, or you’ve been affected financially, or simply not been able to go about your daily life as “usual”, things have changed, we have all had to adjust in some way. And that can be stressful – emotionally and physically.
 
Anxiety sits in the body in lots of different ways – you probably know where that is in your own body. Sometimes we get pain in the lower back because we are trying to stay ready to jump into action. At other times we can feel like withdrawing from the world, caving in our shoulders, unable to take a full, deep breath (and leading to more anxious feelings). The first step to getting through stress and anxiety is to recognize where it lands in the body – that gives you the power to choose a different path. Then, the fun part is to pick a new path (or stay with the same – you get the choice!) to see what comes up in a new movement pattern. The other thing about changing a movement pattern caused by stress is that it offers you more range to handle the same stress in a fuller way. The more contracted we get into a particular stress response, the less range we have to react to it in a healthy way – we have our choices taken away! WE are the ones taking away the freedom to choose how to move in the world. And WE are the ones who can gain it back.
 
Here we are now, all in this together, but in our own personal ways. I invite you to talk about & share how your own stress & anxiety shows up in your body. I also invite you to listen to someone else talk about their stress as a curious observer. We are all on this path (we always have been! But now it’s even more highlighted), why not share and explore together?

This fourth week of the first 4-weeks will be focused on Unraveling Neck & Shoulder Tension (my personal favorite!). Like many people, I hold my stress & tension in my neck. That tension leads to all sorts of fun (not so much) like headaches, migraines, pinched nerves, & herniated discs, to name a few. We will learn how to recognize the onset of neck pain, and use gentle movements to alleviate it before it can get us.

Here is the link for this week’s class: Somatics: Unraveling Neck & Shoulder Tension, Week 4 – tomorrow, Thursday at 12pm noon eastern time. Register here for class. 

Or join directly here:
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 928 3054 6425
Passcode: somafull

Classes run 35-45 minutes. Make sure you have a yoga mat sized space for the practice. Your video and audio will be off when you first get in the “room”, you have the option to turn both on. I’d love to *see* you, but feel free to remain off if you’re more comfortable that way 🙂

**NEW** Fall Workshops:

Somatics & Empathy: Self-Care, Self-Regard, and How to Change the World
Monday, October 5, 8-9:30 $35
Link to register here.
 This is a very important topic to me! As a whole-being-experiencing the world in life, there are so many ways for our systems to be highjacked. Input from media, weather, pressures from our jobs or family can all create that “fight/flight/freeze” reaction from the stress of it all. We cannot act from a place of reason or ease when we are highjacked, and that seems to be the way the whole world is functioning right now! When we slow down, use our “noticer brain”, and realize that it is our nervous system that is leading the way, we have the opportunity to change. A Somatic movement practice helps train us to notice those patterns so we can step back and make healthier choices for ourselves, those close to us, and the WORLD. Once you see how a strong nervous system allows more freedom and ease, you start to influence those around you by being calm. And that, my friends, is how we change the world. One nervous system at the time. So – in this workshop, we’ll do some talking about this philosophy, and put it to use in movement as well.

Fitting Somatics into Your Daily Life
Monday, November 16, 8-9:30 $35
(Link to come in a couple weeks)
 A Somatic movement practice doesn’t have to be something that you have to carve out of your busy daily schedule, like a chore. You don’t always have time to roll out the yoga mat, make sure the kids and animals are out of the room, and tune everything out for an hour-long practice rolling on the floor. Somatics best serves you when you need it most – in those moments of stress and hectic-ness. So how does that work? In this 90-workshop, we’ll go over ways that you can fit in Somatic movement into your day – whether that’s sitting at a computer for hours, sitting behind the wheel of a car, or running around on your feet all day. A Somatic movement practice is just as much about mindset and daily movement as it is about making time to get on the floor to slow down those patterns.