The Methods:

Somatic Movement

Footwork

Breathing

Meditation

Somatic Movement - is slow, fluid and un-choreographed movement, an exploration of the body. A deep journey inwardly to unravel hidden blockages, tension, discomfort and stagnant energy that may be creating unhealthy resistance through the body. Using gentle explorative movements to increase the flow of information through the central nervous system, allows the body to feel freedom, relief from stress and discomfort.

Due to the adaptive nature of our brain we can often override ailments for lengthy periods due the nervous system’s ability to operate it’s survival mode, so we can hide and compensate any unpleasant tension, trauma, disharmony, pain and bury the stories deep inside to help life carry on. Over time, these adaptations take their toll and may cause pain, struggle, discomfort, anxiety, stress or a decline in health.

Modern living, societal pressure, familial circumstances, illness, trauma, conditioning, financial situations and our thoughts and beliefs play a dominant role in how we run our lives and the subtle messages we receive into our body moment by moment are teaching our nervous system how to inform the body how to BE. When you are deeply connected with yourself, physically, mentally and emotionally, you will be able to re-wire your brain to become the version of yourself that you intuitively know you are, therefore this is your path to wellness. This is how you achieve what you want from life.

Somatic awareness is literally life-changing…

Footwork - Working through the feet is one of the most crucial ingredients for a comfortable life. We receive negative electrons from the earth in order to balance out the positive electrons produced by our body. This bio-feedback provides a balance for our body to function optimally.

When we are not “grounded” (i.e. spend too much time indoors, use electrical devices, wear footwear that prevents the natural electrical current from the earth to move through us) then our health and wellbeing is affected, the body becomes stressed and inflammation occurs - the primary cause of ALL disease.

Feet inform our nervous system how safe we are in our surroundings - whether we are standing, running, jumping or sitting we are designed to be able to feel the tiny vibrations of the environment we are in.

Feet need to feel everything to inform the body - shoes, lifestyle, injuries, illness, stress, all have an effect on how your feet support you.

In summary, how well we stand and land in our feet is essential to how the whole body moves and feels! When our feet move efficiently, so too, does the rest of the body. The feet drive the pelvis and hips, they are shock absorbers to assist the spine and by working the feet correctly we reduce spinal complaints, reduce knee issues and hip problems, we regulate the nervous system which results in a healthier body and mind.

Breathing How to breath correctly may not be something you have considered recently? Surely the body just knows how to breathe, right?

Possibly! But our lifestyles have changed over the years; how, when & what we eat, life pressures, sleep habits, postural changes, brain habits, aesthetic dentistry and more, are all causing our natural breathing apparatus to adapt along with the physical jaw/palette evolving to accommodate our modern lives. Research highlights that our ancestors had a wider jaw, with more space for the teeth with less dental issues and much less chronic sickness.

With so many of us not breathing in and out through our nose, we have learnt to adapt, using mouth breathing as our “normal”, this is not wrong for certain situations, but as a regular method of breathing, the tongue is underused, the correct levels of air entering and exiting the body are not appropriate for good health and as a result, we are not using our diaphragm optimally. The diaphragm is crucial to assist movement through the vital organs, if restricted we are not only creating undue stress on the nervous system, but we can develop many issues from poor gut health/digestive, liver complaints, poor lung function, respiratory complaints, sleep apnea, snoring, dental problems, stress and anxiety and the list goes on…

Breathing correctly, enables correct function of the pelvic floor muscles, powers our muscles and as a result the brain can then down regulate the nervous system. We can resume the ability to switch on and off the “survival mode” and allow balance to return to the nervous system thereby reducing the amount of stress on the immune system.

When you pay attention to breathing correctly once more, the whole body (& mind) feels better.

As you read this, take a longer slower breath in and out and imagine how much that breath is causing tiny vibrations throughout the trillions of cells inside you, these vibrations reboot and rejuvenate the cellular system and as a consequence, all systems of the body are able to restore health and wellbeing again.

Meditation - sometimes we find it difficult to sit still and empty the mind of thought, but to ensure we are putting all pieces of the jigsaw together and to create a body and life that are in balance, some sort of quietening of the mind or meditation practice is important and has been practiced for centuries with incredible results.

Most of us can spare 15 mins per day if we truly want to.

Meditation can be done in many different ways and the teachings above can actually become a moving meditation. As you begin to optimise the breath and become aware of the sensory feedback from your feet, your focus turns inwardly and the somatic awareness of the body increases, the result is that you will naturally begin to fall into a calmer state similar to that of meditation.

As you begin to unravel the body, the thoughts naturally follow too. The memories that we hold within our mind are affecting our body and then the experience of our body can then also be affecting our thoughts - a constant feedback loop. If we can alter the thoughts, we can change the body, when we change the body, the nervous system responds differently. If our nervous system feels safe then our whole life is experienced differently. You become deeply connected to yourself, as nature intended.

Everything is connected, when we learn to listen to the whole body, we can heal ourselves, we can become vibrant and live life fully.

This means that when you begin healing yourself, you help others around you too!