Our days are full of encounters that our nervous system 'reads' as perilous...even if our thinking minds do not see it that way. Replay your last trip into the supermarket for a moment. You put your mask on as you entered, and once inside you were surrounded by masked...
Our chronically stressed nervous system is like a stray hungry dog who's been badly treated. He wants food, he wants affection, but he is fearful and can't trust a friendly outstretched hand. He might even bite it! The action of our nervous system activated into its...
"I would argue," says Dr. Michael Sharp of Plum Spring Clinic, "that the studies on the health impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are the most important epidemiological studies ever done." The research he refers to—known as the ACEs studies—began with...
The stress reaction, with its 'soup' of hormones, prepares the body for action. It activates quickly, bringing a burst of adrenaline for a fast response to stressor. The startle response happens in 100 milliseconds! If this quick surge doesn't resolve the stress,...
New science has shown us that the activity of our autonomic nervous system, in any given moment, is the grounding for our lived experience in that moment. The Polyvagal Theory describes the constant scanning for danger and safety that is nervous system's critical role...
Many individuals who come to me with ill health are caught between two places. The first is: my body is breaking down and no one seems to be able to tell me what the matter is. Symptoms are concrete, frequent, specific, and real. There is something specifically wrong...