A page particularly for those new to this area. Individual exploration and suggestions/feedback are encouraged. It all starts with the Breath: Many cultures have breath work techniques for regulation. Here are some pranayamas from yogic traditions (lots of videos are available online):
‘Vu’: Somatic Experiencing Founder Peter Levine’s vagal nerve regulating sound, not dissimilar to ‘Ohm’ – or if you ride a motorbike or drive a classic car then one can also imagine and try to replicate the abdominal hum that that creates:
We are ultimately aiming for a regular, unconcious pattern of 'pelvic floor' breathing - where the respiratory diagphragm is in coordination with the pelvic one, indicating that the organs and connective tissue of the whole torso are integrated. Other ANS stabilisation/exploration techniques/practices/practitioners: Accupuncture Alexander Technique Art Therapy Clinical Somatics (Hanna tradition) Recommended: Wai Ying Tham (somatic movement educator with a background in trauma-informed meditative enquiry and restorative yoga). Brunswick West, reconnectstudio.com.au Craniosacral therapies Recommended: Josh Neeft (who has a physiotherapy and podiatry background and also does visceral manipulative therapy). South Melbourne, Esolab and Thornbury, Inner North Physiotherapy Dance/embodied mediation such as 5 Rhythms In particular recommended (both also do one on one incorporating other modalities): Lucine Eusani. 5RhythmswithLucine Natalie Poole. Twirling Wolf Sylvie Minot. Syzygydanceproject Emotional acting Equine therapy Feldenkrais Recommended: Lisa Campbell (who has a physiotherapy background and is also trained in Somatic Experiencing™). Hampton, Bayside Feldenkrais. Floatation Recommended: Beyond Rest Intuitive Massage Recommended: Amanda Arnott Meditation (embodied) Mindfulness (embodied) Music/Sound therapy Recommended: Annette Lunde. Qi Gong Rolfing Recommended: Meran Cassidy. Rolfing in Melbourne Singing (particularly group singing) Recommended: Glee Club Singing T’ai Chi Therapeutic Writing Yoga (trauma informed)/ Yin Recommended: Alex Maxwell. Mellow Dharma The team at Body Flow Yoga Rochelle Fisher (A trained surgical dental nurse, Rochelle also does 1:1 sessions incorporating breathwork and chanting to additionally release tension in the lung, jaw and mouth areas). Yoga by Rochelle Books/TEDs/other links of particular relevance to identity/esteem and ANS/emotional stabilisation work: ADD/ADHD (high-functioning): Gabor Maté Scattered Ceremony (the importance/power of): Charles Eisenstein Every Act a Cermony Coping Strategies: Siobhan Reddel (podcast) Coping Strategies Emotions and exercises: Karen McClaren The Language of Emotions Illness as an expression of disconnection/'dis-ease': Yolande Lucire Constructing RSI: Belief and Desire Erwin van Meekeren Starry Starry Night: Life and psychiatric history of Vincent van Gogh Perspective/self exploration (and delusion)/connection with self: Tony Moore Cry of the damaged man. (An Australian surgeon’s autobiographical account of recovering from trauma.) Philip Shepherd Radical Wholeness Bronnie Ware The Top Five Regrets of the Dying Mary Westmacott Really any of 'her' novels. (These are by Agatha Christie writing under a pseudonym around the period of her own existential crisis / fugue state.) Sexual communication/exploration/consent: Curious creatures: resources and workshops (Melbourne and online) Shame: Traumatic Stress Institute Shame and attachment Siobhan Reddel On Shame in Modern Society and Medicine Trauma Bonds: Patrick J Carnes The Betrayal Bond Brenda Schaeffer Is it Love or is it Addiction? 3rd Ed. Trauma (physiology) specifically: Peter Levine In an Unspoken Voice Trauma and Memory Waking the Tiger Bessel Van der Kolk The Body Keeps the Score Vulnerability: Brene Brown (TED talk) The Power of Vulnerability |