Are you struggling with chronic stress, inability to fall or stay asleep, experiencing jaw pain or grinding your teeth at night? These are all possible symptoms of anxiety, where the sympathetic brake (gas pedal), might be running continuously in the background, at times when it is not needed. The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system floods the body with adrenaline to help us to fight or flee dangerous situations. When there is an extended period of stress/trauma, a neural pathway is created to remain vigilant and the sympathetic nervous system can be staying “on” long after the stressor is over, causing possible health issues such as high blood pressure, risk of stroke or heart attack to name a few.
Anxiety Can Manifest in Various Ways
Ruminations: sometimes the mind will not turn off, this becomes a problem when the loop repeats over and over, giving some sense of control, that somehow if the issue is thought about from all directions, it can be solved. Symptoms may include, insomnia, inability to focus, hypervigilance, and disconnection from self and others.
Social Anxiety: feeling anticipatory dread going to out to social occasions (including work, shopping), causing you to sweat, not be able to articulate, shortness of breath and want to hide and/or flee. Over time, this may lead to a decline in confidence, increased avoidance of social situations, and isolation as one tries to avoid past experiences by staying home.
Panic Attacks: The above experiences may escalate to where the system goes into overwhelm resulting in chest pain, dizziness, collapse and possibly fainting. Often this this can lead to avoidance of the situation/place where the panic occurred causing generalized anxiety and inability to come back into a steady state.
What to Expect in our Somatic Therapy Session
During our session I will help support your nervous system through therapeutic touch (with consent) with the intention of offering some settling and co-regulation. I will also provide insights into the polyvagal theory and the complex nature of being human with a nervous system that is wired for survival, in a modern world. As a Somatic Trauma Therapist, it is my intention to provide a healing environment that prioritizes comfort, compassion, regulation, and personal choice.
Results:
Working with me can provide benefits of increased distress tolerance, reduced social anxiety, improved self-esteem, enhanced self-regulation, boundary setting, and healthy decision making. Having a more regulated nervous system leaves you with more energy for life, capacity to weather future life stressors, and have access to more joy. At your core, you are not defined by your anxiety; you are much more than your past experiences. The time to heal is now.
Contact me for a 20 minute free consultation.