Unity Physiotherapy & Wellbeing

The Sept calendar has a self-care focus. Self-care isn’t something extra to do, although sometimes it can be, it’s a way of living and being.

There are lots of options for soothing touch, we will be exploring some at the start of one of the yoga practices in the nervous system regulation workshops starting 28th Sept.

What happens when something is different to how you normally do something, and/or when there are a lot of unknowns?

Can you be curious & willing or do you end up in sympathetic (hyperarousal) or hypoarousal protection strategies?

I struggled with this a long time ago & in 2022 when I was more unwell than I am now with ME/CFS, PoTS & MCAS some of the protection strategies came back. This was an opportunity for growth, I’ve done a lot of inner work the last few years moving through the deeper layers that wanted to be known & there has been a lot of growth the last two years.

I realised earlier this year how much I have integrated. My words of the year set in January were embracing & integrating which I’ve consciously noticed at times & other times consciously needed to connect to embracing some challenges. Today I noticed the integration again with the compassion, curiosity & willingness that was automatically present in a meeting about some collaborative work that’s in development where there are a lot of unknowns. A lot of unknowns would have triggered nervous system dysregulation in the past. I sat outside after the meeting & connected to the groundedness of the earth & spaciousness of the sky as I let my thoughts wander & sat with all that was present. Here are three of the things I noticed

👉🏻 With all the unknowns present in the collaborative work meeting I stayed grounded in my compassionate self automatically. The part of me that would have been worried & afraid in the past wasn’t. The other person in the meeting was also present with compassion, willingness & curiosity which was lovely
👉🏻 I noticed thoughts around I don’t know how it will work out & that’s ok, not only is it ok it creates many possibilities (years ago there would have been some nervous system dysregulation)
👉🏻 A warmth (not just from the sunshine) & a sense of an inner smile

What happens for you with a lot of unknowns? Can you stay steady within them?

Much of life is uncertain. There are some things that we do know like one moment follows the next, the sunrise follows a sunset & vice versa, the inhale follows the exhale & vice versa, the earth is always supporting us. These things can support us in the unknowns, as can our compassionate self.

Understanding the nervous system in general & our nervous system is so important, along with having strategies to help us regulate. From a regulated state, or being regulated enough, we can then choose to take compassionate action (sometimes this is no action).

If you would like to learn more about nervous system regulation come and join me for my 4 week online workshop series starting 27th Sept (early bird discount ends today). Not only have I done a lot of study in this area & used it in my work for years I have done a lot of personal work which included with the foundational aspects of nervous system regulation & compassion.

I’m off to do a little work for collaborative work before my lunch 😊

Would you like to have some more tools/practices for eg managing stress, pain, energy levels, anxiety & generally looking after your health & wellbeing?

Would you like to understand nervous system regulation & be able to hear & understand the messages of your body more?

If yes then my online 4 week nervous system regulation workshop series starting 28th September may be of interest. There are only 3 places left & the early bird discount ends tomorrow!

We will be exploring the messages of the body through different nervous system regulation models. We will do this with a little theory & using a variety somatic & embodiment practices, along with reflections & journalling (for anyone who wishes to do this).

In two of the four weeks there is a gentle yoga practice, one of which includes a modified eagle asana (I’m doing one version of this in the photo). Eagle pose is great for balance, concentration & calming the mind. It also connects to a number of things including courage/strength & freedom.

There is some information on the ‘Listening to Our Inner Wisdom’ Workshops page (the nervous system regulation workshops are part one & attending this is needed to attend any of the other 3 main parts). Linked in bio/comments. The workshops like a of my work are fully trauma informed.

Would you like one of the remaining 3 places? Remember the early bird discount finishes 30th August (tomorrow). I’ve left a few spaces in my diary to do the 15 minute free call if anyone wishes to book the workshops before this discount ends. Get in touch if you would like to book the pre-booking call (no
obligation to book after this).

Self-compassion & compassion in general have many benefits for us individually and as a collective. We need a compassionate and trauma informed world, that’s a whole other post!

In week 3 of my nervous system regulation workshops we will be exploring using the 3 circles model from compassionate mind training and touching on self compassion. These nervous system regulation workshops are part one in a series called ‘Listening to Our Inner Wisdom’, part two launches next year and this will be a 4 week compassion series. To do part two people usually need to have done part one.

There are 3 spaces left on my nervous system regulation series starting 28th Sept, early bird discount ends tomorrow. I’m planning one more run, likely on a Friday morning, before part two (the compassion series) launches. Get in touch for more information if these may be of interest and check out the ‘Listening to Our Inner Wisdom’ workshop page linked in the comments.

When stress strikes, our natural threat response kicks in, and we often fall into a pattern of self-criticism (fight), isolation (flight), and rumination (freeze), but self-compassion can help downregulate this response.

By practicing kindness, mindfulness, and recognizing our shared humanity, we can deactivate our stress response and activate our care system.

Research shows that this shift can lower cortisol levels and increase heart rate variability, making us less defensive and more resilient.

Ready to experience the calming power of self-compassion? Pause, put your hand on your heart, and show yourself some kindness today.

It’s important to assess for breathing pattern disorder (BPD) in people with PoTS, I always screen for this. A BPD is where people are basically blowing off too much carbon dioxide (CO2), over breathing lowers the level of C02, overtime the body tries to maintain this lower level of CO2 creating the need to keep over breathing. It’s not commonly understood that CO2 creates our drive to breathe not oxygen. There are breath practices that can be used to retrain a BPD. I suggest some of the peoole I work with who have a BPD are referred to respiratory physio when there are some complexities.

A BPD impacts a number of things including that it creates/contributes to an over activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This is talked about in the Dysautonomia International webinar ‘Hyperventilation in PoTS: What Cause It and How Can We Treat It?’ and includes some discussion of research around it.

Also in the video exercise, compression, salt & hydration are talked about. We know that these non-pharmacological management approaches help. Some research around compression garments is talked about in the video, this includes that knee high compression stockings are not much better than no compression. This is something I mentioned to someone in the last few weeks as they were wearing them having had them recommended, it really needs to be abdominal +/- thigh. I normally suggest things like running leggings and shorts as many people don’t tolerate medical grade compression, usually because of how hard they are to get on, another option is an abdominal binder. I myself used running leggings, some other tight leggings, and also running shorts in warmer weather, when I was worse with PoTS now I rarely need them but there are times when they are helpful still.

Hyperventilation in POTS: What Causes It and How Can We Treat It? In this free webinar with Dr. Satish Raj and Dr. Jacquie Baker, they discuss their new research findings on the causes of hyperventilation in POTS and how th...

Would you like to explore nervous system regulation in a somatic & embodied way?

There are 3 places left on my 4 week online nervous system regulation workshops, starting 28th Sept. There workshops are part one of my ‘Listening to Our Inner Wisdom’ workshops series. These workshops are suitable for people with & without health conditions. Like all of my work they are offered in a fully trauma informed way.

In these workshops we will be exploring nervous system regulation through a few different models using somatic & embodiment practices (including gentle yoga), reflections & journalling (for anyone who wishes to do their reflections using journalling). Here are the themes for each week:

Week 1 Window of Tolerance
Week 2 Polyvagal Theory
Week 3 The 3 Circles Model
Week 4 Integration

These workshops aim to help people increase: their understanding of nervous system regulation in general & their own nervous system, connect to their body in a way that builds trust & compassion, build a toolkit of practices & strategies that support regulation as well as building nervous system capacity. Doing this has a variety of potential benefits including being part of changing pain, fatigue & anxiety, and improving sleep.

You can find more information on the ‘Listening to Our Inner Wisodm’ workshop page (linked in comments). I have a pdf with a little of what to expect each week that I can email if the workshops are of interest.

If you think that you may like to attend get in touch to book your free 15 minute call (no obligation to book after this). There is an early bird discount until 30th August. When these workshops next run they will most likely be a Friday morning rather than a Saturday.

Would you like one of the last 3 places?

Really beautiful words, both from the card and Victoria Erickson’s poetry. The words really resonated with me 💜

I did the practice and explored with the intentions Dr. Arielle Schwartz suggested of embracing the unknown and also to feel held by the unseen. The former I’ve worked with before the latter was a new concept and it was deeply grounding. I modified quite a lot as there were too many postural changes for how my nervous system is currently. One modification I made was to not do the Sun Salutation A and I did a seated to laying flow. I rested a number of times whilst the movement continued on the recording. It’s important that we know our bodies and our nervous systems, this helps us choose what’s helpful, make adaptions and meet what’s needed during our prcatices.

Arielle asked at the start of the practice what or who helps you trust the unknown?

For me yoga is part of this, connecting with nature, connecting what’s certain like the inhale after the exhale & vice versa, the sunrise after the sunset & vice versa (these things are predictable), my compassionate self/my Self. These are some of the things that help me to stay grounded, present & deeply trust.

What supports you in the unknown?

Vagus Nerve Yoga: Embracing the Unknown/Living in Limbo Today's class was themed around a card from the new Post-Traumatic Growth Card Deck. The Card is titled: Living in Limbo. The reading states:“Living in limbo...

Day two of noticing glimmers, are you joining in?

I posted yesterday about glimmers, that post included what they are and some suggestions for noticing them. I posted about my glimmers in the comments of that post last night, do share your glimmers from yesterday there too I would love to hear about them.

The term glimmer was developed by Deb Dana, glimmers are micro moments of such as joy, gratitude, peacefulness, calmness, safeness & connectedness. They are things that connect us to some ventral vagal energy (a place of regulation, safety & connection).

Glimmers may not be only the ventral vagal state they can connect us to one of the two ventral blends (ventral & sympathetic, ventral & dorsal). We will be exploring these blended states during week two of my online nervous system regulation series starting 28th Sept (this weeks theme is polyvagal theory). An example from one of my glimmers yesterday is where I was pushing my niece on her scooter toy, there was joy and playfulness, this is a ventral & sympathetic blend (the energy of mobilisation from the sympathetic system is balanced by the ventral vagal part of the vagus nerve from the ventral vagal safe and social system)

Noticing glimmers is not about ignoring what’s challenging or tricky, it’s not toxic positivity. There were a few things in my day yesterday that were tricky which I acknowledged and asked my body what was helpful what I needed, what my nervous system needed. Noticing glimmers brings some ventarl vagal energy in and reminds us that we can hold some dysregulation with regulation together. Glimmers can bring us more towards or back into regulation.

I’ve already noticed a glimmer this morning, this was the wonderful blue sky.

When you notice a glimmer remember to pause, notice how you know that you’ve noticed a glimmer (what are the cues from your body), be with what’s present in your body, acknowledge and appreciate the glimmer, make a note of your glimmer, recall and share your glimmers and notice how that makes you feel.

Are you joining in? I would love to hear about your glimmers.

If you’re local to Lincoln check out these mindful doodling activities with Mindfulness Skills4Life

THE BEST NEWS - we are back !

This
highly popular

deeply relaxing

Super fun

jolly happy, peacefully present and mindful group

is back once again, thanks our fabulous team: City of Lincoln Council, Lincoln and District Indoor Bowling Club Local Landscapes and Hidden Histories

If you wish to join our tribe them please let me know.

From experience, places fill up within days - so do not hang about.

Existing attendees of the session - you have all been messaged using FB or by email - and I am picking up your reservations as we speak

Sessions are suitable for all.

I am so happy and grateful to be offering this space, thank you all involved.

TO RESERVE A SPACE, please email me here:
[email protected]

Sands x

This is a great graphic, often freeze is mixed up with shutdown. Initial freeze is like a deer in the headlights response, we are ready to fight or flight so things like muscle tone and HR are increased. When fight or flee aren’t an option the parasympathetic nervous system begins to take over (the dorsal vagal part) and we move towards then into hypoarousal where things like muscle tone and HR are low.

I’m covering the difference between freeze & shutdown in my nervous system regulation workshops in Sept, this NICABM infographic could be helpful to share with people as an additional resource.

The freeze and shutdown responses to trauma can resemble each other . . .
. . but they are very different in terms of what’s happening in your client’s brain, body, and nervous system.

Check it out here➡️ https://www.nicabm.com/the-difference-between-freeze-and-shutdown-trauma-responses/?del=8.23.24.FBPost2

I’ve been waiting for the paperback edition of ‘Choose Compassion: Why it matters and how it works’ by James Kirby to be available in the U.K. (the electronic version has been available a while). It now is and it looks really good!

I was flicking through it this afternoon to see if it would be a helpful suggested resource for my nervous system regulation workshop series in Sept or whether to save it for the next series (compassionate mind training). It’s in good company with some other compassion books I love.

I was chatting about a number of things with a friend today including the need for a more compassionate & trauma informed health & social care system, and also wider than that a more compassionate & trauma informed society/world. Part of our discussion was about being curious, listening to understand, & sharing thoughts whilst not needing to be right, not needing to change the way someone sees something, seeing the similarities & differences in our views of things/the world. Guess what flicking through the book after our conversation I read a paragraph related to just that, a little synchronicity in my day. Here’s a quote from the paragraph I read:

‘We are not very good at having discussions over ethical or moral issues where there can be disagreements. We can easily and quickly move into attack and defend positions, taking things personally or trying to win the argument instead of trying to understand the many different layers to an issue...’

This is relevant to nervous system regulation as well as compassion.

I am looking forward to reading the book properly 😊

Have you read it?

It’s important to understand:

There’s nothing to fix, we are not broken we are already whole. This doesn’t mean some changes wouldn’t be helpful.

Accepting who we are/how things are is important. Changes then come from a more settled place & not from such as criticism or striving, not from a place of threat.

There’s no one thing that’s helpful it’s multiple things & it’s an exploration to find what supports us & the changes we wish to make.

There’s no one right way to do something, no right or wrong just different.

There’s no set thing that will help and it’s not prescriptive, it’s individual. For example just because a practice is said to be calming doesn’t mean it will be for the person & how their nervous system is functioning.

One of the things that’s important in navigating life, making changes & thriving is befriending our body which obviously includes befriending our nervous system. Part of befriending our body is understanding, another part is compassion, another trust & another is appreciation.

Some of the things we can do:
👉🏻 Pause, connect to an intention to be compassionate & curious, then check-in with your body, with your nervous system, what’s the message/messages? Make a note of what you hear if that’s helpful for you
👉🏻 The messages might be an image, words, sensations or something else
👉🏻 Ask what’s supportive for me right now, what do I need? You could ask what does my nervous system need?
👉🏻 Explore what’s helpful, letting go of expectations as best you can, remember there’s no right or wrong & we can’t control the outcome yet we can influence it
👉🏻Express appreciation/gratitude for your body in some way, for example thank your body for all the things it helps you to do (focus on what you can do)

Have you paused today yet, if not perhaps take a moment now & check in with your body & listen to the messages from your nervous system. What’s helpful for you right now?

If you’re interested in nervous system regulation and polyvagal theory this podcast episode is a great listen. I always love listening to Deb Dana, I learn a little bit more/something lands more deeply each time I do 😊

Here are some things from the podcast
👉🏻 The three organising principles of polyvagal theory - hierarchy, neuroception, co-regulation
👉🏻 The importance of remembering
👉🏻 Noticing and naming
👉🏻 We need to travel through the mobilising energy of sympatheticto get back to ventral vagal
👉🏻 About 55% of people are wired strongly for visualisation
👉🏻 ‘Safety is an embodied experience’
👉🏻 Our nervous system needs to compare and contrast
👉🏻 ‘Choice is in the essential element for the nervous system’
👉🏻 The importance of the three C’s - choice, context, connection
👉🏻 Explore what cues of danger can we decrease, what cues of safety can we bring in – how can we make it safe enough?
👉🏻 Ask ‘what does the nervous system need in this moment?’
👉🏻 Find a way to bring your energy into some sort of rhythm (bring in more ventral)
👉🏻 We all have different tempos & rhythms, we need to meet people where they are
👉🏻 Our nervous system needs an invitation, not a demand - a demand is sympathetic
👉🏻 When we get to know our nervous system, we can meet what’s needed
👉🏻 There’s no one rule, it’s individual
👉🏻 ‘Should’ is a survival response
👉🏻 The nervous system will show you when it’s ok to keep going
👉🏻 Listen to and respect what your nervous system is telling you, listening takes many forms. It’s ‘a practice of turning toward & inviting.’

I’m running a 4 week online nervous system regulation workshop series starting 28th September, in week two we are exploring polyvagal theory. Each week we explore a little theory and then we explore the messages of the body using somatic and embodiment practices, journalling/reflections. The early bird discount expires 30th August, there are 3 places left. More info linked in the comments. Get in touch to book a free 15 minute pre-booking call if the workshops are of interest (no obligation to book after this).

PVI co-founder Deb Dana. LCSW is a recent guest on the Trauma is Real podcast, talking about all things Polyvagal Theory, including the practice of "Noticing and Naming," short regulation practices that therapists and clinicians can do to regulate their own nervous systems, and more.
Give a listen here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vWbsN2Uu3PrbcjQK4rxUL?si=pCCtMQSZQSCXzzsE_mNvjA

Learning & understanding are important in making changes it’s part of what guides us.

I work with people to explore understanding something both cognitively & on a somatic (body level). I also signpost to resources that might be helpful, if it’s out of my scope of practice I suggest the types of professionals & resources that may be helpful.

It’s important to understand how we/the person we are working with learn best. It’s also important to understand previous learning experiences, often there can be unhelpful beliefs & even trauma associated with learning. Not knowing something can cause us to dysregulate, for example spending hours & hours looking at information to try & learn a lot quickly, or the opposite, withdrawing & giving up.

Here’s the main things that I do for myself when I don’t know something related to health & wellbeing, don’t understand enough, or want to check my understanding:

I use google (I know what sites to trust)
I speak to colleagues
I reach out to other professionals
Listen to my body & reaction of my nervous system
Notice, acknowledge & reassure the part/parts of me that want to know a lot & quickly to help
Choose to learn slowly in bite sized chunks
Sit with information a while to let it integrate (blending previous experiences & learning with the new information)

I’ve needed to learn recently related to iron absorption. I identified iron deficiency without anaemia from my bloods earlier this year & took high dose iron supplements for 3 months which made quite a big difference although they upset my gut! A few weeks off them & I wasn’t doing as well, turns out my ferritin levels didn’t change at all. There’s been a bit of an aha moment, possibly because it fitted into some things I did know, I felt this reaction in my body. One of the pieces of action I’ve taken was to reach out to a Beneden GP to check a few things that I didn’t get time to ask my GP & to see if they could help me understand iron physiology because it’s complex & I find it hard to take in & understand! They are sending me some links that have helpful pictures, fortunately I can go back to them with any questions. Doing this was a way more helpful option than looking at different sources of information & trying to make sense of it on my own, I did start to do this and felt it was too much & not the best option.

I’ve found that when I have a good enough understanding of something I can make changes. I’ve found that I’m the one that has to make sure I have enough information to ask for what I need & guide the action because otherwise well I just wouldn’t get anywhere! The bonus is what I have learnt through working to improve/recover from ME/CFS, PoTS & MCAS has made me a better clinician too.

(Pic of my sisters dog because I’m dog sitting whilst studying (not iron related) & he’s cute)

This is a really good book

Our Book | Physiosforme We are delighted to present our new book “A Physiotherapist’s Guide to Understanding and Managing ME/CFS” which was published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers on 21st August 2023.

This week I was asked if I offer nervous system regulation training for healthcare professionals & other professionals this week. Is this something that’s of interest to you?

Whilst I don’t do this currently my 4 week nervous system regulation workshop series is suitable for healthcare professionals, therapists, coaches and other professionals offering services to people. These workshops like all of my work are trauma informed.

I’ve had people attend my workshops who are professionals working with people for themselves firstly and also to see what they can learn to help those they work with.

As a healthcare professional or other professional it’s important we have our own personal practices and are doing our inner work. There is a big emphasis on personal practice in the nervous system regulation workshops, it’s so important for us all!

If you’re interested in nervous system regulation, perhaps you use it in your work already, and you would like to explore it more through personal practice using somatic & embodiment practices my 4 week online nervous system regulation workshop series could be suitable for you.

There is some information on my website, linked in the comments and I can email you a pdf with a little of what to expect each week if you get in touch. Here’s the topic for each week which we will be exploring with a little theory, somatic & embodiment practices, journalling & reflections:

Week 1 - Window of Tolerance
Week 2 - Polyvagal Theory
Week 3 - The 3 Circles Model
Week 4 - Integration

There are only 3 places left (maximum 10 places), early bird discount expires 30th Aug. If you may like to attend get in touch to book your free 15 minute pre-booking call (no obligation to book after this).

If you would like to attend but can’t make the ones running from 28th Sept get in touch to be added to the wait list for February (these will probably be on a Friday morning, there are three people on this list already).

(Picture is of modified eagle pose and something that’s part of one of our practices)

Do you understand nervous system regulation and how it can be helpful for you?

There are many potential benefits to nervous system regulation. Understanding is important and practice is essential, the practice makes changes over time and deepens understanding too.

Did you know there are many ways that regular use of nervous system regulation strategies/practices can help?

Here’s some of the potential benefits:

👉🏻 Decreased pain
👉🏻 Decreased anxiety
👉🏻 Decreased stress
👉🏻 Improved energy
👉🏻 Improved sleep
👉🏻 Relating to yourself in a compassionate way
👉🏻 Feeling more connected to others
👉🏻 Seeing more possibilities & choices

I’m running a 4 week online nervous system regulation workshop series starting 28th Sept and run on Saturday mornings 9.45-12.15 UK time. The workshops are suitable for people with and without health conditions. We will be exploring the messages of the body through the lenses of a few different nervous system regulation models using a variety of somatic and embodiment practices, including gentle yoga, as well as journalling and reflections.

There are many things that are part of these workshops including
👉🏻 A small compassionate trauma informed online group space to learn, explore, practice & reflect together
👉🏻 A optional WhatsApp group for peer support between sessions
👉🏻 A copy of the presentations, recordings of the practices we do and other resources
👉🏻 A mini nervous system regulation workbook I’ve created to support your learning

Who am I to teach these workshops?

I am work as a trauma informed Fatigue & Pain Specialist Physiotherapist & Integrative Somatic Practitioner. I have many years of experience doing the work I do and I have also done and do my own inner work. I know the practices and other things I teach personally as well as professionally.

There are a maximum of 10 places, 3 are left. It’s online and available worldwide. There’s more info linked in the comments. If you may like to book get touch to book your free 15 minute pre-booking call, no obligation to book after this. There is an early bird discount until 30th August.