Empathic and Safe Facilitator

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If you have unresolved stress or symptoms of trauma, you may feel that you can't really relax, you can't fully let down your guard, or that life is harder for you. You may feel out of touch with your body or that your body is not a welcoming place. Perhaps you believe feeling at ease is out of reach for you, or it is fleeting, and that your set point is always going to be some degree of tension. This makes sense. All of these feelings are common as a result of overwhelming trauma and they are real. Is it possible, though, to consider if those feelings are permanent or can they transform?

My experience tells me those feelings can absolutely transform, and I promise you that the stress you carry does not have to be a life sentence. 

Recovering from intense stress or trauma is possible, but I prefer to consider it an uncovering, rather than a recovering. Why? Because you were born hardwired to return to a state of ease and to be balanced. The body is designed to return to equilibrium, and it does so all day long, from regulating your heart rate after climbing a flight of stairs, to healing a cut, to being able to laugh again even after a a big fight the day before. The body (and mind) is at its most comfortable state when it is balanced. And there is a place inside of you that is always at ease. Read that again. There is a place inside of you that is always at ease. Yes, always! 

Nothing you do, nothing you did, nothing they did to you, no historical events, and no future happenings can destroy this inherent ease within you. It is utterly unaffected by the content of your life. You came into this world with the birthright of ease, which means that ease is hardwired into your body and mind. This ease is vast, limitless, and permanent. It cannot be diminished or destroyed; it can only be obscured. 

What kinds of things obscure our connection to this inherent ease within us? Certainly, a traumatic experience that went unresolved or unhealed could keep the body in a state of arousal or stuck in either fight, flight, or freeze. Ongoing stress without respite can contribute. Physical pain and emotional pain play a part. Behaviors such as suboptimal movement, lack of exercise, compromised posture, poor breathing, deficient diet, toxic drugs, excessive alcohol consumption, and self-destructive beliefs can all block your access to the ease already within you. 

Sometimes, in the presence of any or all of these obstacles, we don’t even recognize that we’re uneasy because we have lost contact with the felt sense of vibrant health. 

I promise you that your sense of well-being and ease is still inside of you no matter what you have been through and no matter how far or recent the experience occurred. Even if you experienced a divorce, were abandoned or betrayed, survived sexual violence, witnessed or received child abuse or domestic abuse, lost a loved one, had a traumatic accident, or fought in war, your sense of ease is still intact, deep inside. It's true! This ease is yours to reclaim and you can access it again, with help. 

Many people appropriately seek psychotherapy for trauma recovery. The psychotherapist's job is to assess, diagnose, and develop a treatment plan to remedy the client’s presenting problem Since the client, referral source, and insurance company expect results, the therapist must take charge of the treatment and direct the client toward changes intended to remedy the presenting problem. In psychotherapy for trauma recovery, the therapist might tenderly have their patients directly recall the traumatic memories in order to address specific moments where the memory can be resolved. They might allow the patient to discuss the event in depth. They may use psychological or cognitive behavioral methods to help the patient resolve mental and emotional distress. These methods can be extremely effective when included in a recovery program. If you have not yet started such treatment, it is worth exploring. A therapy called Somatic Experiencing is particularly effective in trauma recovery. 

In addition to psychotherapy, a successful trauma recovery program demands attention be paid to the physical body, the nervous system, and how the person is living day to day. This is where I come in. 

My service is to be an adjunct to psychotherapy (or other modalities you may be involved in), and my services are intended to complement and enhance individual therapy, not to replace it. In contrast to a psychotherapist, I am not responsible for the diagnosis & treatment of specific disorders, or for solving your physical, mental, and emotional problems. I do not interpret information and I do not present myself as an expert. Rather, my role is to help you access everything you need to recover, which already exists within you. 

I help you to have a functional relationship with your body and yourself again, to facilitate a dialogue between you and your body which may have been silent for some time, to facilitate a way you can be in your body with safety, power, and joy, to educate you on how to balance your nervous system, and how to use specific techniques that can help you reconnect to that place of safety and ease throughout your day. The direction I take you toward is right back to your heart. 

• Private sessions to help you restore your sense of safety and capacity in privacy and with discretion
• Breathing practices to experience a profound shift from chronic stress to ease
• Gentle, targeted movements to release long-held tension in your body and feel good again
• Guided deep, profound relaxation to rest your nervous system
• Neurogenic tremoring (gentle stress-releasing exercises)
• Meditation to experience the calm side of your mind
• Lifestyle coaching to improve the other factors that trigger stress or prevent ease, such as sleep, digestion, and movement. 
• Restore your sense of dignity
• Learn to enjoy your body and feel good in it
• Cultivate gratitude for your mind and learn how to use it for your benefit
• Customized coaching to teach you practical skills you can use daily to generate well-being from physical health to mindset
• Ease is the true home of your soul. It is the source of all healing. It is the defining characteristic of freedom. Together, we can take you home to that place already inside of you that will deliver you to safety, happiness, and confidence. 

MEET YOUR FACILITATOR: Hi! I am a certified yoga therapist, personal trainer, and holistic lifestyle coach. I have firsthand experience surviving prolonged trauma and have fully recovered from PTSD. Utilizing professional therapy, somatic experiencing, tension-releasing exercises, Yoga philosophy and practice, strength training, breathing, meditation, music, humor, and hundreds of hours of research and introspection, I have been able to reclaim my sense of worth, ease, and safety. I believe my journey from horror to happiness happened for the purpose of facilitating other folks to do the same. I work with older teens, adults, retired military, moms, and dads, and I can serve as an adjunct to trauma therapists in Phoenix and virtually. I look forward to connecting my heart with your heart!