The Power of Pausing in Therapy

Ever wonder... What should I even talk about in therapy?

If you are committed to a long-term therapy  you might encounter the question "What do I talk about in therapy?

Often, the most profound material emerges from this uncertainty. When we let go of the need to have a perfectly structured topic, we create space for what’s truly present in the moment.

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Why does healing hurt before it feels better?

If you are currently in therapy, you may be have started to to embody your feelings. This means facing parts of yourself that you've protected with numbness, dissociation, or limiting coping mechanisms. Embodying emotions involves acknowledging wounds that haven't healed properly, which can unexpectedly resurface as you address them for the first time. It includes sitting with discomfort, examining your relationships, recognizing habitual coping patterns, and addressing previously unconscious beliefs that have shaped your survival.

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Healing our Collective Wound

How do we respond to the wounding of the world torn by greed, war and exploitation? Indigenous knowledge underscores the importance of cultivating respectful relationships with the natural world. If we find ourselves caught in the trauma loop, we must start there, moving towards interbeing as our primal nature. Our care for ourselves impacts our ability to care for the suffering of the planet. #transpersonal #interbeing #mindfulness

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6 Steps to Befriend Your Anxiety

This undercurrent of anxiety often reveals itself as anticipation, hypervigilance, and unease. Physiologically, it tenses our muscles, knots our guts, and quickens our heartbeats. At times, it steps into the foreground, impacting relationships, spawning fear, triggering panic, and hindering daily tasks. How do you befriend your anxiety? Learn this 6-step somatic practice here…

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3 Reasons Why Self-Compassion Is More Powerful Than Criticism

Often, individuals considering the start of therapy might experience profound vulnerability and perhaps even embarrassment, when reaching out for support. Taking that significant step to open up to someone else, who might identify something "wrong" with them, requires courage and one's inherent worthiness. How to approach your healing without the need to “fix” yourself.

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Are You Stunting Your Growth By Skipping Celebrations?

When we skip celebrations, we deprive ourselves of the chance to engage in activities that stimulate our somatic awareness. We disconnect from the innate wisdom of our bodies and limit our capacity for holistic growth. Our bodies possess an inherent intelligence that communicates our needs, desires, and emotional states. By engaging in celebrations, we attune ourselves to this somatic wisdom, enhancing our ability to navigate life's challenges with resilience and authenticity.

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Listening for the Inner Thaw

Have you noticed the voice that has been forgotten? A voice that has been neglected or made wrong?  Somatic practices through expressive arts and dance/movement therapy allow clients find their authentic expression. When we connect with our somatic experience, we can bring forth a wholeness of self. A self that can withstand the turbulence of reality.

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3 Inner Practices to Cultivate Better Work Boundaries

How do you react to incoming work requests? What happens in your animal body? Do you find yourself bracing? Do you react immediately to that notification ping? Do you notice a feeling of urgency when the email subject says "time sensitive?". What compels you to respond? Learn three 3 inner practices to find more calm when it comes to work stressors and set better boundaries.

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How to Find the Right Therapist/Coach/Healer

As a practitioner and a forever client, I've learned that therapy is a gift to myself and a replenishing investment that nurtures my growth. I've also stumbled and fumbled to find the right fit with the right healer/expert/therapist. Here are a few questions I wished I had in my back pocket before agreeing to work with someone new.

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are you Settling ? somatic inquiry practice

What does true acceptance feel like? How do you know when you settling for less? What is the cost of this? Is it to excuse the ways we feel unseen in a relationship because our loved ones are still "healing"? Is it to stick to a job that numbs our aliveness, because of the latest economic shit storm? Is it staying in an unsatisfying relationship because of the fear of being alone?

Try somatic experiments to see the quality of acceptance through surrendering vs the feeling of settling.

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Mastering Boundaries through Self-Compassion & Somatic Inquiry

As we set new boundaries with people in our lives, it is a huge pattern shift. Maybe you are no longer willing to be complicit? Maybe you are challenging expectations people have of you? Maybe you are willing to have that direct conversation, that you never dared to in the past? However, you might notice a stirring inside as you step into a new boundary. It may feel like you want to hide, retreat or even take back that boundary.

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Embodied movement practices to Manage Stress

How does your somatic experience inform how you hold stress? Stress is a nervous-system response to either change or trauma indicators. There are always spaces of neutrality in your somatic experience, maybe it feels like less pain or more mobility. I have recorded a free embodied practice to try today.

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Somatic Practices for Seasonal Shifts:

As seasons change, they bring up feelings of nostalgia, loss and sometimes grief. They may also inspire shift us into new perspectives and new possibilities. Here are a few tips to support your nervous system during seasonal change from a polyvagal/sensorimotor perspective !

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Shaila Khan