The biggest gift you can give yourself is to make the non-physical stress, physical

the first thing we do on retreats is to get up and shed excess energy.

there is a good reason for that.

if you are feeling hyper-vigilant, there is one thing for sure, you are holding cortisol and adrenal

whether it is from extended periods of hypervigilance

whether it is unresolved one-off moments of heightened states of emotion (trauma)

you most likely oscillating on a roller coaster outside of your control between high-reactivity and chronic fatigue.

befriending the nervous system means tapping into, shedding and re-training that system that has been corrupted

non-in person communication

non-physical tasks

lack of ceremonial closure (think email/presentation/report v putting a roof on a hut for your family)

are either increases in your stress load, or at the very least, not helping you downregulate.

Remember the study where young girls texted their mums and had no relief in cortisol and no gain in oxytocin?

whilst the girls who spoke to their mother verbally had an increase in oxytocin, and decrease in cortisol?

this is all related to the question - is it a sick fish or dirty water - in our compassionate inquiry into anxiety.

if you’d like to explore the somatic side of anxiety relief, you are welcome to the retreat next weekend 14-15 September. details in the usual place.

to your healing 💙,

Jas