Stressed? Sensory Awareness might be the answer for healing.

  • Stressed? Sensory Awareness might be the answer for healing.

    Today’s Guest Blogger Jean Grant Sutton writes about why we are stressed.

     The Great ‘Post Covid’ Unwinding It has become so very clear to me of the havoc that has been wreaked on our world from the Covid Pandemic. Of course, for most of us the disruption to our financial stability is still having ripple effects. For those in small business or even those that lost jobs or needed to let their job go because of the lockdown may still be struggling to get back above water. 

    Where I am experiencing the most clarity of devastation is in our human nervous system.

    With the knowledge of physiology and how we are wired in our brainstem for survival, I personally feel and witness in others the huge contraction that was triggered by this threatening virus.

    Huge repercussions to many connected systems take place when the stress response is activated as it has been.

    This is called Stress Response Hyperstimulation.
    We know there was a huge stress response activation globally, we were put on lockdown, isolated and masking for most of 2 years.(Some people are still for their various reasons)

    What happens when the stress response is activated and hyper-stimulated is well documented in our health sciences. If affects all systems, organs, glands in various ways that can lead to so very many symptoms of dis-ease. 

    Heart palpitations, Chest pain, Dizziness, Lightheadedness, Muscle weakness, Numbness, Tingling, Weak limbs, Asthma, Anxiety, Chronic pain, Back pain, Chronic fatigue, Insomnia . . .  the list goes on. 

    I bring this to your attention to help support your understanding of the need to be sure to do whatever is necessary to help unwind the layers of stress in order to come back to homeostasis and equilibrium in your body/mind systems. 

    Doing a Daily Deep Relaxation like ‘savasana‘  the resting pose has shown to relax the central nervous system and return it to healthy ‘rest and digest’ functioning.  Consider creating a new habit for yourself. Every day take 7-10 minutes to lie down on floor and let the sensory awareness of your body prevail. The results may surprise you in how you feel. 

    Another resource for calming the nervous system: Sankalpa.

    “Sankalpa is your heartfelt mission, said in a short phrase or sentence, clearly and concisely expressed, using a present tense “I” statement. It is said to ourselves in the present tense because it is in the now, as it is really only now all the time. This sustains your inner felt sense of purpose, meaning, and value.”

    Jean Grant-Sutton’s approach to Integrative Yoga Therapy, is based on a vision of health as a unity of body, mind and spirit. She focuses on bringing balance, strength, flexibility and awareness to the body and mind. To raise awareness of the primary intention of yoga: awakening of Spirit–our essential nature.

    Jean’s yoga classes are both in person (Petaluma, CA) and online.

    Marlene C

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  • Create a Hygge Calendar or List

    Photo and heart, by Susan Lawrence

    We hear a lot about being grateful, giving thanks, gratitude lists, and silver linings.

    But what if you just aren’t feeling it?

    How about creating a hygge calendar? I read about this in a Facebook group.

    Make a list of things to be mindful about, a way to help get out of the doldrums and into a feeling of calm, care, and positivity.

    Pay attention to one item each day.

    Personalize your calendar and use it as advent calendar, or as a way of looking at old things in a new way.

    Hygge: A quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being, regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture.

    Hygge Advent Calendar ideas, or a list of how to create a feeling of coziness:

    1. Light a candle during meals.

    2. Chalk a friendly greeting on a sidewalk.

    3. Share an uplifting poem or a story with friends.

    4. Bundle up and sit outside in the evening with twinkle lights.

    5. Read children’s books about Christmas and winter.

    6. Drive around and look at Christmas lights

    7. Hold or look at an item that belonged to a beloved family member, or a beloved friend.

    8. Phone a family member or a friend, just to say hello. Talk about a fun or memorable event you shared.

    9. Make something, it could be a baked item or a craft item.

    10. Sit outside for ten minutes and look at trees.

    11. Write a thank you note or a note just to say “Hi, I’m thinking about you.” Mail it!

    12. Boil cinnamon and orange peels to make the house smell good.

    13. Turn off all lights except for a candle or two (recommend battery operated). Get comfy under a warm blanket. Sit with the quiet.

    14. Look at family photos.

    15. Send a donation or donate your time to helping others.

    16. Make a nest of pillows and read a familiar and cozy book.

    17. Stand at a window and gaze at the view.

    18. Donate money or food to a food bank.

    19. Make paper snowflakes.

    20. Spend some time with a neighborhood pet.

    21. Take a few, deep, nourishing breaths. Breathe in. Breathe out.

    22. Soak feet in mineral salts while listening to music.

    23. Zoom into GROOVE dance with Diane Dupuis, Yoga with Adrienne, Feldenkrais, Insight Timer meditation.

    24. Write, using prompts from The Write Spot Blog.

    Thank you, Susan Lawrence, a speech therapist, in Los Angeles for this inspiration. Susan created her Hygge advent calendar by making a heart shaped wall hanging with pieces of gold paper, each one has a cozy activity written on it and placed in the pockets randomly.

    Marlene C

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  • Guest Blogger Marjorie Richardson corrals the chatter and invites creativity.

    Guest Blogger Marjorie Richardson writes about waking our consciousness through gentle yoga.

    Want to calm your nerves, quiet your mind, decrease anxiety and heighten immunity? How about having more comfort and ease in your body? Developing a feeling of fluidity in your body? Accessing your creativity? All these things can and do take place through slow and gentle movement accompanied by focused rhythmic breathing. Gentle yoga enhances our ability to hear ourselves, to listen to the inner cues we are constantly being given. In deeply concentrated states of mind, restlessness calms down. Synchronizing breath and movement train the mind to sense the subtle layers of well-being below all the surface chatter.

    Hatha Yoga is a tool discovered thousands of years ago to be used to awaken consciousness and unite with all the levels of our being. When attention is directed inward, your body receives messages that you are safe and secure; your self is being looked after. Muscles relax, blood pressure drops, the nerves calm, the mind quiets, anxiety decreases and immunity heightens.. Our fast-paced busy lives tend to stimulate a high level of stress that runs our immune systems down as they try to cope. A Yoga practice is a counter pose to that life style.

    The gift of yoga is multifaceted. Through our yoga practice we break through and loosen old patterns of feeling and being. We develop a new relationship with ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Yoga deepens our understanding of who we are and how we choose to be in the world. Yoga expands us, opens us to new territory, releases stuck places that were previously unavailable. Through our yoga practice we attune to our alignment at the core of our being. We increase physical strength, flexibility and balance. We develop non-judging acceptance and open heartedness. And through all of this we experience a calmer and more peaceful state of mind. We cultivate an ability to listen to our body, to hear what it really needs for well-being. We begin to move away from the push and the struggle and breathe into the little releases and insights that are revealed to us through our body as we learn to listen with curiosity and trust. In this way, yoga can enhance our writing.

    The body, mind and spirit responds to and loves the oxygenating benefits of deep rhythmic breathing and the balancing of all the body systems through the gentle stretching and relaxing into the poses. The true work of our yoga practice is cultivating self acceptance, kindness and patience, developing and integrating body mind and spirit. Our physical need is health, our psychological need is knowledge and our spiritual need is inner peace. Cultivating all three produces harmony and who the heck doesn’t want that?

    Marjorie Richardson.1Marjorie Richardson is a certified Integrative Yoga Instructor & Massage Therapist who has been teaching yoga in Petaluma, California since 1997. Her gentle style supports the process of letting go of tensions, worries and habits by using breath and movement synchronized together.

    Note from Marlene:  I just love serendipity. I’ve had this post ready for awhile, waiting for an “open spot” on the guest blogger calendar.  Today is The Day. There is a good article about “Yin yoga: A fascia-nating practice,” by Hana Medina in the July 2014 issue of The Costco Connection. Don’t you just love it when serendipity happens?

    Marlene C

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