Reflections on Practices, Patterns & Embodiment

How to work with triggers, reactions, and emotions somatically. What Emotional Triggers Are Really Pointing To One of the most powerful things I know is that as bodies we have the capacity to drop underneath the pattern, the reaction, the trigger (whatever you want to call it) and meet what’s underneath as a body, therefore freeing ourselves. What the heck does that mean? Most people try to manage emotional triggers without understanding the emotional patterns underneath the

It’s not that calming the system is wrong. It’s that for some bodies, it’s already the default. In many somatic modalities, there’s a lot of focus on regulating your nervous system, on calming down. Breathing. Slowing down. Grounding. Reminding yourself you’re safe. And for many people, this is helpful. But for some bodies—especially those already prone to shutdown—this approach can actually reinforce the very nervous system pattern that’s keeping them stuck. The Nervous Syst

Tired of the effort? Most of us have learned to deal with tension, stress, or emotional reactions in two ways: either push through them or try to relax them away. But the body doesn’t always work that way. Often, what the body is actually looking for is a chance to complete its movement. In my work with clients, I often see the body holding effort—tight shoulders, clenched jaws, collapsed bellies, held breath. These patterns are often connected to emotional reactions, old exp