 As a trauma therapist, I know the language I use with my clients is key to helping them feel safe and empowered. Trauma informed language is all about invitation, allowing people to have freedom to explore their own experience without shame or expectation. When we invite someone to try something with their bodies, we allow them choice and agency - two key things that are taken away when someone goes through trauma. Making sure we give options and emphasize that if it doesn't feel right for that person's body, they can stop a practice at any time. Somatic tools are a key component to trauma recovery but each person has their own relationship and triggers within their body so invitation and curiosity is key. In my upcoming Ethics of Trauma Informed Care live webinar on April 29th, I will be providing a range of somatic tools and trauma informed practices to use with clients and on our own personal healing journey. Participants will receive 2 Ethics CEs through NASW-NC and will have lifetime access to the recording if you can't attend live. For more information on the course and to reserve your spot, you can click here. To receive weekly free trauma informed resources and tools in my newsletter, you can click here. 
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 Breathwork is one of my favorite tools to help clients (and myself) build resilience and recover from the effects of trauma. Breathwork is a term used to describe any type of therapy that utilizes breathing exercises to improve mental, physical, and spiritual health. Breathwork is a way to combine the ancient practices of yoga with modern neuroscience. It can be beneficial for people experiencing anxiety, chronic pain, depression, trauma, and anger issues, to name a few. I believe it is important to ease people into breathing practices in phases in order to minimize triggers and increase a sense of empowerment with a new practice. Square Breathing is a common breathing technique that can be used to help calm the nervous system and build resilience. It is used by everyone from athletes to US Navy Seals, police officers, and nurses. Traditionally in this practice, you inhale for the count of 4, pause for 4, exhale for 4, and pause for 4. I believe there are important factors to introducing a breathwork practice that can make it more trauma informed. Tip #1: “Pause” vs. “Hold” Words matter. Referring to the practice as a “pause” rather than a “hold” can have a more neutral connotation for trauma survivors. Tip #2: Reduce the length A Modified Square Breathing practice can include inhaling for the count of 3, pausing for 2, exhaling for 3, pausing for 2. This modification can help to ease individuals into the practice of breath retention, which can initially feel uncomfortable, especially for beginners. For a free video of a Modified Square Breathing practice, click here. Tip #3: Always by invitation Inviting someone to try a breathwork practice is key for empowering an individual to make choices about what happens with their body. Reminding a client that they are in control of their own body and that they can modify or stop the practice at any time can feel empowering to a trauma survivor trying to reintegrate back into their body. For more trauma informed tips, you can join my upcoming Ethics of Trauma Informed Care training happening on April 29th from 9-11 EST. This will be a live virtual training and participants will receive lifetime access to the recording so you do not have to attend live to receive CEs. 2 Ethics CEs approved by NASW-NC will be included in the course. Click here for more information and to reserve your spot today.   Orienting to the space we are in is an important tool to help stimulate our vagus nerve and calm the nervous system. Our vagus nerve is always tracking our environment to create what’s called “neuroception” which is our ability to detect safety in our environment. Intentionally turning our bodies and orienting to the space we are in can stimulate our vagus nerve, help us become more oriented into the present moment and help to build this neuroception and our vagal tone. Identifying exits and parameters of the room and confirming what is behind us can help us feel more grounded, safe and present. After orienting ourselves, we can begin to take deep belly breaths to continue this calming of the nervous system. Join me in this simple grounding and orienting practice to support the vagus nerve by clicking here to help feel safer in our bodies and our environment. For more free resources and weekly tips to build resilience, you can join my newsletter by clicking here. May we all love the life we live…   We live in an overstimulating world and it can be a lot sometimes, especially as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Finding ways to decompress and allow our nervous systems to “digest” is key to managing our stress and not burning out.
Often we think that zoning out on our phones or binge watching a show is “rest” but that is still requiring our nervous system to digest even more sensory input. True rest and decompression requires us to decrease the sensory input so that our nervous system can truly heal. I like to consider the input vs output of sensory input in my day so I can better understand what I need for decompression time. Some examples of decompression:
There are so many ways we can allow our nervous system to digest the sensory input from the day. Finding which tool will work best for you and then scheduling that time is key. For folks with kids at home, it might be doing a short practice in the car before leaving work or before walking into the home. We encounter stress every day so practicing these tools every day to decrease the stress response and help us move into that “rest and digest mode” of the nervous system is important to prevent burnout. I hope you find these tips and tools supportive! For more free resources, you can join my newsletter by clicking here to receive more tools for increasing your resilience and managing stress. May we all love the live we live...  Stimulating the vagus nerve is key to helping to calm our nervous system and manage stress more effectively. The vagus nerve is our tenth cranial nerve, extending from its origin in the brainstem through the neck and the thorax down to the abdomen, connecting with major bodily organs. It carries an extensive range of signals from digestive system and organs to the brain and vice versa. The vagus nerve regulates body temperature, heart rate and functioning, impacts our inflammation within the body and helps the brain get signals when we are full and should stop eating. For folks with anxiety disorders, PTSD or autonomic disorders, a vagal nerve massage and vagal nerve stimulation may be helpful. Vagal nerve stimulation: A clinical treatment where a surgical device is implanted to help stimulate and regulate the vagus nerve. You can learn more about the research being done on it by going to clinicaltrials.gov Vagal nerve massages: This is a practice you can do at home to stimulate the vagus nerve, help calm the nervous system and build vagal tone. Essentially the vagus nerve is what helps us detect safety in our environment and with others. Improving our vagal tone is key to helping us improve our ability to create this sense of safety. For a full video of a vagal nerve massage, click here. There are a lot of nerve endings for the vagus nerve in the ear, which is where the practice begins. The concha is the inner part of the ear (like a conch shell) and the tragus is the flap of skin right in front of the ear. The main branch goes down behind the jaw bone and down along the large muscle in your neck, down to the throat.
This stimulation of the vagus nerve will help us build vagal tone, which is our ability to effectively respond (not over respond or under respond) to sensory input. Yoga, meditation and biofeedback are all ways to begin to build vagal tone. For more resources and videos for building resilience and healing, as well as learn about upcoming classes, you can join my newsletter by clicking here. May we all love the life we live...  Our bodies are the vehicles that carry us through the world, for better or worse, till death do we part. Learning how to read the signals coming from our body is the key to knowing what tools will support us the best. Do you notice your shoulders are up to your ears? Try rolling the shoulders in a circle and then shaking out the arms. Do you notice you are holding your breath and clenching your jaw? Try taking deep belly breaths, releasing the jaw and letting the teeth part with each exhale. Research shows we must spend at least 20 minutes a day doing something that helps us complete the stress cycle. We must do this every day because we experience stress every day. Exercise, deep breathing, a good cry and safe physical contact are all ways to help our body complete the stress cycle and return to a state of calm. Learning how to complete the stress cycle is key to preventing burnout and building resilience. We can not just rationalize our way out of a stress response, we must move our bodies through it. Our bodies do not speak English, they only speak body language, so we must learn to talk to it. Moving the body is one of the most effective ways to help the stress cycle complete and our nervous system to calm down. For a free video on how to release tension through movement, click here. For more free resources, you can join my newsletter by clicking here. This Sunday, February 6th is my virtual Cozy Winter Workshop where you can dive into practices to build safety, manage burnout and deeply rest. Click here for more information and to reserve your spot!  
Creating sensation is a powerful way to help our bodies release tension, calm the nervous system and create a sense of safety within our bodies and our relationships. Brené Brown says “we are emotional, feeling beings who on rare occasions think”. We feel deeply so let’s create and feel sensations to help us move through the stress cycle and build more resilience by feeling our bodies. Weighted blankets, massage balls, foam rollers, baths and yoga are all ways to direct awareness back into the body and can help us feel safer. If we are attuned to our bodies, we can feel safer in our environment. We can take deep breaths, lengthen our exhales and ride the waves of feelings as we live through each moment. There is no escaping the pain that life can sometimes bring but we can use our tools to move through it with as much grace and ease as possible, knowing it too shall pass. Most of us were not taught how to do this growing up, I know I wasn't. It’s not our fault but it is our responsibility to learn now as adults. It’s never too late to learn how to cope with stress, practice better sleep habits and build resilience. Releasing tension is key to calming our nervous system so that we can feel safer within ourselves and our relationships. For a free Morning Yoga video to calm the nervous system and release tension, click here. My upcoming Cozy Winter Workshop on February 6th will focus on simple and effective self-regulation and attachment building techniques to use in your daily life. To reserve your spot, you can click here. You can get a chance to meet both Elizabeth and me, hear us share more details about what to expect in the workshop and answer questions in our Instagram Live this Wednesday, January 26th at 7 pm EST! Find me at @becca.odom.wellness on Instagram to connect and learn more! May we all love the life we live…  As a highly sensitive person, I feel deeply and if I can tune into things that are rhythmic or soothing, like music, it helps me heal. I believe being highly sensitive is a gift, a superpower but it is, like all things, about learning how to work with it rather than against it. Highly sensitive people can easily get overwhelmed by sensory input - bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, etc. but we also feel the beauty of life deeply. Redirecting our attention to the sound of music, the soft texture of a blanket or clothing, the rhythm of our breathing when overwhelmed will help us regulate our nervous system and build resilience. Tuning in is the first step to changing anything - we must notice and then we have choices. If we choose to give our attention to something neutral or positive that is around or within us, it can become our resource and support to navigate through the changes life will inevitably bring. Change is the only constant so finding ways to ride those waves is key to resilience and preventing burnout. My favorite breathing practice to help me calm my nervous system is Ocean Breathing. I think of it as sneaky self-care that I can carry with me anywhere I go. Click here for a free video on Ocean Breathing. I am so excited to hold space for others to create a cozy, safe space in their home to receive some well deserved nourishment and rest at my Cozy Winter Workshop on February 6th from 2-4 EST! This offering is focusing on practices to help embody security, comfort and safety within and around us. We have CEs, equity seats and a recording that will be available if you can't join us live! For more information and to reserve your spot, visit https://www.heirloomcounseling.com/cozy May we all love the life we live…   During the winter months, many of us experience seasonal depression and it is important to find more light. Whether that is being outside during the day, moving our desk to be in front of a window, using a sun lamp or keeping those holiday twinkle lights up - seek and find the light. My favorite way is to stand in front of a window and let my face soak up the sunlight. I take deep breaths and open my eyes to let the light in. To build and maintain a new habit, it's important to start small and build upon it. I invite you to consider committing to 2 minutes a day of finding light and soaking it up. This can even be focusing on a memory of a time that you soaked up the sun or had a moment of heartfelt connection and warmth with another being (person or animal). Light can mean so many different things to each of us. Get curious about what can bring more light into your life and seek it out. There is no one quick fix to seasonal depression but finding the light can be a helpful piece of the puzzle to survive the winter and build resilience. For a free video on Creating Connection During Uncertain Times, click here. My next offering will be a Cozy Winter Workshop with Elizabeth Gillette on February 6th from 2-4 EST, where we will be combining the principles of attachment and somatic therapy to hold space for some deep rest and resilience building. We will focus on creating a sense of safety within and around us. To register, visit here. May we all love the life we live…   This weeks mission: Rest. Rest is sacred. Rest is a privilege and a right. Rest is how we heal. If we can all begin to honor and respect our right to rest, the world would be a much better place. Our nervous systems could finally heal. We could feel more safe and secure in our bodies and therefore, in our relationships. Our nervous system needs to feel safe to heal and our body only speaks body language, so let’s find a way to talk to it. Here’s my favorite way to speak to my body and help it rest:
I hope you enjoy this practice and share this message with others. Let’s all begin to celebrate rest this season. This year has been a lot, we all deserve to rest so let’s do it. May we all love the life we live…  For more resources to support deeper rest, you can find my recordings for rest and sleep by clicking here.
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