August 7, 2025 • 48 mins
Kelly Hale, a 25-year veteran occupational therapist and nervous system regulation specialist, shares powerful yet simple movement techniques to help families shift from survival mode to a state of regulated calm. Through her Gutsy Brain Movement methodology, she combines developmental movements, nervous system regulation, and gut health practices to help people reconnect with their bodies and tap into their natural resilience.
• Finding calm through movement when traditional meditation fails
• Creating a personal regulation practice in just 3 minutes per day
• Using the "walking the midline" technique to quickly ground yourself
• Practicing "balance buttons" to manage multiple roles with more ease
• Learning the powerful fear paralysis tapping sequence for anxiety
• Understanding how the vagus nerve connects brain function to gut health
• Implementing the MORO reflex exercise for better breathing and reduced stress
• Using co-regulation to help calm children by regulating yourself first
• Adapting nervous system techniques for teenagers and grandchildren
• Integrating regulation practices before other movement activities
Access Kelly's free "Inner Peace" resource with three short videos for nervous system relief at www.inspiredwell.com/innerpeace. Find Kelly on Instagram @inspired2wellness or in her Facebook community "Nervous System Regulation with Kelly."
Lindsay Miller is a distinguished kids mindfulness coach, mindfulness educator and host of The Stress Nanny Podcast. She is known for her suitcase tricks and playful laugh. When she's not cheering on her daughter or rollerblading on local trails with her husband, you can find her using her 20+ years of child development study and mindfulness certification to dream up new ways to get kids excited about deep breathing. Having been featured on numerous podcasts, platforms and publications, Lindsay’s words of wisdom are high impact and leave a lasting impression wherever she goes.
To sign up for Lindsay's "Calm & Collected" Newsletter click here.
To review the podcast click here.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Stress Nanny Podcast and I'm
your host, lindsay Miller.
I'm here to help you keep aneye on your family's stress
levels.
In our fast-paced lives, theability to manage stress has
never been more important forkids or adults.
When it comes to stress, wehave two choices we can decrease
stress or increase ourresilience to it.
Here on the number eight rankedstress podcast, I interview
(00:29):
experts and share insights tohelp you do both.
When you tune in each week,you'll bring your stress levels
down and your resilience up, sothat stress doesn't get in the
way of you living your best life.
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Stress NannyPodcast.
I'm your host, lindsay Miller,and I'm delighted to have you
joining me today for myconversation with Kelly Hale.
(00:52):
She's affectionately known asKelly Kale due to her love of
growing and eating veggies.
She's spent over 25 years as anoccupational therapist,
movement specialist and nervoussystem regulation practitioner.
Therapist, movement specialistand nervous system regulation
practitioner.
Helping people move from fightflight freeze to ease.
With expertise in Pilates,brain gym and craniosacral
(01:12):
therapy, she empowers people toreconnect with their bodies, tap
into resilience and findhealing through movement.
She's also a former meditationdropout.
No matter how hard she tried,she couldn't quiet her racing
mind or sit still Hello ADHD.
So instead of forcing whatdidn't work, she met herself
where she was in movement.
When she couldn't find exactlywhat she needed, she created it.
(01:35):
That's how Gutsy Brain Movementwas born.
It's a blend of nervous systemregulation, corrective exercise
and developmental movements,combined with gut health and
emotional well-being, to helppeople feel strong, safe and at
home in their own bodies.
Kelly's work is deeply personalas well as professional.
Her own journey through chronichealth challenges, celiac
(01:57):
disease and fertility strugglesreinforced what she now teaches.
When we support the gut andregulate the nervous system,
true healing becomes possible,and y'all know I believe in that
.
She's also a passionateadvocate for emotional
well-being, helping peopleprocess and move through the
patterns that keep them feelingstuck.
When she's not creatinginspiring content and loving up
(02:21):
on the amazing people in hermembership, kelly loves spending
time with her husband and teendaughter in Metro Detroit,
dancing, hiking and caring forher ever-growing collection of
houseplants, which we can see onthe wall behind her, and
walking her two rescue hounds,including Snoopy, who happily
snores through sessions at herpractice, modeling the nervous
system regulation that sheteaches.
(02:42):
Kelly, thank you so much forjoining me today.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Thank you for having me, lindsay.
I love what you're doing andhow you're serving people and
I've been meaning to tell you Ilove the name of your work the
Stress Nanny.
I worked years ago, when I wasin college, as a nanny and
that's a huge role and such acaretaker for this young,
developing person.
I feel like everyone shouldhave a stress nanny, because you
(03:09):
can't live life without cominginto some stress right Unless
you're hiding in a hole and Ifeel like we all need that
loving, supportive, nurturingstress nanny to support us
through life.
So thank you for doing what youdo.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
That's so sweet of you.
Thank you, that means a lot.
I also agree I think we couldall use a stress nanny and I
think that having also nannied,you know, during college, so I
had a similar experience.
There are so many, you know,things that go into the
day-to-day care of life andchildren right, and so if we can
have that same kind of care forourselves when it comes to our
(03:46):
stress levels, that just thesky's the limit in terms of kind
of what we can navigate andwhat we can work toward.
And so I love the idea of havinga generation of kids growing up
who know how to regulate stressand optimize it, so that they
can, you know, move throughwhatever, whatever hurdles come
their way and gracefully createthe futures that they want.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes, absolutely, I love it.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Well, I'm super excited too.
You know, as we talked about alittle before we started, you
and I have so much in common andI am enamored with the way you
have synthesized so many ofthese pieces that are crucial
for well-being, right, andmanaging stress, to be frank,
right.
But, like, let me just like,let's give our listeners a small
(04:34):
little intro into how you didthis, because you don't just
accidentally tether these likepowerhouse tools together.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yes, thank you for acknowledging that.
It really was a labor of loveover many years, many decades of
synthesizing.
I always say I take creativelicense and I'm not a purist,
I'm not a Pilates purist, I'mnot a brain gym purist.
I bring them together.
And you know, I started out asan OT in a traditional
healthcare setting and veryquickly I had 20 minutes to
(05:05):
serve the person in front of meand I'm like, oh my gosh, I
can't provide the kind of care Iwould want for anyone in my
family.
So after only three years ofthe traditional realm of
healthcare, I was brave enough,or stupid enough, in my 20s to
open my own practice amultidisciplinary, the first in
our area with rehab and Pilates,and I was so excited I had an
(05:25):
hour with everyone.
Oh my goodness, this is what Ilonged for.
But a few years later peoplewere more and more distracted
because phones and texting andeverything coming at them all
the time that I was thinking, ohmy gosh, it's taking me at
least half, if not more, of thesession to get people back into
their body.
They were so operating from thehead up, they were not embodied
(05:48):
, and so we'd have to take partof the session to really get
them back into their body.
And I would notice, oh mygoodness, these people are
living life in survival mode.
And I wasn't judging it, I wasnoticing it and trying to figure
out how to help them.
And so that made me want tostudy things, go back to the
roots of my occupational therapytraining and really look at
(06:09):
developmental movements, becausewe move through them, hopefully
in healthy ways, early in life,but then life stress, trauma,
illness, car accidents trip itup.
We need to go back and nurturethose early developmental
patterns.
And then I also, as a young,20-something, naive business
owner who was also strugglingwith fertility, I was trying to
(06:30):
find a way out of survival modemyself.
But, as you mentioned, Istruggled.
I became a meditation dropout.
Fast forward, spoiler alert Ican now sit in meditation
because I've learned how to workwith my nervous system through
movement first.
But I just kept studying and Ifelt like I wanted a form of a
moving meditation that couldhelp me find the calm, help me
(06:54):
stay grounded and focused.
But really there was nothingout there.
Again, I had studied Pilates indepth, but I wasn't getting
that feeling the calm, and Ifound out why we needed to bring
in some of the developmentalsequences into the Pilates realm
.
But I figured I can't find this, I'm going to have to create it
.
I'm a creative person, so Ikept studying and kept tinkering
(07:16):
and bringing it together andI'd bring back bits to the
people I serve and also practicewhat I promote, and I'd see
these changes and then I wouldsay I want more, and so of
course I'd go and study more.
I mean, I'm always takingcourses and studying because
there's more to learn and so Ireally had to create what I knew
the people I have the honor ofserving needed and what I myself
(07:38):
needed, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, it's so powerful.
That approach right, and I canrelate on different levels to
what you're saying, because Ithink it's like when you've
navigated a stretch of timewithout the resources and then
you access them.
There's such a stark contrast,right In your level of care for
yourself, in your ability tomove through life, that you're
(08:01):
like everyone needs these, andyour own experience, blended
with the knowledge that youacquire, just is such fertile
ground for growth that otherpeople can access.
They can come in and be like,oh my gosh, I need this, I need
this, I need this, and you cankind of just spread out the
tools in front of them and belike, okay, let's let you access
(08:22):
what you need in order to grow,in order what you know, what
you need in order to movethrough this difficulty that
you're facing.
So I love, I love that.
I love that you have again eachlike component of your work so
beautifully, beautifullytethered.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Thank you.
They really do compliment oneanother and what you just said
is so important about peoplecoming in and saying I need this
and I need this.
And sometimes they haveawareness and they'll say well,
I know, I'm just feelingungrounded or untethered or I'm
feeling very anxious or I'mstruggling with sleep.
But a lot of times they don'tknow what they don't know
(08:58):
because their nervous system isa new concept to them and
emotional regulation is a newconcept to them.
So I will do testing.
I'll do muscle testing and seewhich of the major survival
reflexes are needing nourishmentand support.
Or I'll watch the way they moveor the way they breathe and I
can see.
I can really zoom in.
(09:19):
So a lot of times people willrefer to me and their doctor
will say you know she's workingon nervous system regulation as
well as joint stability.
I can't quite explain it, butshe'll zoom into what you need.
And that's where I'm reallygrateful that people trust me to
say I'm not feeling like myself, I'm struggling.
Or a mental health therapistwill say this person's been
(09:41):
dealing with depression, we'redoing the cognitive behavioral
therapy or different types ofmental health therapies, but
they need that embodiment.
So I love the collaborativeeffort, both with the client I
serve and the otherprofessionals that I have the
honor of collaborating with.
It's really great.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Again the idea of synthesisright Like a holistic approach
to wellness wellness I.
It reminds me of a time I wasin graduate school for a while
because I thought I wanted to dolike therapy, be a marriage and
family therapist, and so I wasin a counseling program and I,
we were in a circle and we weretalking about.
(10:19):
I can't even remember the tool,but the.
The memory of it is just likeso poignant in my mind because I
was standing there and I wantedto move right.
Like we're talking about thesebig emotions and I was just like
why are we not moving?
Like why?
Are we not moving our bodyright now and it was.
(10:39):
It was such an interestinginsight.
You know, like, I had a strongyoga practice at the time and
had navigated a stretch of, like, chronic health struggle that I
, you know I'd come through, andI remember thinking like, like,
harnessing the power ofpresence in your body is
something that we, frankly,can't do without.
Right Like that, that wisdomthat comes from being in
(11:02):
embodied is something that, like, is crucial for life, and so
what I love, too, is that, inthese different settings, you
know you weren't willing torelinquish that wisdom.
Right, you're like, no, no, no,we will not be moving forward
without the wisdom of your bodyand I'm going to help you figure
out how to access it if you'renot familiar but, like, we will
not be moving forward from thiswithout this beautiful vehicle
(11:25):
you've got, and so, yeah, justthe power that that offers your
clients, right as they're makingtheir journey forward more
holistically.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Just yeah, I'm sure the stories are incredible they
are and I love the wisdom youjust shared, having that moment
where you felt the urge to move,because movement truly does
heal and certain movements andthis is where I movements,
homologous movements, and you'renot coming back to a cross-body
(12:08):
oppositional movement orcontralateral movement.
You're going to leave thatperson sort of swimming in the
tough emotions, the old triggers.
So we definitely need to moveand move through the old trauma,
whether it's big T or little t,but we always want to make sure
we come back to an integrativeopportunity for oppositional and
(12:28):
so I love that.
You sensed in a deep, wise waythe need for movement and I know
when I was first working as aPilates practitioner, I didn't
always end with the cross bodyand I'm thinking, gosh, they're
not as relaxed or grounded.
And then I realized, oh,because we need to end with
these movements and I lovehelping other movement
practitioners discover it's justsimple patterning that honors
(12:51):
natural early development, thatmakes a huge difference in how
whether it's yoga or Pilates orany other therapeutic movement
how it can truly impact us on adeep level, not just us but our
families and our communities,because when we're integrated,
everybody benefits.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yes, yeah, oh, I love that so much.
Well, and let's okay, let'stalk about this from the
perspective of a mom, right?
So like we, you know a lot ofthe listeners of this show have
kids at home.
It's tricky to balance theschedules and all the things and
just you know the work thatcomes with caring for your own
self.
So I do have, you know, in mycircle we've got women who are
(13:31):
navigating their own, you knowgut challenges while trying to
help kids navigate gutchallenges, or they're watching
their kid and seeing you knowall these different struggles
and feel like, hey, I think thishas a nervous system component.
I'm trying to piece, piece ittogether.
Like how talk to me first aboutlike how can moms in that place
(13:53):
use nervous system regulationto just feel grounded and steady
in themselves so they canaddress you know, just even
start to kind of address what'sin front of them?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yes, I love that idea because, first of all, bravo to
these moms, knowing that theyneed support, being grounded,
right Now more than ever.
And then I love that nervoussystem regulation is becoming
more of kind of a householdconversation.
You know, 20 years.
I would talk years ago, I wouldtalk about nervous system and
emotional regulation and peoplewere like what, what are you
(14:23):
talking about?
And now there's this awareness.
So I think the first thing thata mom wants to think about is
how can we bring the calm to us?
We may have kids that aremelting down and I'll talk about
the gut piece too but the firstthing I want to do is help
these amazing moms supportthemselves and then, of course,
(14:45):
their children too.
And getting out of survival mode.
You know that overwhelm, thatfeeling of being scattered, not
able to concentrate.
And, let's get to it, a lot ofwomen, when they're in their
prime momming years, they'realso experiencing hormonal
shifts, whether it's postnatally, perimenopausal,
postmenopausalal.
So that's another component.
(15:05):
But getting grounded, and theeasiest way to do that is to
come to your midline, and so momcan just take a hand and put it
at the top of her trunk body,right where her collarbone and
breastbone comes together andthen put the other hand
underneath it and just press alittle bit.
Get that tactile input.
Then take the top hand and putit underneath the second hand
and just again press a littlebit.
Get that tactile input.
Then take the top hand and putit underneath the second hand
(15:26):
and just again press a littlebit.
We're going right down themiddle.
We're going to keep going, justpressing for a couple of
seconds and it gets mom, andyou'll go all the way down to
the end, right above the cubicbone.
It gets mom back in her body,it gets her grounded, it gets
her feeling, a felt sense again,because sometimes we're all out
(15:47):
there trying to logisticallymanage oh my gosh, I have to get
this kid out here or this onethere and I have this work
deadline due and whatever itmight be, all the load right,
the mental load and physicalload and so just kind of
touching yourself and going ohyes, I'm here now, in this
moment, and there's a lot ofexercises.
I teach that.
Bring us back to the midline.
(16:08):
When you do that, make surethat you keep your feet grounded
, like if you're seated and yourfeet are dangling.
Try to get those feet down on asurface, because we want that
grounded sense.
Another thing I share with a lotof moms and I do this myself
quite often first thing in themorning.
My husband describes it asoften.
We feel shot out of a cannonfirst thing in the morning.
(16:29):
That's why I do a lot of prepmy daughter's lunch, what have
you the night before because Idon't like that feeling of
rushing in the morning and Ineed to take a few moments two
to three minutes, for my ownnervous system regulation
practices.
But one of the best things Ican do is, if she's not getting
up, to attend to a crying child,of course, but swing your feet
(16:50):
around, sit at the edge of yourbed, get your feet grounded, put
one hand over your belly button, just gently place your hand
over your belly button, take theother hand, put the two fingers
behind your ear, back there.
These are called balancebuttons from the brain gym body
of work and they're yes, they'regoing to help with balance so
we don't fall over, kind ofbalance.
(17:11):
But it's really also aboutbalancing all the roles we want
to juggle.
You know, a lot of us moms aremulti-passionate.
We are passionate about beinginvolved in our kids' activities
and our communities.
Perhaps a career.
In addition to that, we mightbe the sandwich generation,
helping care for aging parentsand also our children.
(17:34):
So, putting the feet on theground and just setting up an
intention in the morning, with ahand on the belly button, the
other hand two fingers behindthe ear that I will move through
my day from a place of balanceand and then of course, you
could do the other side, butmaybe you're short on time so
you don't get to do the otherside, and that's okay.
(17:55):
And then sometime during theday, see if you can do that
again, like I like to do itafter lunch, so that I feel
balanced.
And I like to do it when Itransition from my role in my
practice as a practitioner tothe role of Uber mom, because my
daughter's not driving quiteyet, so I have to transition.
I want to make sure that I'mkind of putting myself in that
(18:18):
place where I'm ready to be apresent, and of course it ain't
talking, it's more aboutlistening than talking.
But I'll do my balance buttonsand I even have a video that I
could share with your audiencewhere I go through some of these
tips, like walking the midlinethat I do in my car.
I have something I love toshare, called mama in a minivan,
because I'm running around inmy minivan and how can I get?
(18:41):
While I'm waiting for mydaughter?
I've got three minutes beforeshe comes out.
What can I do for my nervoussystem and I really think that's
important for moms and dadsthat are looking to regulate
nervous system-wise andemotionally, because we don't
have time for a 30-minuteprogram.
So, honestly, some days it'sthree minutes in the morning,
three minutes in the afternoon,and I'm going to be moving
(19:03):
through my day from a place ofawareness, groundedness,
centeredness and much morepeacefully productive instead of
that chaotic, overwhelmedproductivity right.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, yeah, no, and I think again, like us, just
tuning into what it means to bein parasympathetic dominance
right is what we're aiming for,which is that relaxed and ready
state where we can be flexible,we can adapt, we can move with
whatever comes to us, instead offeeling frantic and frazzled.
(19:40):
I think sometimes, like you'resaying, when we're in a
sympathetic response all thetime, we don't even know that
that's possible to be otherwiseright.
Yes, oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I lived a lot of my life there, decades.
That's how I was, decadesExactly, thank you.
I was an overachiever, classicoverachiever, perfectionist.
I didn't know it could be anydifferent until I started really
practicing this work and I waslike, oh my gosh, I can be
peacefully productive and beproactive instead of reactive
(20:13):
distress coming at me.
And it's such a game changer.
That's why I want it foreveryone, because life is so
different when you can live inthis place.
And it doesn't require fancyequipment.
Sure, I've got the greatPilates apparatus, but to get
into a state of regulation andgroundedness and being centered
and peaceful, you just need thetools you have within.
(20:35):
I actually have a programcalled Within, because it's all
about the tools you have to workwith your nervous system
instead of against it.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I love that, and the other thing that I think is
important to sit with is therecognition that, like
co-regulation, is such apowerful way to show up right.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Like if we are able to.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
You know, sometimes as moms, I think we're like I
don't even have three minutes,this kid needs this, or I need
to go do this, or I've got somuch to do today.
And we, we sometimes don'tharness the power of our ability
to co regulate, like ourchildren or different situations
, and just like co regulationbeing the I know, you know, but
like the opportunity to like,utilize your nervous system
(21:27):
balance to perpetuate a state ofcalm around you and let other
people calibrate off of yournervous system, oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yes, can I share a story?
Yeah, please, sorry, I soresonate with what you're saying
about people will come in andsay I don't have the time.
I've got this toddler.
I can't turn my back for amoment.
So I'll share a personal storyand then also some a quick
professional one.
But when my daughter was two anda half three, she at bedtime
(21:56):
you know how they get thatsecond wind and her energy and
she was curious and precocious,which I love.
But my husband and I were likewe are exhausted and we're
trying to get her to bed, so wewould lie on the floor.
We'd shut the door so shecouldn't get towards the stairs,
but we would lie on the floorand go into another range and
move, called a hookup, where youcross your ankles and you bring
(22:16):
your arms in front like you'regoing to clap.
But miss interlace, cometogether.
Here we are at the midlineright, and so we would just lie
on the floor in this positionand you could even just cross
your forearms and have yourhands touch the opposite upper
arm if that's not comfortablethe other way.
And so we would just lie on thefloor like that and she would
be running around kinetically.
(22:37):
We would just be on the floortrying to make sure we were both
there, that someone didn't fallasleep, right, because we're
exhausted and spent, and overtime she could feel that we were
just really down, regulatingand coming into this relaxed
position, and then she wouldclimb on us and lay on us, and
then she'd lay between us and itjust brought that energy
(22:59):
exactly what you said sobeautifully, lindsay.
It brought us to that state ofco-regulation so then we could
get to the energy of being inthat state of ease right Now.
That's one example.
And then I have clients thatwork with right Now, that's one
example.
And then I have clients thatwork with their children are,
(23:23):
let's say, eight, nine, 10,right, and so their kids need
the co-regulation.
And so she would do some ofthese things before school or
before.
You know.
We could say it's about school,because Brain Gym was
originally started to help withlearning differences and help
optimize our learning that weall innately are so capable of.
But a lot of times for youngpeople we'll make it about their
favorite thing, whether it'splaying an instrument or playing
soccer or what have you.
(23:44):
So mom will say, oh, I want todo this move with you because
it's going to make that soccergame at lunch or before and
after school activity.
It's going to make that violinpractice so much more enjoyable
for you.
So mom is doing it with thechild, mom is benefiting.
They're piggybacking off theco-regulation and the child is
(24:07):
being exposed to this.
Now I have a 14-year-old, youhave a 15-year-old, and so we
get big eye rolls.
We get no way.
We're not doing that.
A 14 year old, we have a 15year old, and so we get big eye
rolls.
We get no way.
We're not doing that Now.
I did a lot of this work with mydaughter when she was younger
and at this stage she'll only,if she's in a crisis, go okay,
let's do the fear paralysistapping or let's do the bonding
squeeze if she's in a crisis.
(24:27):
But the crazy thing is and I'mso grateful for this when she
thinks I'm not listening, I willhear her tell her friends oh,
you're struggling right now.
Why don't you try this?
I'm like, okay, it's still inthere, even though she doesn't
want to do it, because it's mom,she still has these tools and
someday she'll come back to them.
So it's really at differentphases in life and I serve
(24:50):
people that have grandkids andthey'll do them with their
grandkids because they're like,oh my gosh, I'm exhausted and
I'm caring for this grandchildand I need to keep going.
So they'll do some of theseintegrative movements with their
grandchildren and they'regetting the benefit of feeling
alert and still awake, and thekiddos going to feel alert and
awake, but grounded.
They're going to feel clearenergy and maybe they do it
(25:12):
before they start their homeworkor what have you.
So we have to be creative inthe ways that we invite young
people in our world to do this.
Make it about something they'rereally intrigued or interested
in.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Right, yes, a hundred percent, yes, oh, I loved all
of that and I think, I think thethe idea of doing it, like
teaming up to do it, is also sopowerful because I mean, even as
an adult, right, we don't wantto be told like go do your X, y,
z, right, so you feel better,right?
(25:46):
I mean there'll be times in myfamily I'll be like have you
meditated today?
I mean like, ah no, the dogsgot me up earlier this morning,
you know like, and I was justout of my rhythm and and I'll be
like I'm gonna, I'll go, youknow, but yeah, but I think you
know we it's like you said we'resuper motivated for the things
that we love and are passionateabout.
(26:07):
So if we can tether nervoussystem regulation, stress
management, to those activitieswe get so much more buy-in and
then, like you said, if we cando them alongside each other,
the power is multiplied.
I love that story about yourdaughter.
I was reminded of a podcastepisode I recorded a couple of
years ago where the guest I wastalking with he was like the
(26:29):
strongest nervous system in theroom wins.
Strongest nervous system in theroom wins.
And I was like yes, yeah,absolutely the strongest one is
often the dysregulated one.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
We've got to bring the strength of our regulated
nervous system to those moments,and I think, as parents,
sometimes it's just like theoverwhelm is is constant, right,
and there's just so much comingat us.
But if we can, if we canharness the power of our own
nervous system, it sounds likesuch a simple thing, but if we
can harness it, there's no endto the creativity we can access,
(27:05):
right to the, to the resiliencethat we have the capacity to
exhibit.
And so for anyone listening whostill feels a little hesitant
about taking just a few minutes,like I would say try it out and
see, so that you can experiencethe difference between a
nervous system that is inparasympathetic dominance, ready
and relaxed, ready to go, andone that just feels like you
(27:27):
know, like everything's flyingout of you.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes, and one thing that's so important, that's so
well said, thank you.
We, as we work with our nervoussystem, more we need to, what
we're really honing.
It's very commonly used theword resilience, which I love,
and really what that means isbeing able to downshift and
upshift.
You know, sometimes we have todownshift into those lower brain
areas.
We do get kind of in thatsurvival.
(27:52):
We pass through that amygdalaand then we need to be able to
come back up to that executivefunctioning place and I think
the more we work with that, wefeel that.
And so if we have an upsetting,stressful situation, it doesn't
take so much out of us.
And some people come to nervoussystem regulation because
they're really struggling,they're really bumping into some
(28:14):
current or past trauma, forexample, and they're motivated
to do it.
But what they find is that themore they practice it, it
becomes kind of like brushingyour teeth, like I'll brush my
teeth in the morning and do thisfour-step sequence of nervous
system regulation, because if Idon't do it I don't feel like
they get off to as good of astart, and so that's where we
get creative with people.
(28:34):
You know, there's one woman Iserve who has two dogs and her
dogs take a while to eat in themorning and whatnot.
So she's doing some of thesemovements while she's waiting
for her adorable dogs to eat andthen, when they're outside,
she's in a better place, readyto take them for their walk.
And they're kind of you knowhectic in the morning.
So you got to find a way to makeit work for your lifestyle and
(28:56):
everyone's life is so unique.
So I love helping people find,in three minutes or less, ways
to care for their nervous system.
And sometimes the day didn't goas planned and you didn't do
the first part of three minutesin the morning.
So before you go to bed, we'regoing to make sure we do things
that aren't increasing energy,but things that are calming.
You might do a few of them asyou're falling asleep at night
(29:19):
and it's going to help you sleepbetter.
And there you go.
You did your nervous systemregulation for the day, you know
.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, yeah, no, I love it.
I think that the practice, likeyou said, and the creativity to
fit it in, like the commitmentto the practice coupled with a
commitment to the creativity itwill take to make it a part of
your rhythm, is essential.
Well, let's see.
I would love to hear some moretools, like I know it's a little
tricky on audio to describe,but what are some other ways,
(29:47):
like reducing anxiety, helpingkids you know, either their own
kids or themselves managefeelings of anxiety.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Sure, I work a lot with anxiety.
I'm really passionate aboutsupporting people with that.
I know I myself used to movethrough from a place of anxiety
and, truly honestly doing thiswork, I'll have times where I
drop into anxiety, but it's sorare now, whereas it used to be
my MO.
So one of the first things youwant to think about with anxiety
(30:17):
is working with the idea ofsurvival reflexes.
So just a side note aboutreflexes.
So reflexes are very much aboutthe earliest development.
I'm speaking about primitivereflexes which come online in
utero and are integrated andmove through the first few years
of life.
It lays the scaffolding forcognition and motor control and
(30:39):
nervous system regulation.
And so again, being that we areadults, we probably had the
childhoods where we ran outsideand played all day and we
weren't stuck in contraptions,so we moved through those right.
Today we have concerns it's atopic for another time, but
these kids on screen so earlyit's affecting them.
But again, life stress, trauma,illness trips us up.
(31:01):
So the first thing I wouldthink about for anyone with
anxiety is to support andnurture the fear paralysis
reflex and this is important too.
I didn't get to your full partof your question earlier about
the gut, but a lot of peoplewith gut issues really benefit
from this as well, becauseanxiety can be very tied to it.
The vagus nerve is important.
(31:22):
It's not the be-all, end-all tonervous system regulation, but
it's very tied to the stomach,very tied to the cardiac
sphincter of the stomach, and sothis particular movement
dialing down anxiety will helpyour brain and your gut, and so
I particular movement dialingdown anxiety will help your
brain and your gut, and so I'mgoing to try to talk through it
and I can help your listenersfind a video I have that is easy
(31:43):
to access if they want thevisual.
But we put one hand over thebreastbone so the breastbone
right there in the middle ofyour chest, and just gently
place a hand there.
We're going to put the secondhand over it.
We're going to do a very gentletapping rhythm Now with this in
mind, and I'm just going toteach you the abbreviated
version.
There's a full version thatgoes from here to the bottoms of
(32:03):
our feet, but I want to giveyou the simplest, most
accessible version that you cando regularly.
So we're going to do a tappingrhythm Now.
If the tapping feels excitatoryto you, just hold and give a
little press, like a littlesqueeze, because sometimes when
we're really stressed out,tapping might feel a little bit
(32:23):
like it increases your anxietyand we want to respect that.
So you don't have to be amusician or a dancer.
We're going to go into achop-chop rhythm.
It's a one, two, one, two,three.
We're going to use the top handto tap that on our bottom hand.
So we're going to go like thisOne, two, one, two, three and
(32:44):
then pause, take a deep breathin and exhale.
Let's do that again One, two,one, two, three, pause deep
breath in through the nose andexhale one more time.
So it's three times.
(33:06):
And here we go One, two, one,two, three, pause deep breath.
So very simple and we can stopright there.
There are other areas,placements in the body that we
go to, really, really fantastic.
I have people do it before youknow.
(33:26):
I have a person that I servedas a teenager and their emotions
are all over the place and theynever know what they're going
to walk into.
So they will do that beforethey engage with their child.
So they're in a really calm,grounded place.
I have people that have anxietyabout their health.
They'll do it in the car beforethey walk into the doctor's
office.
I always say when you don't knowwhat to do, you don't know
(33:50):
where to go, you're overwhelmed,you don't know where to start.
Start with that piece.
I just taught the gentletapping for the fear paralysis
reflex.
It goes deep and you'll noticethe more you do it, the more
your body and your brain go ah,help is here.
And the more readily you willfind the calm and the deeper and
(34:10):
longer it will last, because itis a practice like anything
else, right?
So that's such a gentle tool andwhen my daughter was younger,
we would do it almost everynight at bedtime because she
would have some anxieties comeup, as children often do.
It comes up right before bedand I would sit her on my lap
(34:31):
and wrap my arms around and, ofcourse you know, ask can I
gently tap on your, on yourchest, there on your breastbone?
And so I would tap there andsometimes still it's rare, but
sometimes when she's reallyoverwhelmed, she'll ask for it
or ask me to remind her, orthey'll put her hand on her
breastbone and I'll do the tophand.
So it's a really beautifulconnection.
So it's just such a simple tooland it's going to help your
(34:54):
nervous system realize that itcan get out of survival mode,
and so that's one tool and I canshare some more.
But tell me, if you first ask,any questions you might have
about that or any curiositiesI'd love to support.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, no, I love that so much.
I was just like soaking it upas I was doing it, you know,
like mirroring you yes.
Yes, I.
I'm wondering if you can justreally quickly give our
listeners a little primer on theVegas nerve.
I know, it's something we'vetalked about on the pod before,
but I think in this settingespecially powerful to just like
(35:31):
tie that in.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Sure, then I go.
How much time do we have thevagus nerve?
I'll just, like you said, aquick primer.
So there's a lot of airtimebeing given to the vagus nerve
and it's important.
The vagus nerve is a cranialnerve, it's the longest cranial
nerve.
It's called the wandering nervebecause it starts up in the
(35:53):
head, there in the brain, and itwanders all the way down and it
comes down on the front of ourtrunk body and it crosses over
that cardiac sphincter which iswhere the esophagus comes to the
stomach and that's where a lotof anxiety and worry can hang
out.
And then it comes all the waydown to the pubic bone and
there's so many wonderful thingspeople are talking about.
(36:15):
You know doing humming.
It resonates with the vagusnerve and I love that because a
lot of the work I do we layervocalization with visual
exercises on top ofdevelopmental movements.
A lot of people will talk aboutdoing breathing exercises.
I do want to pause there.
Breathing exercises are great,except if you are in fight,
(36:36):
flight, freeze and you startsome deep breathing without some
preparatory developmentalmovements, you might make it
worse, you might send yourselfinto a more excitatory state and
that's your vagus nerve sayinghold, hold on.
I need a little bit of prepfirst and that's where we might
do a movement, for example forthe moro, m-o-r-o reflex, which
is tied to breath and survivaland upper mid spine.
(36:59):
It's the first breath of lifewhen we come out into the world
this motion, and so maybe we canget more out of our vagus nerve
practices if we do the moro.
I've taught a course aboutembodied breath.
Don't start those breathexercises until you prep your
nervous system.
So I digress a little bit.
But the point is there's a lotof people talking about vagus
(37:20):
nerve and I'm so grateful theyare, but a lot of times we need
some more before.
We need some more foundationalpieces.
Before we start deep breathingor before we start humming, we
got to do a little bit ofmovement and then layer those in
there.
So it definitely is reallyimportant that we learn as much
as we can about the vagus nerve,but we got to lay that
(37:43):
scaffolding again sometimesfirst kind of about the vagus
nerve, but we got to lay thatscaffolding again sometimes
first.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, I love that.
Thanks for the integration,let's do.
What other techniques can youteach us?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yeah, so gosh, there's so many, I think,
because I mentioned it, the MOROmovement I'm going to try to
use my words as best as possibleto describe it and again, I
have tons of videos that I'vecreated with it.
You can find I'm sure there areothers doing videos too so you
can do this seated, since we'reseated right now and what you
(38:14):
want to do is let your legs openand sort of a turned out
position, the knees point out atan angle.
It doesn't have to be a bigangle, just go there and then,
because I'm a big plant person,I'll describe this first as a
cactus motion.
Okay, we're making now mysports lovers.
I tell them that it is agoalpost position.
Our elbows are bent straightout from our shoulder, our palms
(38:34):
are forward, and so we're inthis cacti or goalpost position.
Now go ahead and arch your backa little bit, let your chest
stick out, let your head lift upa little bit and your low
back's going to arch a littlebit and stay in this position.
Ideally, we want to hold it forsix to eight seconds.
Today I was working with a womanwho sadly had a fall and she,
(38:56):
thankfully, was okay, but prettybanged up, bruised up.
So this is important topost-fall, because sometimes
we'll fall into this positionwhen when we're falling, and so
I'm asking her to hold it morelike eight to ten seconds, and
then we're going to fold and letyour knees come together.
If they will round your spine,tuck your chin, looking down and
holding this position.
(39:17):
If you imagine you're in a bigphysio ball, your spine would be
pressing against the ball rightand again holding for six to
eight seconds and we're going torepeat this pattern.
Come back up to the calf thighposition, lift your back arch a
little bit, let your chest stickout.
Maybe your upper spine doesn'thave that much movement as
(39:38):
you're on a healing process, sojust see if you can lift your
chin and your eyes.
If your neck doesn't want tolean back a little bit, just
look up with your eyes the eyesare so important and you would
hold this for six to eightseconds and then, folding back
in knees, come together,rounding in the spine, and
holding this position again sixto eight seconds.
For us adults, the key, theimportant thing, is to make sure
(40:04):
we end in the up position.
So if we come back up to thecat-eye position and let our
tailbone stick out a little bit,let our chest stick out a
little bit.
We want to finish here.
We don't want to finish in thecore withdrawal kind of position
where we're rounded.
You know, when I first startedmy career I was like, well, we
don't want that rounded postureand it is postural, but it's
more than that, it's nervoussystem.
We want our nervous system tofeel this expansion.
(40:25):
Than that, it's nervous system.
We want our nervous system tofeel this expansion.
And again, the moral is soimportant for breath.
It's really tied to our cranialsystem.
As a cranial sacral therapist,I very often give this as home
play instead of homework topeople that I work with, because
I can feel their cranial systemneeds it.
And I have a photo I share alot when I present conferences
and it's my daughter sleeping inthis position at about age nine
(40:46):
, because she had an expanderfor her upper palate put in and
I found her sleeping like thatone night.
Of course I took a photo of herpoor kid, but what I realized
was, oh my goodness, we'remessing with her cranial system
with this palate expander inpreparation for braces, and so I
was like, oh my gosh, we got tomove through her moral reflex.
(41:08):
So very often there are certainmovements that I'll do with
people after dental work at anyage in life.
I work with a lot of youngpeople after they get their
braces adjusted, so it's all soconnected.
You know, this is thismovement's connected to survival
, fight, flight, freeze,breathing, cranial system, jaw.
So many of us hold ourattention in our jaw, right, so
(41:32):
that movement, people love thatmovement.
When I give that to them andthey'll say, oh, I was really
stressed out.
So I did the moro and I justfelt more calm and organized and
I say, look at you, you didthat.
I'm just your core guide,helping you find the tools that
are already within you, right.
So it's just, it's just soexciting because it's all in
there.
We just need to tap into it andmove through it, right?
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Yeah, I say that all the time.
I'm just here to give you thetool and you're taking it and
running with it.
I loved that myself.
Like I was doing it alongsideyou and it was powerful myself,
like I was doing it alongsideyou and it was powerful, I know
I really I'm just sitting withwhat you said and really
appreciating again this weavingtogether of so many supportive
(42:16):
practices and principles.
You know to create this holisticsense of of wellbeing or
resilience, being able to likeshift, like you saying down or
up as needed, but not feelinglike that's an out-of-control
process that you're helplesswith, but it's something you can
directly influence with youractions.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Exactly, and you mentioned earlier, at one point
in your life you had a reallystrong yoga practice and whether
it's a yoga practice or hiking,or I'm a huge fan of Qigong
doing these simple movementsbefore your practice or before
you go out and go for a walk,you're going to get more out of
any movement practice.
Doing them before and maybeafter, and just it really helps.
(43:01):
Whatever it is you want to doin life, whether it's play that
instrument, stand up in front ofa group of people and share
your passion, or be able todrive a longer distance you know
you'll see me at a rest stopdoing crossbody movements just
to keep myself integrated andfocused, for the endurance drive
, for example.
But whatever it is you want todo, sprinkling a few of these
(43:22):
movements before you begin orafter, you're going to get so
much more out of it, becauseit's like that person all those
years ago that wasn't embodied,that I saw, come in.
And now the people I serve,they have their rituals.
They do before we start asession and they'll say, oh, I
already started this, we canjust get going, and I'm like,
great, fantastic, let's dive infurther.
(43:44):
So it really does become ahabit, like brushing our teeth
or removing our makeup at night.
We have these rituals and wenotice if we don't do them, we
don't feel as vibrant or asenergetic or as grounded.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yes, oh my gosh, I feel like I really wish I lived
in Detroit so I could come toyour studio, because I know I
want to learn more.
Yeah, thank you, I know, really, like genuinely, I'm so
grateful for your work and justthe effort that you've put into
(44:23):
creating a process that's soempowering.
You know, I think in in modernlife I think it's really easy to
feel at the mercy of the bodyand I know you and I both had
experiences where potentiallythat's felt, you know it's, it's
been easier maybe to to feelthat way, and I love the ways
that you support people increating like a team, you know,
(44:48):
and just the level of connectionwith the body that's empowering
and supportive, so that peoplearen't at the mercy again of
this beautiful vessel that iscarrying them through the world,
but like tethered to it in areally intimate and connected
way.
That feels supportive and justwise.
So I love it.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Thank you.
I think the key word that I soresonate with that you've shared
is empowerment.
You know, really feelingempowered because so many of us
go through life not knowing howto manage our nervous system,
manage our emotions.
And that's my wish, and that'swhy I love sharing in places
like this, because I'm over herein my little corner of the
world, in Detroit, and that'swhy I've created virtual
(45:30):
offerings, because I know Ican't serve everyone that needs
the unique work, and so my hopeis that people will take it and
run with it and use it and shareit with their communities and
their families so that we all Imean just imagine the world if
we all were able to regulateourselves more readily, both
emotionally and nervous systemwise.
(45:50):
They go hand in hand.
So my wish is for everyone tobe empowered with these tools.
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Yeah, well, I wish for that too.
Happy to give you a platform toshare.
Tell our listeners more aboutwhere they can find you, find
your work.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Sure.
So I hang out a lot onInstagram at inspired, the
number two, wellness, and so Ishare a lot there.
I also share a lot in myFacebook community Nervous
System Regulation.
With Kelly I go live every weekand share a tool that's you
know.
A couple weeks ago it was anorgan release exercise.
This week it was a tool forbalancing energy after a time
(46:31):
change here in the spring.
And then I definitely wouldlove, because I shared the fear
paralysis tapping.
I have a freebie called InnerPeace.
It's nervous system relief forstress and anxiety, and it has
three short videos, literallythree minutes or less, and the
fear paralysis tapping isfeatured in there, as well as
some other self-soothingtechniques, and you can find
(46:52):
that at inspiredwellcom.
Forward, slash inner peace andagain reach out.
I love questions, because thequestions that people ask in my
community or even privatelymaybe they felt more comfortable
just DMing or emailing it Ithen turn those into videos
because I have tons of videos Icould create.
(47:14):
But I want to know what dopeople need in the here and now?
How can I best serve?
I'm honored and grateful toknow I'm on my path and purpose.
I know a lot of people don'texperience that.
I know you are too, lindsay,and I want that for everyone,
but I'm here to share this work,so bring those questions,
because your question is gonnahelp someone else, right?
So thank you so much.
(47:35):
It was really a joy to sharewith your lovely community.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Thank you again for being here.
It was a joy to have you.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
You've just finished an episode of the Stress Nanny
Podcast, so hopefully you feel alittle more empowered when it
comes to dealing with stress.
Feel free to take a deep breathand let it out slowly as you go
back to your day.
I'm so glad you're here.
If you're a longtime listener.
Thank you so much for yoursupport.
It really means the world to me.
If you're new, I'd love to haveyou follow the podcast and join
(48:08):
me each week, and no matter howlong you've been listening.
Please share this episode withsomeone who is stressed out.
If you enjoyed the show, wouldyou please do me a favor and go
to ratethispodcastcom, slashthestressnanny and leave a
review.
The link is in the show notes.
I'm so grateful for all mylisteners.
Thank you again for being hereuntil next time.
You're listening to the Stress Nanny Podcast and I'm
your host, lindsay Miller.
I'm here to help you keep aneye on your family's stress
levels.
In our fast-paced lives, theability to manage stress has
never been more important forkids or adults.
When it comes to stress, wehave two choices we can decrease
stress or increase ourresilience to it.
Here on the number eight rankedstress podcast, I interview
(00:29):
experts and share insights tohelp you do both.
When you tune in each week,you'll bring your stress levels
down and your resilience up, sothat stress doesn't get in the
way of you living your best life.
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Stress NannyPodcast.
I'm your host, lindsay Miller,and I'm delighted to have you
joining me today for myconversation with Kelly Hale.
(00:52):
She's affectionately known asKelly Kale due to her love of
growing and eating veggies.
She's spent over 25 years as anoccupational therapist,
movement specialist and nervoussystem regulation practitioner.
Therapist, movement specialistand nervous system regulation
practitioner.
Helping people move from fightflight freeze to ease.
With expertise in Pilates,brain gym and craniosacral
(01:12):
therapy, she empowers people toreconnect with their bodies, tap
into resilience and findhealing through movement.
She's also a former meditationdropout.
No matter how hard she tried,she couldn't quiet her racing
mind or sit still Hello ADHD.
So instead of forcing whatdidn't work, she met herself
where she was in movement.
When she couldn't find exactlywhat she needed, she created it.
(01:35):
That's how Gutsy Brain Movementwas born.
It's a blend of nervous systemregulation, corrective exercise
and developmental movements,combined with gut health and
emotional well-being, to helppeople feel strong, safe and at
home in their own bodies.
Kelly's work is deeply personalas well as professional.
Her own journey through chronichealth challenges, celiac
(01:57):
disease and fertility strugglesreinforced what she now teaches.
When we support the gut andregulate the nervous system,
true healing becomes possible,and y'all know I believe in that
.
She's also a passionateadvocate for emotional
well-being, helping peopleprocess and move through the
patterns that keep them feelingstuck.
When she's not creatinginspiring content and loving up
(02:21):
on the amazing people in hermembership, kelly loves spending
time with her husband and teendaughter in Metro Detroit,
dancing, hiking and caring forher ever-growing collection of
houseplants, which we can see onthe wall behind her, and
walking her two rescue hounds,including Snoopy, who happily
snores through sessions at herpractice, modeling the nervous
system regulation that sheteaches.
(02:42):
Kelly, thank you so much forjoining me today.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Thank you for having me, lindsay.
I love what you're doing andhow you're serving people and
I've been meaning to tell you Ilove the name of your work the
Stress Nanny.
I worked years ago, when I wasin college, as a nanny and
that's a huge role and such acaretaker for this young,
developing person.
I feel like everyone shouldhave a stress nanny, because you
(03:09):
can't live life without cominginto some stress right Unless
you're hiding in a hole and Ifeel like we all need that
loving, supportive, nurturingstress nanny to support us
through life.
So thank you for doing what youdo.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
That's so sweet of you.
Thank you, that means a lot.
I also agree I think we couldall use a stress nanny and I
think that having also nannied,you know, during college, so I
had a similar experience.
There are so many, you know,things that go into the
day-to-day care of life andchildren right, and so if we can
have that same kind of care forourselves when it comes to our
(03:46):
stress levels, that just thesky's the limit in terms of kind
of what we can navigate andwhat we can work toward.
And so I love the idea of havinga generation of kids growing up
who know how to regulate stressand optimize it, so that they
can, you know, move throughwhatever, whatever hurdles come
their way and gracefully createthe futures that they want.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes, absolutely, I love it.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Well, I'm super excited too.
You know, as we talked about alittle before we started, you
and I have so much in common andI am enamored with the way you
have synthesized so many ofthese pieces that are crucial
for well-being, right, andmanaging stress, to be frank,
right.
But, like, let me just like,let's give our listeners a small
(04:34):
little intro into how you didthis, because you don't just
accidentally tether these likepowerhouse tools together.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yes, thank you for acknowledging that.
It really was a labor of loveover many years, many decades of
synthesizing.
I always say I take creativelicense and I'm not a purist,
I'm not a Pilates purist, I'mnot a brain gym purist.
I bring them together.
And you know, I started out asan OT in a traditional
healthcare setting and veryquickly I had 20 minutes to
(05:05):
serve the person in front of meand I'm like, oh my gosh, I
can't provide the kind of care Iwould want for anyone in my
family.
So after only three years ofthe traditional realm of
healthcare, I was brave enough,or stupid enough, in my 20s to
open my own practice amultidisciplinary, the first in
our area with rehab and Pilates,and I was so excited I had an
(05:25):
hour with everyone.
Oh my goodness, this is what Ilonged for.
But a few years later peoplewere more and more distracted
because phones and texting andeverything coming at them all
the time that I was thinking, ohmy gosh, it's taking me at
least half, if not more, of thesession to get people back into
their body.
They were so operating from thehead up, they were not embodied
(05:48):
, and so we'd have to take partof the session to really get
them back into their body.
And I would notice, oh mygoodness, these people are
living life in survival mode.
And I wasn't judging it, I wasnoticing it and trying to figure
out how to help them.
And so that made me want tostudy things, go back to the
roots of my occupational therapytraining and really look at
(06:09):
developmental movements, becausewe move through them, hopefully
in healthy ways, early in life,but then life stress, trauma,
illness, car accidents trip itup.
We need to go back and nurturethose early developmental
patterns.
And then I also, as a young,20-something, naive business
owner who was also strugglingwith fertility, I was trying to
(06:30):
find a way out of survival modemyself.
But, as you mentioned, Istruggled.
I became a meditation dropout.
Fast forward, spoiler alert Ican now sit in meditation
because I've learned how to workwith my nervous system through
movement first.
But I just kept studying and Ifelt like I wanted a form of a
moving meditation that couldhelp me find the calm, help me
(06:54):
stay grounded and focused.
But really there was nothingout there.
Again, I had studied Pilates indepth, but I wasn't getting
that feeling the calm, and Ifound out why we needed to bring
in some of the developmentalsequences into the Pilates realm
.
But I figured I can't find this, I'm going to have to create it
.
I'm a creative person, so Ikept studying and kept tinkering
(07:16):
and bringing it together andI'd bring back bits to the
people I serve and also practicewhat I promote, and I'd see
these changes and then I wouldsay I want more, and so of
course I'd go and study more.
I mean, I'm always takingcourses and studying because
there's more to learn and so Ireally had to create what I knew
the people I have the honor ofserving needed and what I myself
(07:38):
needed, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, it's so powerful.
That approach right, and I canrelate on different levels to
what you're saying, because Ithink it's like when you've
navigated a stretch of timewithout the resources and then
you access them.
There's such a stark contrast,right In your level of care for
yourself, in your ability tomove through life, that you're
(08:01):
like everyone needs these, andyour own experience, blended
with the knowledge that youacquire, just is such fertile
ground for growth that otherpeople can access.
They can come in and be like,oh my gosh, I need this, I need
this, I need this, and you cankind of just spread out the
tools in front of them and belike, okay, let's let you access
(08:22):
what you need in order to grow,in order what you know, what
you need in order to movethrough this difficulty that
you're facing.
So I love, I love that.
I love that you have again eachlike component of your work so
beautifully, beautifullytethered.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Thank you.
They really do compliment oneanother and what you just said
is so important about peoplecoming in and saying I need this
and I need this.
And sometimes they haveawareness and they'll say well,
I know, I'm just feelingungrounded or untethered or I'm
feeling very anxious or I'mstruggling with sleep.
But a lot of times they don'tknow what they don't know
(08:58):
because their nervous system isa new concept to them and
emotional regulation is a newconcept to them.
So I will do testing.
I'll do muscle testing and seewhich of the major survival
reflexes are needing nourishmentand support.
Or I'll watch the way they moveor the way they breathe and I
can see.
I can really zoom in.
(09:19):
So a lot of times people willrefer to me and their doctor
will say you know she's workingon nervous system regulation as
well as joint stability.
I can't quite explain it, butshe'll zoom into what you need.
And that's where I'm reallygrateful that people trust me to
say I'm not feeling like myself, I'm struggling.
Or a mental health therapistwill say this person's been
(09:41):
dealing with depression, we'redoing the cognitive behavioral
therapy or different types ofmental health therapies, but
they need that embodiment.
So I love the collaborativeeffort, both with the client I
serve and the otherprofessionals that I have the
honor of collaborating with.
It's really great.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Again the idea of synthesisright Like a holistic approach
to wellness wellness I.
It reminds me of a time I wasin graduate school for a while
because I thought I wanted to dolike therapy, be a marriage and
family therapist, and so I wasin a counseling program and I,
we were in a circle and we weretalking about.
(10:19):
I can't even remember the tool,but the.
The memory of it is just likeso poignant in my mind because I
was standing there and I wantedto move right.
Like we're talking about thesebig emotions and I was just like
why are we not moving?
Like why?
Are we not moving our bodyright now and it was.
(10:39):
It was such an interestinginsight.
You know, like, I had a strongyoga practice at the time and
had navigated a stretch of, like, chronic health struggle that I
, you know I'd come through, andI remember thinking like, like,
harnessing the power ofpresence in your body is
something that we, frankly,can't do without.
Right Like that, that wisdomthat comes from being in
(11:02):
embodied is something that, like, is crucial for life, and so
what I love, too, is that, inthese different settings, you
know you weren't willing torelinquish that wisdom.
Right, you're like, no, no, no,we will not be moving forward
without the wisdom of your bodyand I'm going to help you figure
out how to access it if you'renot familiar but, like, we will
not be moving forward from thiswithout this beautiful vehicle
(11:25):
you've got, and so, yeah, justthe power that that offers your
clients, right as they're makingtheir journey forward more
holistically.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Just yeah, I'm sure the stories are incredible they
are and I love the wisdom youjust shared, having that moment
where you felt the urge to move,because movement truly does
heal and certain movements andthis is where I movements,
homologous movements, and you'renot coming back to a cross-body
(12:08):
oppositional movement orcontralateral movement.
You're going to leave thatperson sort of swimming in the
tough emotions, the old triggers.
So we definitely need to moveand move through the old trauma,
whether it's big T or little t,but we always want to make sure
we come back to an integrativeopportunity for oppositional and
(12:28):
so I love that.
You sensed in a deep, wise waythe need for movement and I know
when I was first working as aPilates practitioner, I didn't
always end with the cross bodyand I'm thinking, gosh, they're
not as relaxed or grounded.
And then I realized, oh,because we need to end with
these movements and I lovehelping other movement
practitioners discover it's justsimple patterning that honors
(12:51):
natural early development, thatmakes a huge difference in how
whether it's yoga or Pilates orany other therapeutic movement
how it can truly impact us on adeep level, not just us but our
families and our communities,because when we're integrated,
everybody benefits.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yes, yeah, oh, I love that so much.
Well, and let's okay, let'stalk about this from the
perspective of a mom, right?
So like we, you know a lot ofthe listeners of this show have
kids at home.
It's tricky to balance theschedules and all the things and
just you know the work thatcomes with caring for your own
self.
So I do have, you know, in mycircle we've got women who are
(13:31):
navigating their own, you knowgut challenges while trying to
help kids navigate gutchallenges, or they're watching
their kid and seeing you knowall these different struggles
and feel like, hey, I think thishas a nervous system component.
I'm trying to piece, piece ittogether.
Like how talk to me first aboutlike how can moms in that place
(13:53):
use nervous system regulationto just feel grounded and steady
in themselves so they canaddress you know, just even
start to kind of address what'sin front of them?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yes, I love that idea because, first of all, bravo to
these moms, knowing that theyneed support, being grounded,
right Now more than ever.
And then I love that nervoussystem regulation is becoming
more of kind of a householdconversation.
You know, 20 years.
I would talk years ago, I wouldtalk about nervous system and
emotional regulation and peoplewere like what, what are you
(14:23):
talking about?
And now there's this awareness.
So I think the first thing thata mom wants to think about is
how can we bring the calm to us?
We may have kids that aremelting down and I'll talk about
the gut piece too but the firstthing I want to do is help
these amazing moms supportthemselves and then, of course,
(14:45):
their children too.
And getting out of survival mode.
You know that overwhelm, thatfeeling of being scattered, not
able to concentrate.
And, let's get to it, a lot ofwomen, when they're in their
prime momming years, they'realso experiencing hormonal
shifts, whether it's postnatally, perimenopausal,
postmenopausalal.
So that's another component.
(15:05):
But getting grounded, and theeasiest way to do that is to
come to your midline, and so momcan just take a hand and put it
at the top of her trunk body,right where her collarbone and
breastbone comes together andthen put the other hand
underneath it and just press alittle bit.
Get that tactile input.
Then take the top hand and putit underneath the second hand
and just again press a littlebit.
Get that tactile input.
Then take the top hand and putit underneath the second hand
(15:26):
and just again press a littlebit.
We're going right down themiddle.
We're going to keep going, justpressing for a couple of
seconds and it gets mom, andyou'll go all the way down to
the end, right above the cubicbone.
It gets mom back in her body,it gets her grounded, it gets
her feeling, a felt sense again,because sometimes we're all out
(15:47):
there trying to logisticallymanage oh my gosh, I have to get
this kid out here or this onethere and I have this work
deadline due and whatever itmight be, all the load right,
the mental load and physicalload and so just kind of
touching yourself and going ohyes, I'm here now, in this
moment, and there's a lot ofexercises.
I teach that.
Bring us back to the midline.
(16:08):
When you do that, make surethat you keep your feet grounded
, like if you're seated and yourfeet are dangling.
Try to get those feet down on asurface, because we want that
grounded sense.
Another thing I share with a lotof moms and I do this myself
quite often first thing in themorning.
My husband describes it asoften.
We feel shot out of a cannonfirst thing in the morning.
(16:29):
That's why I do a lot of prepmy daughter's lunch, what have
you the night before because Idon't like that feeling of
rushing in the morning and Ineed to take a few moments two
to three minutes, for my ownnervous system regulation
practices.
But one of the best things Ican do is, if she's not getting
up, to attend to a crying child,of course, but swing your feet
(16:50):
around, sit at the edge of yourbed, get your feet grounded, put
one hand over your belly button, just gently place your hand
over your belly button, take theother hand, put the two fingers
behind your ear, back there.
These are called balancebuttons from the brain gym body
of work and they're yes, they'regoing to help with balance so
we don't fall over, kind ofbalance.
(17:11):
But it's really also aboutbalancing all the roles we want
to juggle.
You know, a lot of us moms aremulti-passionate.
We are passionate about beinginvolved in our kids' activities
and our communities.
Perhaps a career.
In addition to that, we mightbe the sandwich generation,
helping care for aging parentsand also our children.
(17:34):
So, putting the feet on theground and just setting up an
intention in the morning, with ahand on the belly button, the
other hand two fingers behindthe ear that I will move through
my day from a place of balanceand and then of course, you
could do the other side, butmaybe you're short on time so
you don't get to do the otherside, and that's okay.
(17:55):
And then sometime during theday, see if you can do that
again, like I like to do itafter lunch, so that I feel
balanced.
And I like to do it when Itransition from my role in my
practice as a practitioner tothe role of Uber mom, because my
daughter's not driving quiteyet, so I have to transition.
I want to make sure that I'mkind of putting myself in that
(18:18):
place where I'm ready to be apresent, and of course it ain't
talking, it's more aboutlistening than talking.
But I'll do my balance buttonsand I even have a video that I
could share with your audiencewhere I go through some of these
tips, like walking the midlinethat I do in my car.
I have something I love toshare, called mama in a minivan,
because I'm running around inmy minivan and how can I get?
(18:41):
While I'm waiting for mydaughter?
I've got three minutes beforeshe comes out.
What can I do for my nervoussystem and I really think that's
important for moms and dadsthat are looking to regulate
nervous system-wise andemotionally, because we don't
have time for a 30-minuteprogram.
So, honestly, some days it'sthree minutes in the morning,
three minutes in the afternoon,and I'm going to be moving
(19:03):
through my day from a place ofawareness, groundedness,
centeredness and much morepeacefully productive instead of
that chaotic, overwhelmedproductivity right.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, yeah, no, and I think again, like us, just
tuning into what it means to bein parasympathetic dominance
right is what we're aiming for,which is that relaxed and ready
state where we can be flexible,we can adapt, we can move with
whatever comes to us, instead offeeling frantic and frazzled.
(19:40):
I think sometimes, like you'resaying, when we're in a
sympathetic response all thetime, we don't even know that
that's possible to be otherwiseright.
Yes, oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I lived a lot of my life there, decades.
That's how I was, decadesExactly, thank you.
I was an overachiever, classicoverachiever, perfectionist.
I didn't know it could be anydifferent until I started really
practicing this work and I waslike, oh my gosh, I can be
peacefully productive and beproactive instead of reactive
(20:13):
distress coming at me.
And it's such a game changer.
That's why I want it foreveryone, because life is so
different when you can live inthis place.
And it doesn't require fancyequipment.
Sure, I've got the greatPilates apparatus, but to get
into a state of regulation andgroundedness and being centered
and peaceful, you just need thetools you have within.
(20:35):
I actually have a programcalled Within, because it's all
about the tools you have to workwith your nervous system
instead of against it.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I love that, and the other thing that I think is
important to sit with is therecognition that, like
co-regulation, is such apowerful way to show up right.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Like if we are able to.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
You know, sometimes as moms, I think we're like I
don't even have three minutes,this kid needs this, or I need
to go do this, or I've got somuch to do today.
And we, we sometimes don'tharness the power of our ability
to co regulate, like ourchildren or different situations
, and just like co regulationbeing the I know, you know, but
like the opportunity to like,utilize your nervous system
(21:27):
balance to perpetuate a state ofcalm around you and let other
people calibrate off of yournervous system, oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yes, can I share a story?
Yeah, please, sorry, I soresonate with what you're saying
about people will come in andsay I don't have the time.
I've got this toddler.
I can't turn my back for amoment.
So I'll share a personal storyand then also some a quick
professional one.
But when my daughter was two anda half three, she at bedtime
(21:56):
you know how they get thatsecond wind and her energy and
she was curious and precocious,which I love.
But my husband and I were likewe are exhausted and we're
trying to get her to bed, so wewould lie on the floor.
We'd shut the door so shecouldn't get towards the stairs,
but we would lie on the floorand go into another range and
move, called a hookup, where youcross your ankles and you bring
(22:16):
your arms in front like you'regoing to clap.
But miss interlace, cometogether.
Here we are at the midlineright, and so we would just lie
on the floor in this positionand you could even just cross
your forearms and have yourhands touch the opposite upper
arm if that's not comfortablethe other way.
And so we would just lie on thefloor like that and she would
be running around kinetically.
(22:37):
We would just be on the floortrying to make sure we were both
there, that someone didn't fallasleep, right, because we're
exhausted and spent, and overtime she could feel that we were
just really down, regulatingand coming into this relaxed
position, and then she wouldclimb on us and lay on us, and
then she'd lay between us and itjust brought that energy
(22:59):
exactly what you said sobeautifully, lindsay.
It brought us to that state ofco-regulation so then we could
get to the energy of being inthat state of ease right Now.
That's one example.
And then I have clients thatwork with right Now, that's one
example.
And then I have clients thatwork with their children are,
(23:23):
let's say, eight, nine, 10,right, and so their kids need
the co-regulation.
And so she would do some ofthese things before school or
before.
You know.
We could say it's about school,because Brain Gym was
originally started to help withlearning differences and help
optimize our learning that weall innately are so capable of.
But a lot of times for youngpeople we'll make it about their
favorite thing, whether it'splaying an instrument or playing
soccer or what have you.
(23:44):
So mom will say, oh, I want todo this move with you because
it's going to make that soccergame at lunch or before and
after school activity.
It's going to make that violinpractice so much more enjoyable
for you.
So mom is doing it with thechild, mom is benefiting.
They're piggybacking off theco-regulation and the child is
(24:07):
being exposed to this.
Now I have a 14-year-old, youhave a 15-year-old, and so we
get big eye rolls.
We get no way.
We're not doing that.
A 14 year old, we have a 15year old, and so we get big eye
rolls.
We get no way.
We're not doing that Now.
I did a lot of this work with mydaughter when she was younger
and at this stage she'll only,if she's in a crisis, go okay,
let's do the fear paralysistapping or let's do the bonding
squeeze if she's in a crisis.
(24:27):
But the crazy thing is and I'mso grateful for this when she
thinks I'm not listening, I willhear her tell her friends oh,
you're struggling right now.
Why don't you try this?
I'm like, okay, it's still inthere, even though she doesn't
want to do it, because it's mom,she still has these tools and
someday she'll come back to them.
So it's really at differentphases in life and I serve
(24:50):
people that have grandkids andthey'll do them with their
grandkids because they're like,oh my gosh, I'm exhausted and
I'm caring for this grandchildand I need to keep going.
So they'll do some of theseintegrative movements with their
grandchildren and they'regetting the benefit of feeling
alert and still awake, and thekiddos going to feel alert and
awake, but grounded.
They're going to feel clearenergy and maybe they do it
(25:12):
before they start their homeworkor what have you.
So we have to be creative inthe ways that we invite young
people in our world to do this.
Make it about something they'rereally intrigued or interested
in.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Right, yes, a hundred percent, yes, oh, I loved all
of that and I think, I think thethe idea of doing it, like
teaming up to do it, is also sopowerful because I mean, even as
an adult, right, we don't wantto be told like go do your X, y,
z, right, so you feel better,right?
(25:46):
I mean there'll be times in myfamily I'll be like have you
meditated today?
I mean like, ah no, the dogsgot me up earlier this morning,
you know like, and I was justout of my rhythm and and I'll be
like I'm gonna, I'll go, youknow, but yeah, but I think you
know we it's like you said we'resuper motivated for the things
that we love and are passionateabout.
(26:07):
So if we can tether nervoussystem regulation, stress
management, to those activitieswe get so much more buy-in and
then, like you said, if we cando them alongside each other,
the power is multiplied.
I love that story about yourdaughter.
I was reminded of a podcastepisode I recorded a couple of
years ago where the guest I wastalking with he was like the
(26:29):
strongest nervous system in theroom wins.
Strongest nervous system in theroom wins.
And I was like yes, yeah,absolutely the strongest one is
often the dysregulated one.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
We've got to bring the strength of our regulated
nervous system to those moments,and I think, as parents,
sometimes it's just like theoverwhelm is is constant, right,
and there's just so much comingat us.
But if we can, if we canharness the power of our own
nervous system, it sounds likesuch a simple thing, but if we
can harness it, there's no endto the creativity we can access,
(27:05):
right to the, to the resiliencethat we have the capacity to
exhibit.
And so for anyone listening whostill feels a little hesitant
about taking just a few minutes,like I would say try it out and
see, so that you can experiencethe difference between a
nervous system that is inparasympathetic dominance, ready
and relaxed, ready to go, andone that just feels like you
(27:27):
know, like everything's flyingout of you.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes, and one thing that's so important, that's so
well said, thank you.
We, as we work with our nervoussystem, more we need to, what
we're really honing.
It's very commonly used theword resilience, which I love,
and really what that means isbeing able to downshift and
upshift.
You know, sometimes we have todownshift into those lower brain
areas.
We do get kind of in thatsurvival.
(27:52):
We pass through that amygdalaand then we need to be able to
come back up to that executivefunctioning place and I think
the more we work with that, wefeel that.
And so if we have an upsetting,stressful situation, it doesn't
take so much out of us.
And some people come to nervoussystem regulation because
they're really struggling,they're really bumping into some
(28:14):
current or past trauma, forexample, and they're motivated
to do it.
But what they find is that themore they practice it, it
becomes kind of like brushingyour teeth, like I'll brush my
teeth in the morning and do thisfour-step sequence of nervous
system regulation, because if Idon't do it I don't feel like
they get off to as good of astart, and so that's where we
get creative with people.
(28:34):
You know, there's one woman Iserve who has two dogs and her
dogs take a while to eat in themorning and whatnot.
So she's doing some of thesemovements while she's waiting
for her adorable dogs to eat andthen, when they're outside,
she's in a better place, readyto take them for their walk.
And they're kind of you knowhectic in the morning.
So you got to find a way to makeit work for your lifestyle and
(28:56):
everyone's life is so unique.
So I love helping people find,in three minutes or less, ways
to care for their nervous system.
And sometimes the day didn't goas planned and you didn't do
the first part of three minutesin the morning.
So before you go to bed, we'regoing to make sure we do things
that aren't increasing energy,but things that are calming.
You might do a few of them asyou're falling asleep at night
(29:19):
and it's going to help you sleepbetter.
And there you go.
You did your nervous systemregulation for the day, you know
.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, yeah, no, I love it.
I think that the practice, likeyou said, and the creativity to
fit it in, like the commitmentto the practice coupled with a
commitment to the creativity itwill take to make it a part of
your rhythm, is essential.
Well, let's see.
I would love to hear some moretools, like I know it's a little
tricky on audio to describe,but what are some other ways,
(29:47):
like reducing anxiety, helpingkids you know, either their own
kids or themselves managefeelings of anxiety.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Sure, I work a lot with anxiety.
I'm really passionate aboutsupporting people with that.
I know I myself used to movethrough from a place of anxiety
and, truly honestly doing thiswork, I'll have times where I
drop into anxiety, but it's sorare now, whereas it used to be
my MO.
So one of the first things youwant to think about with anxiety
(30:17):
is working with the idea ofsurvival reflexes.
So just a side note aboutreflexes.
So reflexes are very much aboutthe earliest development.
I'm speaking about primitivereflexes which come online in
utero and are integrated andmove through the first few years
of life.
It lays the scaffolding forcognition and motor control and
(30:39):
nervous system regulation.
And so again, being that we areadults, we probably had the
childhoods where we ran outsideand played all day and we
weren't stuck in contraptions,so we moved through those right.
Today we have concerns it's atopic for another time, but
these kids on screen so earlyit's affecting them.
But again, life stress, trauma,illness trips us up.
(31:01):
So the first thing I wouldthink about for anyone with
anxiety is to support andnurture the fear paralysis
reflex and this is important too.
I didn't get to your full partof your question earlier about
the gut, but a lot of peoplewith gut issues really benefit
from this as well, becauseanxiety can be very tied to it.
The vagus nerve is important.
(31:22):
It's not the be-all, end-all tonervous system regulation, but
it's very tied to the stomach,very tied to the cardiac
sphincter of the stomach, and sothis particular movement
dialing down anxiety will helpyour brain and your gut, and so
I particular movement dialingdown anxiety will help your
brain and your gut, and so I'mgoing to try to talk through it
and I can help your listenersfind a video I have that is easy
(31:43):
to access if they want thevisual.
But we put one hand over thebreastbone so the breastbone
right there in the middle ofyour chest, and just gently
place a hand there.
We're going to put the secondhand over it.
We're going to do a very gentletapping rhythm Now with this in
mind, and I'm just going toteach you the abbreviated
version.
There's a full version thatgoes from here to the bottoms of
(32:03):
our feet, but I want to giveyou the simplest, most
accessible version that you cando regularly.
So we're going to do a tappingrhythm Now.
If the tapping feels excitatoryto you, just hold and give a
little press, like a littlesqueeze, because sometimes when
we're really stressed out,tapping might feel a little bit
(32:23):
like it increases your anxietyand we want to respect that.
So you don't have to be amusician or a dancer.
We're going to go into achop-chop rhythm.
It's a one, two, one, two,three.
We're going to use the top handto tap that on our bottom hand.
So we're going to go like thisOne, two, one, two, three and
(32:44):
then pause, take a deep breathin and exhale.
Let's do that again One, two,one, two, three, pause deep
breath in through the nose andexhale one more time.
So it's three times.
(33:06):
And here we go One, two, one,two, three, pause deep breath.
So very simple and we can stopright there.
There are other areas,placements in the body that we
go to, really, really fantastic.
I have people do it before youknow.
(33:26):
I have a person that I servedas a teenager and their emotions
are all over the place and theynever know what they're going
to walk into.
So they will do that beforethey engage with their child.
So they're in a really calm,grounded place.
I have people that have anxietyabout their health.
They'll do it in the car beforethey walk into the doctor's
office.
I always say when you don't knowwhat to do, you don't know
(33:50):
where to go, you're overwhelmed,you don't know where to start.
Start with that piece.
I just taught the gentletapping for the fear paralysis
reflex.
It goes deep and you'll noticethe more you do it, the more
your body and your brain go ah,help is here.
And the more readily you willfind the calm and the deeper and
(34:10):
longer it will last, because itis a practice like anything
else, right?
So that's such a gentle tool andwhen my daughter was younger,
we would do it almost everynight at bedtime because she
would have some anxieties comeup, as children often do.
It comes up right before bedand I would sit her on my lap
(34:31):
and wrap my arms around and, ofcourse you know, ask can I
gently tap on your, on yourchest, there on your breastbone?
And so I would tap there andsometimes still it's rare, but
sometimes when she's reallyoverwhelmed, she'll ask for it
or ask me to remind her, orthey'll put her hand on her
breastbone and I'll do the tophand.
So it's a really beautifulconnection.
So it's just such a simple tooland it's going to help your
(34:54):
nervous system realize that itcan get out of survival mode,
and so that's one tool and I canshare some more.
But tell me, if you first ask,any questions you might have
about that or any curiositiesI'd love to support.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, no, I love that so much.
I was just like soaking it upas I was doing it, you know,
like mirroring you yes.
Yes, I.
I'm wondering if you can justreally quickly give our
listeners a little primer on theVegas nerve.
I know, it's something we'vetalked about on the pod before,
but I think in this settingespecially powerful to just like
(35:31):
tie that in.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Sure, then I go.
How much time do we have thevagus nerve?
I'll just, like you said, aquick primer.
So there's a lot of airtimebeing given to the vagus nerve
and it's important.
The vagus nerve is a cranialnerve, it's the longest cranial
nerve.
It's called the wandering nervebecause it starts up in the
(35:53):
head, there in the brain, and itwanders all the way down and it
comes down on the front of ourtrunk body and it crosses over
that cardiac sphincter which iswhere the esophagus comes to the
stomach and that's where a lotof anxiety and worry can hang
out.
And then it comes all the waydown to the pubic bone and
there's so many wonderful thingspeople are talking about.
(36:15):
You know doing humming.
It resonates with the vagusnerve and I love that because a
lot of the work I do we layervocalization with visual
exercises on top ofdevelopmental movements.
A lot of people will talk aboutdoing breathing exercises.
I do want to pause there.
Breathing exercises are great,except if you are in fight,
(36:36):
flight, freeze and you startsome deep breathing without some
preparatory developmentalmovements, you might make it
worse, you might send yourselfinto a more excitatory state and
that's your vagus nerve sayinghold, hold on.
I need a little bit of prepfirst and that's where we might
do a movement, for example forthe moro, m-o-r-o reflex, which
is tied to breath and survivaland upper mid spine.
(36:59):
It's the first breath of lifewhen we come out into the world
this motion, and so maybe we canget more out of our vagus nerve
practices if we do the moro.
I've taught a course aboutembodied breath.
Don't start those breathexercises until you prep your
nervous system.
So I digress a little bit.
But the point is there's a lotof people talking about vagus
(37:20):
nerve and I'm so grateful theyare, but a lot of times we need
some more before.
We need some more foundationalpieces.
Before we start deep breathingor before we start humming, we
got to do a little bit ofmovement and then layer those in
there.
So it definitely is reallyimportant that we learn as much
as we can about the vagus nerve,but we got to lay that
(37:43):
scaffolding again sometimesfirst kind of about the vagus
nerve, but we got to lay thatscaffolding again sometimes
first.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, I love that.
Thanks for the integration,let's do.
What other techniques can youteach us?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yeah, so gosh, there's so many, I think,
because I mentioned it, the MOROmovement I'm going to try to
use my words as best as possibleto describe it and again, I
have tons of videos that I'vecreated with it.
You can find I'm sure there areothers doing videos too so you
can do this seated, since we'reseated right now and what you
(38:14):
want to do is let your legs openand sort of a turned out
position, the knees point out atan angle.
It doesn't have to be a bigangle, just go there and then,
because I'm a big plant person,I'll describe this first as a
cactus motion.
Okay, we're making now mysports lovers.
I tell them that it is agoalpost position.
Our elbows are bent straightout from our shoulder, our palms
(38:34):
are forward, and so we're inthis cacti or goalpost position.
Now go ahead and arch your backa little bit, let your chest
stick out, let your head lift upa little bit and your low
back's going to arch a littlebit and stay in this position.
Ideally, we want to hold it forsix to eight seconds.
Today I was working with a womanwho sadly had a fall and she,
(38:56):
thankfully, was okay, but prettybanged up, bruised up.
So this is important topost-fall, because sometimes
we'll fall into this positionwhen when we're falling, and so
I'm asking her to hold it morelike eight to ten seconds, and
then we're going to fold and letyour knees come together.
If they will round your spine,tuck your chin, looking down and
holding this position.
(39:17):
If you imagine you're in a bigphysio ball, your spine would be
pressing against the ball rightand again holding for six to
eight seconds and we're going torepeat this pattern.
Come back up to the calf thighposition, lift your back arch a
little bit, let your chest stickout.
Maybe your upper spine doesn'thave that much movement as
(39:38):
you're on a healing process, sojust see if you can lift your
chin and your eyes.
If your neck doesn't want tolean back a little bit, just
look up with your eyes the eyesare so important and you would
hold this for six to eightseconds and then, folding back
in knees, come together,rounding in the spine, and
holding this position again sixto eight seconds.
For us adults, the key, theimportant thing, is to make sure
(40:04):
we end in the up position.
So if we come back up to thecat-eye position and let our
tailbone stick out a little bit,let our chest stick out a
little bit.
We want to finish here.
We don't want to finish in thecore withdrawal kind of position
where we're rounded.
You know, when I first startedmy career I was like, well, we
don't want that rounded postureand it is postural, but it's
more than that, it's nervoussystem.
We want our nervous system tofeel this expansion.
(40:25):
Than that, it's nervous system.
We want our nervous system tofeel this expansion.
And again, the moral is soimportant for breath.
It's really tied to our cranialsystem.
As a cranial sacral therapist,I very often give this as home
play instead of homework topeople that I work with, because
I can feel their cranial systemneeds it.
And I have a photo I share alot when I present conferences
and it's my daughter sleeping inthis position at about age nine
(40:46):
, because she had an expanderfor her upper palate put in and
I found her sleeping like thatone night.
Of course I took a photo of herpoor kid, but what I realized
was, oh my goodness, we'remessing with her cranial system
with this palate expander inpreparation for braces, and so I
was like, oh my gosh, we got tomove through her moral reflex.
(41:08):
So very often there are certainmovements that I'll do with
people after dental work at anyage in life.
I work with a lot of youngpeople after they get their
braces adjusted, so it's all soconnected.
You know, this is thismovement's connected to survival
, fight, flight, freeze,breathing, cranial system, jaw.
So many of us hold ourattention in our jaw, right, so
(41:32):
that movement, people love thatmovement.
When I give that to them andthey'll say, oh, I was really
stressed out.
So I did the moro and I justfelt more calm and organized and
I say, look at you, you didthat.
I'm just your core guide,helping you find the tools that
are already within you, right.
So it's just, it's just soexciting because it's all in
there.
We just need to tap into it andmove through it, right?
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Yeah, I say that all the time.
I'm just here to give you thetool and you're taking it and
running with it.
I loved that myself.
Like I was doing it alongsideyou and it was powerful myself,
like I was doing it alongsideyou and it was powerful, I know
I really I'm just sitting withwhat you said and really
appreciating again this weavingtogether of so many supportive
(42:16):
practices and principles.
You know to create this holisticsense of of wellbeing or
resilience, being able to likeshift, like you saying down or
up as needed, but not feelinglike that's an out-of-control
process that you're helplesswith, but it's something you can
directly influence with youractions.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Exactly, and you mentioned earlier, at one point
in your life you had a reallystrong yoga practice and whether
it's a yoga practice or hiking,or I'm a huge fan of Qigong
doing these simple movementsbefore your practice or before
you go out and go for a walk,you're going to get more out of
any movement practice.
Doing them before and maybeafter, and just it really helps.
(43:01):
Whatever it is you want to doin life, whether it's play that
instrument, stand up in front ofa group of people and share
your passion, or be able todrive a longer distance you know
you'll see me at a rest stopdoing crossbody movements just
to keep myself integrated andfocused, for the endurance drive
, for example.
But whatever it is you want todo, sprinkling a few of these
(43:22):
movements before you begin orafter, you're going to get so
much more out of it, becauseit's like that person all those
years ago that wasn't embodied,that I saw, come in.
And now the people I serve,they have their rituals.
They do before we start asession and they'll say, oh, I
already started this, we canjust get going, and I'm like,
great, fantastic, let's dive infurther.
(43:44):
So it really does become ahabit, like brushing our teeth
or removing our makeup at night.
We have these rituals and wenotice if we don't do them, we
don't feel as vibrant or asenergetic or as grounded.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yes, oh my gosh, I feel like I really wish I lived
in Detroit so I could come toyour studio, because I know I
want to learn more.
Yeah, thank you, I know, really, like genuinely, I'm so
grateful for your work and justthe effort that you've put into
(44:23):
creating a process that's soempowering.
You know, I think in in modernlife I think it's really easy to
feel at the mercy of the bodyand I know you and I both had
experiences where potentiallythat's felt, you know it's, it's
been easier maybe to to feelthat way, and I love the ways
that you support people increating like a team, you know,
(44:48):
and just the level of connectionwith the body that's empowering
and supportive, so that peoplearen't at the mercy again of
this beautiful vessel that iscarrying them through the world,
but like tethered to it in areally intimate and connected
way.
That feels supportive and justwise.
So I love it.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Thank you.
I think the key word that I soresonate with that you've shared
is empowerment.
You know, really feelingempowered because so many of us
go through life not knowing howto manage our nervous system,
manage our emotions.
And that's my wish, and that'swhy I love sharing in places
like this, because I'm over herein my little corner of the
world, in Detroit, and that'swhy I've created virtual
(45:30):
offerings, because I know Ican't serve everyone that needs
the unique work, and so my hopeis that people will take it and
run with it and use it and shareit with their communities and
their families so that we all Imean just imagine the world if
we all were able to regulateourselves more readily, both
emotionally and nervous systemwise.
(45:50):
They go hand in hand.
So my wish is for everyone tobe empowered with these tools.
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Yeah, well, I wish for that too.
Happy to give you a platform toshare.
Tell our listeners more aboutwhere they can find you, find
your work.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Sure.
So I hang out a lot onInstagram at inspired, the
number two, wellness, and so Ishare a lot there.
I also share a lot in myFacebook community Nervous
System Regulation.
With Kelly I go live every weekand share a tool that's you
know.
A couple weeks ago it was anorgan release exercise.
This week it was a tool forbalancing energy after a time
(46:31):
change here in the spring.
And then I definitely wouldlove, because I shared the fear
paralysis tapping.
I have a freebie called InnerPeace.
It's nervous system relief forstress and anxiety, and it has
three short videos, literallythree minutes or less, and the
fear paralysis tapping isfeatured in there, as well as
some other self-soothingtechniques, and you can find
(46:52):
that at inspiredwellcom.
Forward, slash inner peace andagain reach out.
I love questions, because thequestions that people ask in my
community or even privatelymaybe they felt more comfortable
just DMing or emailing it Ithen turn those into videos
because I have tons of videos Icould create.
(47:14):
But I want to know what dopeople need in the here and now?
How can I best serve?
I'm honored and grateful toknow I'm on my path and purpose.
I know a lot of people don'texperience that.
I know you are too, lindsay,and I want that for everyone,
but I'm here to share this work,so bring those questions,
because your question is gonnahelp someone else, right?
So thank you so much.
(47:35):
It was really a joy to sharewith your lovely community.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Thank you again for being here.
It was a joy to have you.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
You've just finished an episode of the Stress Nanny
Podcast, so hopefully you feel alittle more empowered when it
comes to dealing with stress.
Feel free to take a deep breathand let it out slowly as you go
back to your day.
I'm so glad you're here.
If you're a longtime listener.
Thank you so much for yoursupport.
It really means the world to me.
If you're new, I'd love to haveyou follow the podcast and join
(48:08):
me each week, and no matter howlong you've been listening.
Please share this episode withsomeone who is stressed out.
If you enjoyed the show, wouldyou please do me a favor and go
to ratethispodcastcom, slashthestressnanny and leave a
review.
The link is in the show notes.
I'm so grateful for all mylisteners.
Thank you again for being hereuntil next time.
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