Unlocking the Secrets of the Polyvagal Theory: Navigating the Vagus Nerve for a Happier and Healthier Life
Our vagus nerve, our tenth cranial nerve, aka our “wandering nerve”, is a complex network of fibres winding its way through the brainstem, playing a pivotal role in regulating our emotions, heart rate, digestion, and more. I will stick my neck out and proclaim this nerve as the creator of what we refer to as…
Listen to Your Fascia: Unwinding the Body as a Resonant Wave
There is a wonderful (and long out of print) children’s book about Lake Titicaca called Lakes are Holding Places for Water. I’ve always loved this image of being a holding place and a home for life’s waters. Thought to be over a million years old, Titicaca is an ancient lake. I like to imagine the…
“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones….”
“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones…..”[1] as the song goes – but are they really just that? The skeleton is traditionally thought of as connected bones each surrounded by the periosteum and activated by muscles. But are bones the passive, rigid structures we have in the past considered them to be? We are now…
Balance Your Breath, Boost Your Voice
I was in the car with a friend who I’d met in a biotensegrity & fascia focused zoom room in 2020. We were on the way home from an eye-opening 5-day dissection course helmed by John Sharkey, Joanne Avison, Wilbour Kelsick, Mark Flannigan, and Neil Theise, and our conversation turned towards the voice, and how…
Somatic mindfulness and the breath
Have you ever watched a baby move and play, content and exploring their world? If you observe their fingers and toes curl and reach, the look of fascination on their faces, it’s clear that being inside a body is meant to be pleasurable. So, where does that embodied pleasure go as we grow up? As…