Internal family systems. “IFS is a transformative tool that conceives of every human being as a system of protective and wounded inner parts led by a core Self. We believe the mind is naturally multiple and that is a good thing. Just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable statesContinue reading “The best therapy: Parts Work/IFS”
Category Archives: Healthy Skills
Laughter is Medicine
Laughter is the Best Medicine! Let’s face it, life is full of stuff for our nervous systems to chew on. Not always fun. Today, let’s take a break from all of the things our heads are subject to figuring out. I need a good laugh and some light hearted thinking. You too? Let’s start withContinue reading “Laughter is Medicine”
Learning about Meditation
I’ve just returned from Dr. John Preston’s Brain Conference on Positive Emotions. He shared research on brain health–linking it to foods, medicinals, and what else? Meditation. He suggests 10-15 minutes a day. Why meditate? Stimulating the front lobes suppresses activity in the amygdala. The amygdala is impulsive, reactive, prone to false alarms, and loves toContinue reading “Learning about Meditation”
Your Kitchen is a Pharmacy
A letter to friends, family and community: I recently spent a day at a medicinal foods conference, and learned tons about current research on foods and amino acids and supplements that can deeply heal cells, tissues, blood, and the overall biome we walk around in. I got tons of information on medicinal foods targeting: brainContinue reading “Your Kitchen is a Pharmacy”
Why I love EMDR!
From Robin Shapiro: A friend of mine was home when her house was broken into last night. She got away, and the cops found the guy and arrested him. She posted the whole story on Facebook this morning. This afternoon, she posted this. I have her permission to repost. Please don’t mention her name inContinue reading “Why I love EMDR!”
Longggggg Breaths Out
36 years ago, at Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Kenneth Freeman would start every Body Awareness class with long OMs. As an attachment and trauma therapist during the Covid Pandemic, I now understand what he was up to. With each of the nearly 20 OMs we did, we were directly impacting our vagus nerves by ourContinue reading “Longggggg Breaths Out”
The Power of the Yawn
Yawning: every creature that has a spine yawns. It’s a built in repair circuit which triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms everything down in your body. Yawning is particularly useful when your body is stressed, injured, or ill. If you’ve got a head ache, try yawn “surfing”– where you literally try to yawn overContinue reading “The Power of the Yawn”
Laurel Holmes, ABs, LMHC 