….. AS SEEN IN …..
Before I started my work as a Somatic Therapist , taught at sold-out workshops or spoke at keynote seminars I had to
first find my own way out of the stress and anxiety that had plagued me for many years.
That took solid time working with the best somatic teachers and therapists, learning what
worked and what didn’t.
It took training with the very best contemporary approaches
It took integration, learning what worked from the inside — not just getting it with my head.
It took dealing with my own fears, remapping and rewiring my old reactive patterns of overwhelm
and distresss and learning how to grow, transform and flourish.
I began my training , almost three decades ago, in a Yoga and Meditation centre right in the heart of India,
where I sat at the feet of many compassionate teachers who told me that there
was a way out of my my stuckness ….
I didn’t believe them – my body didn’t feel like a resevouir of hidden wisdom.
Instead it felt toxic with shame, isolation and self-doubt.
Yet having studied the ancient wisdom traditions I wanted to believe the wisdom
of what every tradition said was possible.
I wanted to trust that even though my body did NOT feel like a place
where I felt at home , I could find my way back.
So began my quest…
I studied many movement practices looking
for ways to free the layers of tension that accompanied my states of overwhelm -
Feldenkrais , 5 Rhythms, , Dancing
The Rainbow, Hanna Somatic
Movement and Yoga.
I found these practices powerful for directly unhooking the nervous
system from familiar patterns of somatic bracing and return
to them daily.
Something within though was urging me to understand the root
cause of my anxiety, and to why I still felt too hyper- vigilant
to enjoy the ordinary pleasures that life has to offer.
system from familiar patterns of somatic bracing and return
to them daily.
Something within though was urging me to understand the root
cause of my anxiety, and to why I still felt too hyper- vigilant
to enjoy the ordinary pleasures that life has to offer.
Take care of your
body - It's the only
place you have to live
-Jim Rohn
So I went a little deeper.….
My years of training in Craniosacral Therapy and Somatic Bodywork gave me access to unlocking the non-verbal
language that was held trapped in the nervous system, allowing me express the unspeakable of my experience.
This helped peel away layers of tension and allowed emotions to be released in a very safe way. As my
nervous system started to rebalance I began to feel much more at home in my own skin.
But then the tsunami of menopause hit, flooding me with hormones that turned my
life up-side-down
I instinctively hunkered down, and amidst the night-sweats and the always racing mind I began
to meet my own unhealed trauma patterns.
Sitting with my reactivity instead of lashing out allowed me to drop beneath the stories I told myself
– who I was, who I should be, who I should never be – and propelled me into the next level of healing
Trauma happens
in relationships
and it heals in
relationship,
friendship and in
community
It was becoming clear that TRAUMA HAPPENS IN RELATIONSHIP – yet we have the power to transform our trauma by changing
how we relate to ourselves and others.
I discovered this during my years of training with Dr. Aline La Pierre, Franklin Sills, Sarah Peyton and through time exploring attachment skills, attunement
and compassionate awareness with my skilled Hakomi teachers and colleagues.
What I learnt was that it is in relationships that we have to heal – that’s where the neural connections begin to re-form, literally changing
our brains and thus changing how we respond to overwhelm, stress, grief, loss , isolation, unmet needs, depression and much more.
Over the next four years in my training in Hakomi Relational therapy I began the deep work of unhooking from the
unconcious beliefs that I was living out of that were causing me to react out of old conditioned patterns …
Working through these trauma patterns and uncovering the beliefs that continued to hold the trauma in place was priceless. Through releasing
the grip of shame that trauma covers everything in, I learnt that even when s**t hits the fan I can stay steady ….
And I learnt that what my teachers of wisdom taught all those years ago was true – there is a way out of our suffering, there is a roadmap.
We just have to take one step forward at a time .
Many of us spend our whole lives running
from feelings with the mistaken
belief that you cannot bear the pain.
But you have already borne the pain.
What you have not done is feel
all you are,
beyond the pain
– Kahlil Gibran
from feelings with the mistaken
belief that you cannot bear the pain.
But you have already borne the pain.
What you have not done is feel
all you are,
beyond the pain
– Kahlil Gibran
After so many years of training I felt more than ready to take the next step in offering this work to others ready to do
the necessary healing. I’m guessing if you’re reading this you also feel more than ready .
So come, take that next one brave step.
You can expect real empathy, a deep space for your own feelings to emerge, guidance through the scary and stuck parts,
and many moments of hope and lightness along the way .
If you’re stepping into a new story for your life, navigating a significant life transition, you’ve arrived at an important
crossroads, you’re coming up for air after a hard season, or simply ready to become more fully your
authentic self , this is for you.
I’ll add in the support and mix in the confidence. One step at a time.
Copyrights © 2021 All Rights Reserved by Deirdre O’Connor