We still had so much snow in April, but thankfully, the snow is finally melting at my place and the tulips and daffodils are starting to bloom...

I love this awakening in nature and it reminds me of my own awakening.

I lived most of my life, in the freeze and fawn response of my nervous system. Did you experience this too...or feel like you still live most of your life here?

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During the month of May, we will be focusing on the dorsal or the freeze response of our vagus nerve.

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We started our newsletters about Polyvagal Theory in March, by focusing first on ventral (which is one of the 2 branches of our parasympathetic. It is responsible for healthy social engagement and connection).

In April we focused on sympathetic, (which is our fight or flight response when in survival and is also our much needed mobility energy that helps with the everyday functioning of our body).

**If you want more info about each of these you can look at my newsletters Here.**

And now, for the month of May, we are onto dorsal (which is the second branch of our parasympathetic system).

As you can see in the picture, dorsal is at the bottom of the ladder.

It is the shut down or freeze response, when we are in our survival system and it is also the healthy digest and rest part of our system that offers nourishment and regulation to our body.

I would like to offer the tool, "Touch a Dorsal Moment", today as a way to help us get out of the freeze state of our body.

The idea of touch helps us use mobility to get out of freeze. (This helps us move up the polyvagal ladder to eventually get to ventral).

It is a self touch that is nourishing and can bring a safe return of sensation when our body feels numb or shut down. It creates connection to our present moment if we are feeling lost, floating, out of touch with ourselves or feeling nothing at all.

It's a way to help us find our way back to ourselves and our inner knowing.

Here are the 4 Steps of this tool:

1. I invite you to first explore different types of self touch. (I offer a lot of somatic ways to do this in my Get Into Your Body For A Minute Today reels. You can find those Here). You can touch your face, your heart area, stomach, massage your feet or clasp your hands....whatever feels helpful.
2. I encourage you to make a list of of touches that bring you into presence and feel nourishing.
3. When you are ready, I invite you to find a memory where you went into the dorsal or freeze/shut down state.
4. See if you can "not go too far into" the memory, so that you can still have mobility in your present and offer yourself one of the self touches from your list. (You do this all through imagery and imaging and/or you can physically give yourself the touch you need in the present moment as you are in the memory.

So an example of this would be...

1. Self Touch - I like to massage my toes and move them all around (I used to hate my feet, especially my toes, but I love them now - I have a newsletter about this transformation Here). It now feels playful and I like how awake my feet feel when I massage them.
2. List of Touches - For my feet - I like to massage by rotating between a gentle pressure and harder pressure, too light is like a tickle and I don't like that at all.
3. Freeze Memory - I can remember going to the chiropractor who assaulted me. I went many times before the actual assault occurred. Each visit he would pop the knuckles of my toes and I hated it. I asked him to stop and he never would. I can remember the time when I gave up asking him to stop and started bracing myself for the pain. I can also remember the time when I no longer felt it. I went numb.
4. Offer Myself Touch - (I did this in the moment, instead of imagery) - I am able to look at the younger version of me and see her pain and numbness, yet I'm not too immersed in the memory......and as I start to massage my toes, rotating between the pressures I like.....I also am aware how my toes don't want to have their knuckles popped. (Now this might sound weird).....I reassure my toes while massaging them, that I wont ever pop them. And as I give space to that thought, I get emotional and tears roll down my cheeks. My toes never have to surrender to that again. I got me and I got them and together we will provide safety.

This is an example of how sensation and self touch can offer a return to safety in our body.

I really felt this experience is such a profound way as I used this tool to heal the dorsal state of my toes and feet. I absolutely LOVE that I can feel my feet and toes again and know that I get to decide who touches them, who doesn't and how they get to be touched.

It might seem insignificant to some, and that is ok because, it was and is still huge to me! (And I'd like to offer that if your brain wants to tell you your experience is insignificant or others would think it is....Can you give yourself grace and honor what it true for you?)

If you find that you often go into the freeze state. If you often go numb. If you feel like you are separate from your body.....I invite you to try out this "Touch a Dorsal Moment" tool. It can help you get out of the freeze state of your survival response and back into mobility (sympathetic) and then into connection and being present in your body (ventral).

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If you try it out, I'd love to hear what your experience was. You can email me back or DM me.

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Remember, ❤️

You Matter. Your Healing Matters. You Are Worth It!

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P.S. And I just dropped another episode for my podcast.

It could be triggering so please honor your body, mind and heart. And I think I offer ideas that need to be shared in the space of awareness, support, strategies and resources.