The Vagus nerve is designed to keep us safe by making connections, fighting and fleeing, and providing rest. We cannot think our way out of the fight-flight response. We can help ourselves by recognizing, guiding, and working with it rather than against it. We can even practice regulating our nervous system and improving ability to recover after a stress response.

Mindfulness in therapy focuses on learning how to be more aware of thoughts, feelings, emotions, surroundings, and situations, and to reduce automatic responses. When you are mindful, you are awake to life on its terms in each moment. We use mindfulness to regulate the body’s systems to ease anxiety, depression. and panic.

Calming the brain helps us explore how we can help ourselves when we are triggered by coping patterns from the past. Using a ‘bottom up’ processing approach, self care, and brainstem regulation activities to aid trauma recovery and regulation so that clients can begin to thrive not just survive!