When we self-regulate well, we are better able to control the trajectory of our emotional lives and resulting actions based on our values and sense of purpose. ~Amy Leigh Mercree, A Little Bit of Meditation: An Introduction to Mindfulness
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare. ~Audre Lorde
Revolution is not a one time event. ~Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
I deeply believe that learning how to self-regulate, connect to our boundaries, come home to our bodies, and find our ways to center and ground are acts of self care. And because they are acts of self-care, they are revolutionary acts.
What I mean by that is we live in a culture that doesn’t want us to slow down, to soothe our sympathetic nervous system, to become fully engaged in our frontal lobe (where empathy and logic live) or to be present in this moment now – be that present in our environment, in our relationships or within ourselves.
Going against our current oppressive, authoritarian culture is an act of rebellion and revolution. And so taking the time to slow down, soothe our systems, and come more fully in our Self and into the now — going against our cultural “norms” and the status quo — is also an act of rebellion and revolution.
I created Self Care for Challenging Times last spring as a part of my own effort to contribute to the fight against the current regime in the US government. My intention was to offer tools specifically to activists and those “on the ground” and in the “frontlines” to help them fight this fight the best they can.
I also created it for all the rest of us who were/are feeling overwhelmed by life, by the current political climate, by our own unprocessed trauma.
Because these things, these acts of self care — soothing our nervous system, connecting to our boundaries, and finding center and ground — are the necessary first steps to finding our ways to a sense of safeness and emotional stabilization, which is required for us to begin to process the trauma that lives within us.
Trauma Informed Embodiment (TIE)™ Basics (the new name for Self Care for Challenging Times) looks at these necessary first steps in our trauma processing journey as a revolutionary act of self-care.
When we look at this work through the lens of self-care, it helps us shift our perspectives. When we begin to adopt the ideas that we are worthy and deserving of caring, and specifically caring from and by our own Self, something within us begins to shift. This work of learning to be present and then processing our trauma becomes a little less intimidating and terrifying. When we are able to break this work down into simple, practical, helpful steps, we are able to let go of the ideas and narratives that we are just “too broken” or have “too much to fix” so why even start.
TIE Basics is a place to begin our own journeys of embodiment and trauma processing. It is a place for us to deepen our own self-care practices and rituals and adopt new practices and rituals that will have a long lasting impact on our overall well being.
It is also a way to get to know the Trauma Informed Embodiment™ approach and me a bit without a huge time or money commitment.
TIE™ Basics is meant for everyone: persons living with trauma (which in my opinion is everyone), those who want to learn to care for their bodies and Self in a richer, fuller way, for clinicians and coaches who work with persons living with trauma and need more tools not only for themselves but also for their clients.
If you’d like to learn more about the TIE Basics program you can click right here. Or if you would like to meet with me on Zoom for a 30-minute chat to see if this program is right for you, go here and fill out the consult request form. I’d love to talk with you and answer your questions!
Did you miss the essay and video series I created to introduce the topics and ideas we’ll be exploring in this program? If so you can find them at the links below:
On Safeness, Stabilization, & Self Care :: Definitions
Shifting from Overwhelm to Safeness & Stabilization
And here is another essay I wrote talking about the TIE™ Basics program: