Somatic Therapies

When Focusing On The Breath Doesn’t Help, Try This

By Nicole Urdang | November 17, 2022
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  While meditation can be incredibly soothing and peaceful, many people, especially those with a trauma history, find focusing on the breath triggering. Often, this activates memories of stressful times and can feel even more disturbing. If that is your experience, even if it’s only your experience some of the time when meditating, there are […]

So Hum Breath Meditation & Yoga Nidra Inspired Body Scan

By Nicole Urdang | July 21, 2021
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Here is a fairly short practice that starts with a silent So Hum breath meditation and seamlessly moves into a different kind of body scan. What I love about this is how it’s perfect before sleep, upon waking, or anytime during the day. The body scan is my riff on a classical yoga nidra body […]

Your body is a portal to essential knowledge.

By Nicole Urdang | March 13, 2021
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Your body is your ever present home on earth and houses a wealth of information you can tap into anytime. Yet no one teaches you how to use this innate somatic knowledge. The field of psychotherapy, especially trauma therapy, is In the midst of a mini revolution as somatic awareness is now recognized as a […]

What is Bilateral Stimulation and How Can it Help You?

By Nicole Urdang | November 4, 2019
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Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) is nothing new. Yogis have been doing it through the meditative practice of Yoga Nidra for thousands of years. Qigong incorporates it into almost all their routines. Bilateral Stimulation refers to any activity that channels your attention from one brain hemisphere to the other. In EMDR this is typically done by tapping […]

QiGong for Trauma, Stability, Strength, Flexibility and Emotional Balance

By Nicole Urdang | July 7, 2018
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It’s easy to think trauma is relatively rare; however, it’s far more commonplace than we like to believe. In fact, almost everybody has experienced some trauma in life. It may have been from a coach, bully, parent, sibling, war, assault, or accident, but the ubiquity of trauma is becoming more apparent as researchers and therapists plumb […]

How Post Traumatic Stress Can Lead To Detachment From Your Body And What To Do About It

By Nicole Urdang | March 12, 2018
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Trauma makes it hard to be in our body and not being in our body, being disembodied, is form of trauma. Bo Forbes   Interoception. Def. Sensitivity to, or awareness of stimuli originating inside the body.   It is common to experience detachment from the body or feelings of disembodiment after a traumatic experience. This disconnection […]