Beyond Surviving with Rachel Grant

If you have difficulty breathing slowly, deeply, or run out of breath too soon, the ocean can be your guide to help you lengthen your breath and intensify the relaxation response. This Ocean Breath technique is accomplished by constricting the epiglottis (the epi-what?! - yeah, me too, totally learned some anatomy here!).Check out this guided breathing exercise --- and feel the calming, soothing sensations!#coachrachelsays #beyondsurviving #somatichealing #breathe #oceanbreath #healing #toolsthatwork #relaxationresponse #peacefulness #deepbreath #empowered #slowdown #loweryourstress

Do you know the 3 poses that most support diaphragmatic breathing? Well, I'm here to share them with you! Breathing through the diaphragm helps us to activate the vagus nerve, which stimulates the relaxation response.This type of breathing will help you come out of states of activation, but it's also a great practice to incorporate into your day to day to strengthen and nurture your nervous system.Let me know which of the 3 poses you liked the most!!#beyondsurviving #coachrachelsays #nervoussystemregulation #breathing #vagusnerve #emobidment #relaxation #nurtureyourself #metoo #childhoodabuse #healing #toolsthatwork #transformation #inhale #exhale #bellybreathing #selfsoothing

Did you know that there are four important and useful ways that focused breathing changes the brain? Today we explore how using breath to change the brain can help you "reduce and better manage post-trauma symptoms, including arousal and reactivity, trauma re-experiencing, and negative alterations in cognition and mood symptoms." (excerpt from Trauma Treatment Toolbox)#coachrachelsays #beyondsurviving #neuroscienceoftrauma #ptsd #nervoussystem #vagusnerve #amygdala #prefrontalcortex #healing #metoo #childhoodtrauma #healingisajourney #retrainthebrain #mindsetshift #choice #youarepowerful #breathing #selfhealingtools

Ever had someone say to you, “Just take a deep breath” and everything inside of you just wants to backhand them?! I certainly have had that experience. And yet – this is pretty solid advice because focused diaphragmatic breathing is one of the most immediate (and most accessible) ways to activate the vagus nerve, which serves as an amazing “chill out” button for our system when pressed.Tune in to learn how to press this button when your activated to send a potent signal to your brain to relax!#coachrachelsays #beyondsurviving #breathing #neuroscienceoftrauma #somatics #healing #takeadeepbreath #reducestress #goodbyeanxiety #chillout #vagusnerve #parasympathethicnervoussystem #regulation #grounding #toolsthatwork #balance #focus #relaxation

Did you know that love can be a powerful antidote to activation?! One of the amazing things about accessing the feeling of love is that it causes the brain to release oxytocin, which is a powerful hormone that is even sometimes referred to as the "love drug". This hormone is also a neurotransmitter, and so when released sends all sorts of "feel good" signals to the brain and nervous system to signal safety - which is a key component of nervous system regulation.Listen in as I take you through a quick exercise that will help you access this resource state and will be a support to you the next time you feel triggered or dysregulated.#coachrachelsays #beyondsurviving #love #oxytocin #nervoussystem #healing #triggered #neuroscienceoftrauma #childhoodtrauma #sexualabuse #metoo #overcoming #thriving #pendulation #feelgood

There is one thing I know to be absolutely true....we ALL have fears!Fear is a powerful feeling. It can move us to get out of the way of danger, warn us when there is a threat, activate our spidey-senses.Unfortunately, fear can also be paralyzing and cause us to miss out on so much.Let's explore how to be with this feeling and transition out of the energy of fear (particularly when there is no real danger) so we can do the things we want to do and experience the things we want to experience!#coachrachelsays #beyondsurviving #fear #neuroscienceoftrauma #nervoussystemregulation #healing #metoo #getunstuck #faceyourfear

When we get angry, the nervous system is cued for fight or flight. Sometimes, what is igniting our anger has nothing to do with a present day injury, slight, injustice, or insult. Rather, the brain/body has picked up on something that cues a historical trauma and we are off our head before we know it. Expanding our capacity to be with anger as it arises, to pendulate from dysregulation back to regulation, and to get curious about our anger (why?, where is it coming from?, what exactly happened?) is key to our living more empowered, grounded, less reactive lives. There is absolutely 100% nothing wrong with feeling angry - it's a powerful and useful feeling - AND! we need to know how to move in and out of this energy with mindfulness. I'll walk you step by step through an exercise to help you explore this.#beyondsurviving #coachrachelsays #anger #nervoussystem #metoo #feelyourfeelings #empowered #grounded #trauma #childhoodtrauma

Being able to notice and identify the common thoughts you tend to have when yo are distressed is a key skill to develop. This will afford you the opportunity to slow down, challenge negative patterns of thought, and get back in the driver's seat. You do not have to immediately believe the thoughts you have. Let's explore some ways to identify distressing thoughts!#coachrachelsays #neuroscienceoftrauma #beyondsurviving #traumatoolkit #healing #nervoussystemregulation #metoo #childhoodtrauma #overcoming #mindfulness #challengenegativethoughts #avoidthespiral #empowered

Being able to tune into your body and notice the shifts and changes in your sensations and energy plays a vital role in healing. The more we are connected with the body, the better able we are to identify sensations that are tied to distress and activation and thus be better equipped to drop in and do some regulation before our system is too out of whack.#coachrachelsays #neuroscienceoftrauma #peterlevine #beyondsurviving #traumatoolkit #embodied #senses #healing #nervoussystemregulation #yourbodyisyourguide #energy #metoo #childhoodtrauma #overcoming