Hi! Welcome! What to Expect Here🥰

When to Expect it; What I’m About & Who this space is & isn’t for

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash

Hi! I’m Colleen~ Mama, Trauma Therapist, Creative; “Lover of Words, Trees, Travel & Life”

Welcome!!

While I am already a few posts and several notes in now, I am following the very sound advice of

Elin Petronella

who suggests that newbies to this space (like me) create a “Hero Post.” A “hero post” shares with readers who they are, what to expect from their newsletter, & who’s it’s for & not for (among a few other things).

Rather than assuming readers will click on your “About” section, a formal post (that can even be pinned) is a way to assure every new reader has this basic: who, what, when, where, & why at their fingertips.

If this is redundant for anyone, just carry on; but if you haven’t clicked on my “About” page, you may find out something new here.

So~Hi there~I’m Colleen! Thanks for being here!

I’m a full-time mama to three grown children, one 14 year old, & my 8 year nephew. I’m also a former Yoga teacher, cancer nurse, ‘practicing poet,’ dreamer, introvert who goes crazy for full-fat vanilla custard or a bakery croissant. Yum! I believe in magic, & talk to trees, but I’ll geek out over some Neuroscience, Poly-vagal Theory or “Internal Family Systems” like it’s my hobby.😎 They kind-of are; along with journaling, penning poems & gathering in spaces with others who love to write too, naturally. I also love to travel, belly laugh, read, appreciate all mediums of art & theatre, and keep my curious mind engaged in learning, growing & sharing. I walk in the woods daily, & listen to nearly every genre of music. I’m Spiritual & look to nature, the Sun, & the Moon to remind me about cycles, rhythms, & surrendering to something bigger than myself. I value deep conversations & genuine connection. I still believe that Love is stronger than Fear, and intention matters.

I started this newsletter with the intention of finally honoring that still, small voice inside of me that has been patiently waiting around for me for a long time; waiting for me to ask the right questions like: “What do I really love to do?” “What lights me up?” “What is my Heart alive for?” “How will I feel if I never…?”

These answers always led me back to “Writing,” & “Connecting” with others, most especially in spaces where I could feel free to be “fully me,” (or at least less “masked,” less performative.) I’ve spent my entire career in the helping professions, with my identity quite wrapped up in this persona of “Helper.” And while this is still a big part of who I am, over the last 5 years, I’m also embracing sides of me I shut out because I (at the time), deemed them frivolous, or myself-somehow not worthy of pursuing.

But No More!☺️ Ive decided that “The Writer/Creative”’in me gets to live & breathe & be too; simply because the desire is there. After all, desire is life-force energy; desire brings passion, play, wonder, excitement. And who doesn’t want this in their life?

And so here I am, after years & years of not pursuing this big desire of mine.

Which, on the bright side, gives me more experiences to share with you from a professional lens sure; but most notably, creatively, offers up my very lived ‘human’ experience, which, although particular to me; I hope, will often be universally relatable.

*But Before I dive any deeper, let me save time for those who this Newsletter/publication is likely NOT for. (In case you haven’t figured that out yet😂).

This space is likely not for you if:

• You don’t believe in Trauma, or any of the evidenced based negative impact it has across all domains of living See: “Adverse Childhood Experiences” longitudinal study etc.

• You think psychological theory, practice, therapy, or counseling is a waste of time, or worse

• You don’t like to ponder the “unseen, but felt world,” concepts like synchronicity, serendipity, “magic,”

• You don’t like the word “ponder”😂 & take yourself very, very seriously

• You don’t like poetry or writing or creative exploration in general

• You are not interested in the Nervous System

• You are not into the occasional foray into exploratory existential questions &/or you

• loathe sensitivity, vulnerability & human connection (Though I ask myself: “Is anyone like this even on Substack??” If so, I have not crossed their path yet.)

However, You will probably Enjoy My Space If:

You Do have any interest in: Therapeutic, Wellness &/or Creative Modalities for: healing, connection, growth, expression, vitality, inclusion & ALSO love, or at least are open to reading about:

• The Autonomic Nervous System & how we can work “with” our bodies to optimize health

• Recovery & Traumatic Growth

• Writing, Journaling, Poetry & Narrative Story (as both creative & healing practices)

• How & what this Human (me ;-) actually does in my real life, to stay connected to her source, feel vital, alive, grateful, inspired & also equally:

• How I fall down, struggle, grieve, get detoured, battle my own demons & practice extending grace & beginning again.

Yes! I love to Teach & Share with others from not only a professional lens, but my own real, very messy human life, things that inspire me, heal me, & “light me up.”

Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash

(Over the last 5 years, following a series of life events of my own: (multiple close losses including the recent death of my mother, a medical scare for my husband, my son & new daughter in law’s “total loss” house fire, my own life-altering motor vehicle accident & a family re-arrangement, to name but a few) I began to ask myself,

“Are we really just supposed to sacrifice, complain & then die?”

“Is there truly some nobility in “suffering” for the sake of it?

I decided, No!)

*Suffering, not to be confused with Pain, by the way, which for all of us humans, is inevitable; (if we are present & paying any attention at all.)

I decided just as much as life’s inevitable challenges, disappointments, losses, & accompanied pain are a part of being Human,

I also choose to believe we All deserve to feel:

Ease, Peace, Joy;

the Energy of Life Force;

& that

Love, Wholeness, & Abundance is our Soul’s True Nature.

So, Here in:

“Writing & the Nervous System as Medicine: My Body, My Pen” I will:

✨Share monthly (or more) body-based Nervous System Tools, Resources, Routines, Rituals, & Practices that, (in addition to helping clients I’ve worked with in therapy,) have helped me personally in my own life (self-regulate & access choice)

✨Share semi-regular psycho-education about the brain, & cognitive tools for shifting “Automatic Negative Thoughts,” shame spirals, etc. These will both inherently weave their way in, & be intentional.

✨Share my Poems, Stories, Musings, strengths & struggles (as a messy human & practicing writer) committed to personally engaging in this creative, nurturing practice (& I invite you join me);

✨Share future offerings of Workshops or Containers I create, (both Free & Paid)

✨I may also write about Attachment styles, & perhaps even inner child wounding (based on the groundbreaking work of Richard Schwartz, MD who coined “Internal Family Systems.”)

✨I invite you to “come as you are;” embracing a philosophy for soul-led humans who crave “belonging,” over “fitting in.” *See Brene Brown’s work:

✨As I grow here, I hope to create a “community” of tenderness & truth;

✨where gathering feels like safety; a “coming home” to our “favorite” selves;

✨where readers feel invited to share, pick up anything useful, & leave the rest.

If this sounds like a space for you, I hope you’ll decide to Follow along!

For those who want it, here’s:

A BIT MORE DETAIL on how I approach the Nervous System & my frame:

As a Trauma Therapist I’ve learned so many exciting things about the brain & the body; how trauma is stored in our very cells, how “un-felt” feelings stay with & in us, & how holding on to high levels of trauma &/or things we’ve encoded as “stressful,” builds up to toxic levels that promote disease by way of chronic inflammation. (We were Not meant to be in a constant nervous system state of ‘threat.’)

*A Healthy Nervous System is one that can respond to *actual demands moving in and out of sympathetic, ventral & parasympathetic. See PolyVagal Theory

One of my most profound discoveries was learning that our brains are “neuroplastic,” (aka: we can change our neural pathways; our inherited & rehearsed default settings as it were.)

And this means:

“I do Not need to stay Trapped in a Busy Mind.” &

“I do Not need to stay Trapped in a Tense Body.”

(And neither do you! :-)

I learned the way out is through the “Wise Self,” obtained by tuning in to a “Noticing Brain.”

What is “Noticing Brain?” Well, the “Noticing Brain” is responsible for awareness of our thoughts, emotions, and sensations. Think of it as the curious ‘observer,’ and instead of judgy one. (Kind “meta-cognition; a thought about your thought). And because it has a direct connection to the “alarm bell” of our brain (the amygdala, housed in the emotional region; responsible for ferreting out danger),

activating “noticing brain” (not Judgy/Critical thoughts) calms the body, and restores our somatic (or “felt sense”) of safety in our bodies.

“Felt safety” because we can’t “talk ourselves safe” without our bodies agreeing. And it turns out, that it takes energy to be in panic mode, to tense muscles, & to be ever on high-alert.

So in turn, by learning to soften, & relax my muscles, (say by practicing a body scan & intentionally breathing) I am introducing “calm” for my body, & “present-centered awareness” for my mind. This “Noticing brain” becomes the bridge between my survival brain, my emotional brain & my thinking brain. And from here, I can then access my “thinking brain,” and have choice.

(Did you know when our “survival brain” is in “threat mode” that it siphons blood away from our thinking brain, (taking it off-line!?) Fascinating, isn’t it?

It then sends the blood where it’s needed (where we in actual ‘imminent danger’): to our arms & legs, (& organs like the heart) in preparation for fighting, fleeing, or freezing? This region of our brains is roughly 400 million years old, while our cognitive regions are only half as old! Wild! (I think so anyway.)

Knowing all this helped me decide, that since it sounds like my nervous system is just doing its job trying to keep me alive (even if it is ‘negatively biased’), I can PRACTICE Patience with myself.

Over & Over & Over again when my survival brain ‘errs on the side of caution,’ or ‘Xerox’s the past’ in the name of keeping me alive, or (when I forget,😉 to practice what’s good for my nervous system)~

I remember that Compassion & Curiosity are the secret! (instead of frustration, criticism, judgment or shame). I practice using “Noticing Brain” even when I am not under perceived or actual danger so it becomes much more accessible to me when I am! #gamechanger

After all, I certainly do Not want to stay flooded in constant cortisol & adrenaline!

*I also practice this with 1:1 clients over here: In my Private Practice, when I teach Yoga, & in forthcoming Workshops.

While I can access “Noticing Brain” through mindful practices like intentionally focusing on one sense at a time, breathing intentionally, or meditating, etc., I can also access it through writing!🤗

So Yes! right here on Substack, in addition to sharing psycho-education, ‘nervous system supporting’ body-based tools, & some of my own nourishing daily rituals;

I’m so excited that I’ve found my way back to Writing!!

In addition to LITERALLY SAVING ME, by Connecting me back to my Center, & with Other Creatives & Writers elsewhere & here!

Writing has inspired me to create, to surprise myself, to find out what I really think & feel, to heal, to transform, and to step into my soul’s desires.

I’m so excited to be here, to Learn, to Grow & to Share Writing with you!

Writing ‘Lights me up!’ Writing is my Soul Medicine.

What Lights you up? (I’d love to hear :-)

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Final Tidbits: Some of my Beliefs:

✨We all possess a Sacred Center, a Life Force that makes us, “Us.”

✨Learning to listen to & trust our own sacred voice is powerful medicine;

✨Tapping in to the wisdom of our body renders it a “magic wand” for possibility;

✨the belief that we all have a story, many stories that shape our lives, & that in fact,

✨that “the stories we tell ourselves about our life, become the life we are living.”

✨that stories live in our very cells, & harnessing this truth through any kind of writing has the power to shape our narrative, (what we believe to be true about ourselves);

✨Writing offers us ‘Agency’ over our own lives.

✨Writing gives Choice & restores Hope.

✨Writing is Creating & Creating is life-affirming.

I hope you decide to Subscribe below to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives. I’ve got lots of ideas & forthcoming offerings to share! I Can’t wait to meet & connect with you!