Les 1
Why Stress is Not Just in Your Head
Stress is often misunderstood—we tend to think we need to work on our mindset to overcome it. In reality, stress is our body's way of adapting to life and its demands. In this lesson, we explore what stress actually is and how it helps us survive. Understanding it as a survival mechanism allows us to work with it effectively, giving us a greater sense of agency.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Les 2
How Our Senses Shape What We Feel - Somatic Practice
Our stress responses and triggers are deeply personal, shaped by whether our nervous system feels safe or overwhelmed. In this lesson, we’ll explore how our environment, sensory perceptions, and emotional experiences are interconnected—and how they can evoke individual responses.
Through this simple yet powerful somatic practice you’ll learn to tune into the sensations and emotions that arise, helping you understand that stress, emotions, and even memories are not just in your head but also live in your body.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Les 3
Understanding the Language of your Body - Nervous System States
Emotions don’t just exist in our minds—they live in our bodies. Yet many of us have been conditioned to disconnect from these sensations, leading to stress and burnout.
In this lesson, we explore how our nervous system shapes our emotions and behaviors, often without us realizing it. By understanding different nervous system states—like fight-or-flight, freeze, and shutdown—we can begin to recognize our patterns and work with them instead of feeling stuck.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Les 4
Developing Somatic Awareness - Somatic Practice
In today’s exercise, we will build somatic awareness, which is essential for effectively releasing stress. Every emotion and feeling we experience has a bodily response that we need to recognize in order to change. This practice will also help you understand that, even when you feel overwhelmed by stress, you are not broken—your nervous system is simply in survival mode. Once we understand this mechanism, we can begin to work with it rather than against it.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Progress - Ever so blue
Les 5
Feeling Safe in Your Body again - Somatic Practice
Stress often makes us feel scattered and ungrounded. Our thoughts race, pressure builds, and self-criticism takes over. It’s the opposite of feeling “at home” or secure within ourselves. That’s why, to truly address stress and the emotions beneath it, we must first establish a sense of safety and stability within your body —which is exactly what we’ll do in this exercise.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
The Untold - Ever So Blue
Lamma - Lo Mimieux
Les 6
Learning To Complete Impulses To Release Stress - Somatic Exercise
A key part of our body's natural stress release response is completing the impulses it generates. However, because we often live in our heads, we tend to suppress these impulses, causing stress to remain stuck in our system. In this exercise, we’ll gently reconnect with our impulses and continue building somatic awareness.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Les 7
The Four Phases of the Stress Response Cycle
To understand how we can release stress, it's important to recognize the four phases of our physiological stress response. This helps us determine whether we've truly processed and released stress and emotions or where we might be getting stuck.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Les 8
Your Personal Stress Response - Reflection Exercise
In this lesson, we’ll explore your personal stress response and how your upbringing, culture, and experiences shape the way you process—or don’t process—your emotions and stress. We��ll also examine where you tend to get stuck in releasing stress and how to address that.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest
Les 9
Daily Somatic Stress Relief - Somatic Exercise
In our last session, I’m introducing a somatic practice you can use daily to process your stress and emotions. This practice serves as a safe haven to return to, a place to strengthen your relationship with yourself and check in with your inner world. The more often you practice and adapt this exercise to your situation, the greater your stress tolerance will become. You’ll develop flexibility in handling life’s challenges without being easily thrown off balance.
Music:
Blooming Meadows - Arden Forest