Hello and welcome to my podcast, The Wellness Project with Des. On today’s podcast episode, I speak with Jackie Stewart about how she improved her mental health by regulating her nervous system with somatic practices.
I’m Desiree, a Mental Health Therapist that is passionate about helping people improve their mental health and live a healthy and fulfilled life. One way I do this is by interviewing experts in the field of mental health and wellness as well as those that have struggled with their mental health but have gained control over it and now live fulfilling lives. In this podcast episode, we will hear from Jackie about how she uses somatic practices to regulate and heal her nervous system.
Jackie and her husband, Toussaint (ep 124) went through an extremely difficult time that almost ended their marriage. Jackie experienced a lot of worry and anxiety that she had never experienced in her life before. She says that she didn’t feel like herself at all. She was going to therapy but cognitive, talk therapy wasn’t helping. It didn’t feel right. She knew she needed to try something different.
One day while scrolling Instagram, Jackie randomly stumbled across an account where a woman was talking about regulating your nervous system through somatic practices. This women also offered a monthly class where she led people through somatic practices.
Shortly thereafter, while attending couple’s therapy, her therapist recommended Jackie try somatic practices. She took this as a sign to give it a try. She went ahead and joined the class that was offered on Instagram and after just one hour she felt like a completely different person. It was a transformative experience.
Somatic practice integrates the body into your healing practice. These practices can include meditation, focusing on the breath and the mindfulness of the present moment, breath work, a containment hug, completing the stress cycle, and so much more. There are so many options when it comes to somatic practices and it may take some time to find what works best for you.
In this episode, Jackie explains how you can reconnect with your body, how to identify what feeling you are feeling deep down, and how you can use somatic practices to regulate your nervous system and in turn, improve your mental health.
Listen Here:
Where to find Jackie:
If you liked this episode, you will also like the episode I recorded with Jackie’s husband, Toussaint Stewart. Listen to it here:
https://accordingtodes.com/124-2/