I’ve been practicing contact improvisation (CI) on and off for 36 years and I really think it’s one of the best physical practices for health and well being -so many things about it are good for you. This short piece focuses on nervous system regulation.

We are all familiar with the sensation of pain, but where does the concept of safety come from? How safe we feel has a big impact on how much pain we feel.

Awareness of our own sense of balance and self, gives us a tremendous agency. It provides an internal reference point from which to navigate the turmoil of the ‘world out there’

When we find ourselves overwhelmed, we have an amazing capacity to partially remove ourselves - like a force field, buffering us from the worst of the heat and impact.

As adults we have the capacity for agency and also the potential depth and breadth to revisit the wounding experiences of the past and to integrate them back into the whole

I turn on the TV, I open a bottle of beer, I eat something, I go shopping, I run a marathon, I get drunk, I blame everyone, I don’t ask for help, I don’t ask for love, I avoid people, I big myself up, I act out, I hate myself, I punch somebody.

How many different ways can we find to avoid the discomfort of feeling something that we don’t want to feel?

The way we relate to other people has a significant bearing bearing on our health. This is because we all live in a ‘sea of relationships’, and how we position ourselves in relation to other people determines, among other things, how our biochemistry, physiology and psychology expresses.

So parts of life can still flow, can integrate new experiences and be open, present and available to change and adapt. Whereas some parts are locked in the past and cannot be updated and integrated.

Salutogenesis is the study of the origins of health and focuses on factors that support human health and well-being, rather than on factors that cause disease (pathogenesis).

In stillness we can sense and attune with the original field of health. In stillness there is no need to get anything or anywhere. It’s the true centre of power, love and healing.

New research by researchers Ellissa Epel and Martin Picard show that how you feel and how you perceive the world translates into how your mitochondria manage your energy.

Yesterday I attended the 2024 Dream Symposium at the Royal Institute in London. It was a fascinating day with presentations from leading sleep and dream researchers, writers and psychologists.

‘Being present and curious with experience as it unfolds, is an act of unconditional love towards oneself’.

Agency is often thought of as the capacity to externally act on something, but really it’s the state of mind that supports confidence in our own capacities and allows us to take an empowering action in the first place.

Chronic pain is different from acute pain. Suffering and discomfort that hangs around for a

long time and for no apparent reason means that the nervous system may have become sensitised and is holding on to a pain pattern relating to past difficult experiences.

Disembodiment, if viewed as a disconnection from any part of the self, physically or psychologically could be considered an inflammatory phenomenon.

We’ve built an outward facing culture that compulsively and unknowingly hunts the ghost of a broken love story.

Being able to comfortably say yes and no clearly and with integrity, is arguably one of the hallmarks of being a proper ‘grown up’ person. This capacity implies that we have the confidence and clarity to sense, honour and state our true needs whilst also respecting and honouring the needs of others.

We all need a reference point, some way of knowing where we are now, so that we can locate ourselves in a place that makes some sense. We use story as a kind of map, and that helps us understand where we’ve been, where we are now and where we might go. But how do we know if the story of the map, or the map of the story is true?

One of my favourite things about Biodynamic craniosacral therapy is the way every session reveals itself in a new and surprising way – like a dance. Every moment is new and if we can feel it, honour it and allow it, space opens up all around for something expansive and good to unfold.