🎵 Your true voice 💜

Let's look at your fifth neural center,

I'm excited about today because I'm going to talk to you about something very special. We're going to talk about the key to being authentically yourself, to being magnetic and expressing exactly everything you are.

And the key lies in your fifth neural center, the Thyroid Plexus.

(If you are new here, you can find the past 4 neural centers on my blog here.)

This center is located in your throat, and as well as governing your thyroid, jaw, ears and mouth, it's responsible for sound.

It's responsible for your voice and how you express yourself. 

When your fifth neural center opens up and you can express your authenticity, it begins to guide your behavior and life choices.

Living authentically, when you know who you are and what matters to you, is liberating. 

And along with your voice, this center governs creativity in all forms and aspects of your life. Whether you're an artist, an entrepreneur, or just creating a good life for yourself and your family.

With coherence in this neural center, you become incredibly inspirational. People are going to want to be around you because you are authentically yourself, and you can listen and respond to others.
 

Incoherence in this neural center shows up as perfectionism, lacking abundance and creativity, like you just can't figure things out. You don't feel seen and struggle to ask for help.

If you can't authentically be you because you're not expressing yourself, that manifests in every single dynamic in your life.

But when you bring more coherence to this neural center, you feel an ease and flow in your communications and expressions of who you are. You heal your perfectionism because you can embrace the uncertainty and the unknown.

You can create and see solutions clearly, your talents begin to express fully, and you become an amazing communicator, inspirational and charismatic.

The key to life is relationships. And the key to relationships is communication.

That's why with coherence in your Thyroid Plexus, you become magnetic.

Next week we'll look at the sixth neural center and why it's my favorite.

Until then, I want to leave you with one quick tip to support you in integrating any patterns you have built up here.

TIP: This neural center is about sound, so an excellent way to open it up is by humming. Take a deep breath, and make an Om sound as you exhale. Feel the vibration in your throat- it will help you bring more coherence to your fifth neural center. You can also hum or sing a favorite song to receive the same benefits.

Try it and see how you feel!
 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

The secrets of the heart 💜

Let's look at your fourth neural center,

Today we've reached a transition point on our journey through the neural centers.

We've already seen the neural centers 1-3, find the past 3 on my blog here, which are connected to our physical body, grounding us in this space and time.

Now we're moving on to 4-7, and this is where we start to open up the concept of mind & consciousness.

The fourth neural center, the Heart Plexus, is the transition between the two, where our divinity meets our humanity.

It governs the heart and circulatory system, the lungs, the upper torso, your skin and the thymus gland, which is vital for your immune system and white cell production.

Self-love and self-acceptance grow from the Heart Plexus.

And we can only love and accept other people as much as we love and accept ourselves. That's why the Heart Plexus is so important in how you interact with the world and experience everyone around you.

Cultivating coherence in this neural center means that not only do you cultivate self-love, but you actually exude love for others, seeing the beauty and perfection in who they are.

Plus, this neural center is more powerful than you think.

Your Heart Plexus has been scientifically proven to have 15 times the vibrational frequency of the brain!

That's why when people talk about positive thinking or affirmations that only work on the level of the brain, it might work for some people, sometimes.

But if you don't cultivate heart coherence, you're missing out on the potential that is 15 times more powerful than your thoughts.

And that can really create a massive difference in your life.

Until you open up your heart, your finite human self will not be open to the infinite, divine self, to that version of you that you hold deep down inside and that is everything you can become.

❌ Incoherence in this neural center shows up as fear, living in fight or flight, or seeing the world through the perceptual lens of betrayal. Patterns here can show up as melancholy, feeling sad without actually knowing why, and loneliness.

And as it governs the heart, incoherence can manifest on a physical level as cardiovascular disease, as well as the inability to receive and perceive love.

✅ But when you bring coherence here, you feel unconditional love for yourself and others. You feel compassion, experience intimacy, cultivate conscious relations to yourself and others, and are open to the possibilities of your infinite self. Your confidence increases, you become more patient, and you develop a deep trust that everything is going to work out for your highest good.

The universe is so abundant, and you fully live in the abundance of this universe.

We saw last week that your third neural center governs your sense of self, and now that your fourth neural center governs how you see yourself in the world and everyone else in it.

And that's a pretty powerful combination.

💡 TIP: Here's a simple exercise you can start now to bring more coherence into your heart:

Place your hands over your heart and take long, slow breaths, making your exhale longer than your inhale by a few counts. Close your eyes, and imagine filling your heart like a balloon with breath and gently expending it out into the world around you as you exhale. 
With every sense in your body, add in experiencing a high vibrational state (love, gratitude, enthusiasm, inspiration) in conjunction with your breath. Breath in that feeling into your heart, into your balloon. 10x that feeling, that emotion, as strong as if you were living it and feeling it right now. Effortlessly grow your balloon, and allow it to encompass you, then those around you, then your whole town, and even the globe. Connecting to your breath and your heart, place your hands over your heart, place a smile on your face, and release the visualization. Return to the room when you are ready.
You may finish by bringing some gratitude into your heart space for your beautiful brilliant mind, your resilient body, and your warm heart.
Notice how you feel.

Next week we'll continue moving toward the throat to look at the fifth neural center.
 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

The key to your identity 💜

Let's look at your third neural center,

How are you finding this journey through the neural centers? I hope it's giving you a little more insight into the wonderful technology that you have within you.

You can re-read about the previous neural centers on my blog here.

Today we're moving onto the third neural center, the Solar Plexus. It starts three inches above your belly button and goes up to the xiphoid, which is the point where your lower ribs meet in the center.

In India, they call it the power center, located around the top of your digestive system, stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, abdominal muscles and adrenals.

It's the core of where your present identity is created.

Do you know those people who seem fueled by fire, by passion? Who always have a burning desire in their belly?

That fire comes from the third neural centre. 

The adrenal glands fuel that fire, with their burst of adrenaline and cortisol that drives you to action. After that burst, your body rests and returns to homeostasis. But if you let your adrenals fire 24/7, running your life, eventually that will lead you to adrenal burnout.

In today's busy world, many people suffer from burnt-out adrenals and turn to supplements and other external cures to heal them. And those might help, but if you don't start creating coherence in the third neural centre, you'll fall right back into the same patterns.

Incoherence in this neural center shows up as a difficulty to digest or metabolize food and life. You experience low self-worth and lack a sense of purpose, you're hypersensitive to criticism and feel the need to control situations. It can be a struggle to have spontaneity in your life.

But when you bring coherence here, your digestion is strong, your mind is peaceful, and you have a profound sense of self-worth, fully connected to your essence. You become deeply confident, with a strong clarity about your life's purpose, and you feel excited and adventurous, with a life fired by passion.

With coherence in your power center, you become connected to your essence, to the identity within you.

And if you can open that door a bit further, it takes you beyond your present identity. Every single identity you've ever known, ever imagined, or could ever create exists in the unified field.

All you need to do is create coherence, and you will be able to align with that identity. And that's when you become a powerful creator, tapping into the infinite potential within you. 
 

TIP: To recharge this neural center and create coherence, spend intentional time in the sun. Take a mental check in on your energy levels, and imagine charging up your solar battery by spending 10 minutes relaxing with the sun on your skin. Bring your attention to this area and tap into your sense of confidence, clarity, or self-worth. Revisit a past memory, or someone you look up to in this areas, to borrow this sensation if it feels foreign. You're laying the new neural networks to coherence and connection. 

Next week we'll continue moving up toward the heart.
 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

The key to emotional wellbeing 💜

Let's look at your second neural center,
 

Last week we looked at your first neural center, the foundation upon which everything else is built, located at the seat of your pelvis, it is the root of your autonomic nervous system.
You can re-read about the first neural center on my blog here.

Today we move a little further up to the second neural center, the Superior Mesenteric Plexus. If you look at your belly button, this neural center goes from one inch below to three inches above it.

It's the network of connective tissue that surrounds and protects your gastrointestinal system, kidneys, and adrenals.

And, very importantly, it's responsible for your emotional well-being.

All the emotional baggage and wounding you carry gets stuck in this neural center, effectively memorizing old emotions and holding onto them.

And when that happens, a trigger from the outside, whether it's something you see, you hear, or something unfortunate your boss or family member says, pushes your buttons and replays those stuck emotions all over again.

This means that your quality of life will intimately depend on what's going on around you.

If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or someone says the wrong thing, you're in a funk all day because, biologically, you're locked in your old emotions.

Incoherence in this neural center shows up as mental and emotional issues, ranging from depression and anxiety to emotional numbing behavior to deal with repressed feelings. You're disconnected from what brings you joy and pleasure. You're living life emotionally from the outside in, looking for external sources to bring you joy on the inside.

But when you develop coherence here, you feel your way through life in a fully connected way. Fully connected to your life force, energy, and inner voice. With coherence, your inner voice isn't just whispering- it screams at you because your level of intuition is just crystal clear. You feel inspired and free.

And that's a really potent and powerful place to live from.

With such a high level of emotional intelligence, you are so connected to your feelings and emotions that you're no longer running away from them and no longer governed by your past.

So, that's the second neural center. Next week we'll continue moving up to the third one.

Until then, here's a quick tip to support you in integrating any patterns you have built up here.

TIP: One way to connect with the second neural center that you might have learned in yoga class is by engaging Mula Bandha, contracting the entire pelvic floor. Take a slow breath in, as you exhale squeeze that whole area from one inch below your belly button to three inches above.

This will also engage the first neural center, as they're intimately connected, but you can focus higher up to really feel that area around the navel. Breathe, connect, and feel this area as you contract, relax, and repeat. Allow your connection and focus to bring deeper healing. 

Well-Resourced Woman is another wonderful free resource to learn to stop avoiding emotions and to start processing them. As well as to tune deeper into your own inner guidance. Check that out here. 

Let me know how bringing more coherence to your second neural center goes!
 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

The foundation of it all; Let's look at your first neural center

The body keeps score, we've heard.
It's why soldiers are still distressed many years after battle, they're still living in the biological stress of being on the field. You and I are doing the same, perhaps on a more subtle level. Reliving feeling left out in childhood, the financial scarcity of a chapter of our lives, or a past injury causing fear to fully embrace something new. The neural centers are how we understand what the body keeps score of and how to integrate and truly heal.

As I shared in the last newsletter, I'm going to take you on a journey through each neural center over the next few weeks.

I want to take the time to go over each one because they are key to the work I do.

When I talk about the nervous system being 95% subconscious, that's exactly what the neural centers are; they are that 95% that governs every aspect of your life without you even knowing it.

For each neural center, I'll give you a brief overview of what areas of your life and physical health they govern and what happens when they're in or out of coherence.

Like most things in life, your state of coherence is not going to be black or white, but more likely a shade of grey. 

Say I tell you that coherence shows up as having vitality, and incoherence as having very low energy. Most of us will fall somewhere in between.

Whether you rate yourself as a 2 or a 9.5 on the scale of "vitality," there's always going to be room to improve by deriving more coherence when you integrate the old patterns stuck in your system.

So, let's dive into the first neural center! 

Known as the Inferior Mesenteric Plexus, this neural center is located at the base of your spine, around the seat of your pelvis.

It affects your bones, so if your posture is out of whack, this is the neural centre you want to look at first. This area builds cells, contains your reproductive organs, and the base of your adrenals, so if you have any blood disorder or hormonal issues, you'll likely have some incoherence here.

It's the root of your autonomic nervous system, the foundation upon which everything else is built. 

That's why when it lacks coherence, it's like building a skyscraper with a shaky foundation full of cracks. Eventually, it's going to start to crumble and come tumbling down.

Incoherence in this neural center shows up as a lack of personal power, low self-esteem, a lack of control, and inability to make decisions in life.

But when you bring more coherence to this neural centre, you feel more grounded, with a high level of vitality and overall health. You feel a sense of belonging, connected to your power source, and able to create the reality you want.

The world becomes a blank canvas, and you get to paint your unique essence on it.

And doesn't that sound like an amazing way to live?

So, that's the first neural center. Next week we'll look at what coherence looks like in the second one.

Until then, I want to leave you with one quick tip to support you in integrating any patterns you have built up here.

TIP: As the root of your system, any time you spend grounding in nature, in contact with the earth, will help you bring more coherence to your first neural center. When you're not able to be in nature, try closing your eyes and feeling into the energy of a solid, stable tree amongst the forest. Even if you already practice grounding, try placing your hands on your pelvis next time you do this and allow your connection to bring deeper healing.

Try it out and see how you feel!
 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

Blueprint of your inner world 💜

Understanding the 7 mini-brains of your nervous system

If you've ever been curious why your low back hurts when you're stressed whereas other times it's your jaw, or why you feel depressed & can't exit overthinking mode, or why you keep facing the same struggles, you'll want to take a look at the neural centers.
 

Neural centers are a fascinating and critical part of the autonomic nervous system that can make all the difference in your physical, mental and emotional well-being. They're like a blueprint for where and how stress manifests in your body and how to heal. 

They are seven vast networks of neural tissue that each have distinct roles and influence virtually every aspect of our lives: from respiration to heart rate, from digestion to our ability to sleep, and from our stress levels to our overall happiness.

In essence, these neural centers are like seven other mini-brains, working together to keep every part of us in balance. They are a big part of the hands-on healing I offer, and answer a question that so many of you ask me "what exactly are you feeling?"

You can think of the autonomic nervous system like a supercomputer that receives information and processes it so that you can understand and respond to it, helping you to grow and evolve.

When the neural centers are balanced and in coherence (a word I've been sharing about the last few weeks!), that information flows and is processed easily, and you become more vitalized, healthy and connected.

But any time that there's something that you cannot process and integrate, the neural centers hold on to the resonance and frequency of that information. It locks your nervous system in the biology of the original experience (think stressor, big or small, or too much information) and keeps you trapped in your old stories.

When I refer to tension patterns, in your sessions and assessments, I'm referring to this stuck information. 

And that's why integrating and processing these experiences is essential to keep the energy flowing freely throughout the body.

The goal is to bring coherence to the neural centers so that any stuck energy can flow.
When you integrate your past, all of a sudden, you have more life force and energy flowing through every cell and every tissue. You can tap into your body's fullest potential and capacity for regeneration and healing.

And when that happens, you'll find that your autonomic nervous system, your supercomputer, not only receives information but also acts as a transmitter, sending information back into the world.

Increasing your nervous system's capacity has a remarkable effect on how you show up in the world. The way you think, act and behave changes. You put a different energy out there, and the world responds to who you now embody on an emotional level.

  By bringing more coherence to the neural centers, you become a conscious creator of your external reality.  
 

Over the next few weeks, I will dive deeper into each of the neural centers to give you a better understanding of the role that each of them plays in your health and well-being.

Because the more you understand how powerful your own biology is, the more you will be able to create the life of joy, peace, abundance, and vitality you want.

 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

Hello missing piece,

"I've got my nutrition dialed, I am working out regularly, but why I am still not sleeping?"
"I've been practicing meditation, but I can barely sit still, let alone my mind is going a million miles per hour."

So often, we're doing all the right things but missing a central piece of our wellness puzzle, the nervous system.

Your nervous system is quietly working in the background, to keep you safe, using autopilot habits to save energy, and looking for evidence of all you believe is true. 

"The nervous system is the key to unlocking your body's innate healing abilities." - Andrew Weil

"It takes a lot of work to stay well in our modern world." I heard someone share the other day, and I nodded. If we're not intentional about the life and health we are creating, it is very easy to fall into patterns that are unsupportive of our vitality. 

One of the most powerful ways to learn and embody habits and a lifestyle that supports you and your nervous system is in person, where we can co-regulate together. 
 

I hope you'll join us this Thursday at
Creating Coherence: A monthly healing gathering 

We meet Thursday, 6/15
Time: 5:30pm-7pm
To bring: Wear comfortable clothing to move, sit, lie down. Bring a mat or blanket for the ground. Bring a journal. Bring water.
Description: Come gather alongside a small group in a community healing circle in nature to signal deeper levels of peace, safety, and expansion within your nervous system. We will learn from Dr. Jessica (nervous system healing practitioner), we will get into coherent states through movement, breath, healing touch (if consented), introspection, and guided meditation. This monthly gathering is oriented around you deepening your connection to the wisdom and vitality that already resides within you.
Location: Our forest sanctuary location will be shared upon signing up for the class. 

Enter your email & to receive the link to register HERE.
Shelby, of Fe Earth to Body, is co-facilitating, and we are so lucky to be receiving some amazing flower essences handmade for our healing.

Life is an inside-out journey

Have you ever felt overwhelmed, had a pounding headache, or felt deeply frustrated and got yourself into a tailspin trying to identify the cause? Since we're consciously aware of just a fraction of what's going on within our biology (1-5 %, yikes, that's next to nothing!), it's easy to miss the underlying roots (those live deep in our subconscious, the 95-99% we're unaware of) and to point a finger at something or someone outside of ourselves. The more that I have come to understand how we heal, the more I have come back to this concept that life, health, and wellbeing is really an inside-out journey. 

When life feels chaotic or overwhelming, I now take it as an indicator to create more coherence within.
Coherence is a fancy word for how the nervous system fires when it's synchronized & balanced. In this state there is increased harmony between mental, emotional and physiological systems.  “Coherence is the state when the heart, mind and emotions are in energetic alignment and cooperation,” HeartMath Institute Research Director Dr. Rollin McCraty says. “It is a state that builds resiliency – personal energy is accumulated, not wasted – leaving more energy to manifest intentions and harmonious outcomes.” 

So, when I have a headache or feel in a funk, my answer has also become to create more coherence within. When things just aren't working and I'm feeling frustrated or angry, it goes without saying that I need to create more coherence within.

Coherence is a balanced state deep within the nervous system impacting the autonomic and subconscious nervous system, or the 95-99% of your biology (that's a profound impact!), training the entire nervous system to fire more harmoniously. This means creating habits of relaxation, easier processing of stress, deeper levels of connection to your body and intuition, better functioning of organ systems (think digestion, sleep, hormones, etc).

Begin creating coherence today:

• in meditation

• heart coherence exercises

• receiving a healing session at Heart of Life

• walking quietly in nature

• petting a pet or cuddling a loved one

I know you and others in our community are longing for more in-person opportunities to learn and grow together. 

That's why I am inviting thrilled to invite you to:
Creating Coherence: A monthly healing gathering 

Our first gathering: Thursday, 6/15
Time: 5:30pm-7pm
To bring: Wear comfortable clothing to move, sit, lie down. Bring a mat or blanket for the ground. Bring a journal. Bring water.
Description: Come gather alongside a small group in a community healing circle in nature to signal deeper levels of peace, safety, and expansion within your nervous system. We will learn from Dr. Jessica (nervous system healing practitioner), we will get into coherent states through movement, breath, healing touch (if consented), introspection, and guided meditation. This monthly gathering is oriented around you deepening your connection to the wisdom and vitality that already resides within you.
Location: Our location will be announced shortly. 

Be the first know when our sign up is open by entering your email HERE.
Shelby, of Fe Earth to Body, is helping me put this together, and we are so lucky to be receiving some amazing flower essences handmade by her for our gathering.

I've never heard a fitness instructor say this before...

I tried a new workout class last week and heard something I don't think I have ever heard before in a fitness class... the instructor asked:
"Can you move slower?"

My brain said: "What?" 
My nervous system said: *sigh of relief* & "thank you."

I was brought back in time, to all of my high school lacrosse conditioning workouts, it was always about how hard and fast can you go?

Don't get me wrong, there is benefit to this, physiologically on a cardiovascular level and a mental level of surpassing what you believe is possible.

However, so often we're in a rush for one single appointment, it blurs into all that we do, and our whole lives become a rush. Our bodies are not designed to constantly be under this level of pressure and stress. 

When we live this way for weeks, months, and years, we start to create neural firing that believes fast/pressure is better than slow, and rest. This is when our body takes a side step away from healing. It may get stuck in fight, flight, or freeze. Or even having a hard time resting or healing from something you'd normally heal from. 
It does not need to be one OR the other, both speeds can benefit us.

Our bodies need slow and rest to process our days, to integrate, and to heal. 

I invite you to check in with yourself with the following questions:

• Is fast my only measure of success?

• Do I have a hard time slowing down, or resting?

• Is rushing or pushing hard bleeding over into other areas of my life that do not benefit, like time with my children? Or in self care time? 

• How can I see the benefit in the different speeds I move at?

• Can I move slower?

• Can I move slow enough to allow healing and integration to be a natural part of my life?

You may even put pen to paper and see just what comes up when you start to explore these questions and the idea of moving slower. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Check out our summer specials for returning & new in-person clients below.
Later this week, I'll be sharing more about an in-person healing circle happening mid-June.Lastly, a sneak peak for you: I am working on my newest online offering behind the scenes: think daily intentional practices to anchor back to yourself, your health, and your purpose. I cannot wait to share more with you soon :)
 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica

Is your mood shifting like the weather?

"It's raining again" or "it's so cold here"
Do you ever find yourself in the loop of complaining about the weather?
I have been there, and it's funny how something so out of our control can influence our mood so powerfully.

Now, you have every right to feel a certain way the weather changes - but the weather is just one example of how quickly we can push play on an old pattern in our nervous systems. 

If you feel easily influenced by others, by the weather etc it's as if you are a thermostat that is constantly changing up or down to accommodate everything or everyone around you. If someone's mood is low, you drop lower. If the weather is not conducive to your plans, you drop lower. If someone is agitated, you become agitated too. It can feel exhausting, and hard to be content if you're always reacting to the world around you. 

Now, imagine the freedom you might feel if you could stay steady in your heart no matter the "weather." Imagine you set the tone, and can maintain that level of elevated mood, and energy, rather than be brought up or down by the world around you. 
In that case you'd be like a thermometer holding the temperature, setting the "tone" of the room, rather than the thermostat - constantly shifting. 

If you'd like to be a thermometer more of the time, listen up!

Reacting means you're running old programs in your nervous system. (No shame here, most of us do or will at some point).
One of the quickest and simplest ways to stop an old program from running is to run a new program. 

Here's a simple exercise to help you and your nervous system run the program of pure presence, where you are more connected, which means you can hold your energy, mood, vibration, and intention with ease. 

Pause whatever you are doing. 
Close your eyes, and slowly rub your hands together, really feeling this touch between your hands. 
Tune in to each of your sense, 
What am I smelling right now?
What do I see right now?
What do I hear right now?
What do I taste right now?
Take a few more breaths through your nose, with a slightly longer exhale than inhale.
Bring a smile to your face, and repeat this throughout your day to come back to the present moment. 

This is one stepping stone to help you anchor into your steady heart.
What else can you do to bring you into the present moment?

 ____________________________________________________

With love & gratitude, 
 Dr. Jessica