Alarm or False Alarm?

Life is lived through your nervous system. Daily and over your life you're taking in information through your senses, which includes your sight, smell, taste, touch, sound, and intuition (the gut feeling) is an extension of the nervous system.

This input informs your nervous system so it can adapt, maintain health, and keep you safe:

A healthy flexible nervous system may notice:
"That horrible driver is a threat"
or "that food is definitely moldy, pass"

If the stress of life begins to build on over time, the imprints of small or large stressors of the past can cause an increase in threat signals.

You may be thinking: "this is fine I can handle it" to an embarrassing situation with colleagues.
While your nervous system is saying "emergency, shut down, run away and hide!"

Your perception system can become skewed by life's unprocessed events, signaling a threat due to having less flexibility than your nervous system optimally does. 

The beauty is - you can build flexibility, here are three ways I recommend:

  Integrate the stressors that have accumulated, clearing the noise and cobwebs in the nervous system, reminding the system it is safe can do wonders! (Body work that addresses the nervous system, like neural integration, or subconscious reprogramming work, like To Be Magnetic, breath work and more can have this effect!)

  Practice oscillating between the state of threat and the state of peace, or the state of expansion and contraction. Exercising this muscle helps to build and train flexibility in the nervous system again. Feel each state and move back and forth, informing your nervous system that it is safe to explore these ranges.

  For a period of time, reduce the inputs that are outside of your bandwidth and increase those within your bandwidth (watch befriend your bandwidth for more about this)

Have you ever felt worse after scrolling on your phone, versus the vast contrast of how open and hopeful you feel after hiking to see a stretching summit view?
Vision is one way that we practice oscillation daily, if you've been staring at the screen for the last 5 minutes reading this email, take 1 minute to look out into the distance or to the horizon. (watch this video on the connection between your nervous system and vision for more)

In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

Patterns of tension & the nervous system,

 Life is lived through your nervous system.

Day-to-day events like unexpected traffic, challenging conversations, long to-do lists, as well as big life stressors like loss, trauma, and/or transition can often be found outside of your nervous system's capacity, or bandwidth. 

Patterns of tension are created as a way for your body to hold onto the information your NS cannot fully process. With the intelligent plan to process, integrate and grow in the direction of more wholeness when it has more resources to do just that.

Patterns of tension can build on like layers of an onion, and overtime or one day we just don't have the energy we once had, our mood or outlook seems jaded, and/or our body is feeling less than optimal.

Here is a short video that will shed light on these patterns of tension and help you to deepen your understanding of your body & nervous system.

You'll benefit if:

  you are noticing your body feeling less than optimal, but unsure why
  you're feeling like you're slipping backwards in the game of health/life
  you would like to become more balanced and adaptable
  you are curious to learn more about your nervous system!


You''ll find it above, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!


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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

Shifting gears in life,

There are some myths out there that having a healthy nervous system means that you are always calm.
Whereas the truth is that a healthy nervous system can ride the waves of life, it can move in and out of all experiences (anger, sadness, frustration, etc) and return to balance. 

A vibrant nervous system will be able to experience the sensation of calm more of the time (or joy or bliss, etc), but it is also going to shift gears throughout our days and that's actually a really great thing!

Flexibility in your nervous system is key to a vital life.

Here is an 8-minute video that I previously recorded to share more about how you and your brain shifts gears, and how to optimize this flexibility to help you find balance and bliss!

You'll benefit if:

  you are struggling with riding the waves of emotion in life
  you're beating yourself up because you are burnt out again
  you would like to become more flexible in life
  you are wanting to learn more about your nervous system


You''ll find it above, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

Are you surviving or thriving?

Are you resisting or growing?

There's no right or wrong answer, but when you bring awareness to where you are, that's when things begin to shift. 

That's when struggles melt away. 
That's when you start to become the person you've always dreamed of becoming.

This week, you'll want the inside scoop on the two forces (PUSH and PULL) that influence our wellbeing and quality of life, with a few questions you'll see where you are at and how to make movement towards optimal.

You may benefit if:

💜  you are afraid of _______ (health, relationships, finances, world) getting worse or something terrible happening
💜  you feel like if you added one more thing to your plate you might crumble
💜  you would like to say a full body yes to growth and change, but aren't clear on a path forward
💜  you are open to learning and healing for the good of everyone

I recorded a 5-minute video to introduce you to the two forces that control our lives and wellbeing, push & pull. You'll walk away with an understanding of which one controls you at this time, and a couple of questions to provoke the healing that comes from each of the two forces. 

You''ll find it below, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

Open your perception to what is possible,

I'm not there yet
This is the worst
Is this ever going to get better?

Ever find yourself hyper focusing on what's going wrong in a situation? Even when you simultaneous recognize the wonderful things happening around you, you can't stop focusing on the worst case scenario?

Under stress and even modern day habits, your nervous system will narrow it's perceptual lens!

This week, I have a simple way to open back up your world, and shift your perspective, and it starts with your nervous system.

You may benefit from widening your perception if:

  you are focused on the downside
  you feel like there's no other options
  you would like to learn how to open up to new possibilities
  you are open to learning and expanding your nervous system capacity!

I recorded a 5-minute video to explain this phenomenon and a simple way to start to use your nervous system to open to new possibilities. You'll walk away with a something new for your tool belt, and new look at life!

You''ll find it below, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

Befriend your bandwidth,

Every relationship benefits when you take time to understand and work towards improving it. The same can be said for your relationship with yourself.

This week, I want to help you improve your relationship with your nervous system, more importantly the part that influences your everyday experience, your energy, and adaptability for life - your bandwidth.

You may benefit from befriending your bandwidth if:

  you feel drained or disconnected
  you feel like your body or mind is working against you
  you would like to learn how to restore your bandwidth & feel like yourself again
  you would like to revitalize your bandwidth & have more capacity for the things you love as well as dream of doing!

I recorded a 10-minute video to introduce you to your bandwidth, and give you 3 simple steps to increasing your capacity. You'll walk away with a deeper understanding and the skills to build a relationship with your nervous system.

You''ll find it below, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

How to be more Present

Something I hear over and over again is how you want to feel and be more present. To experience fleeting time with your children or grandchildren, to quiet the noise of your mind, and to be more joyful in general.
I think we all come to realize in certain moments how precious and quickly life can pass by, and yet simultaneously how much we balance in our day to day lives!

Presence is like a PAUSE, and what I have found is that even a few intentional pauses throughout the day can make a huge impact on our overall happiness.

There are so many wonderful ways to pause (each of our previous videos are excellent examples)! This week I have recorded a short video to share one of my favorite ways to pause, and not only create more presence in that moment but to also change the momentum of my day to move intentionally and align with what I want to experience more of.

You may benefit from taking an intentional pause if:

💜  your mind is leaving your feeling drained
💜  you feel like life is moving at an increasing speed
💜  you feel like you're focused on the draining things rather than the life giving
💜  you desire to expand your awareness for joy and bliss!

I recorded a 5-minute video to guide you through my favorite intentional pause. You'll leave feeling grounded, more connected to yourself, and I hope with some with inner guidance!

You''ll find it below, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

How to create a North Star

If we're not intentional in our lives, we will coast in the direction that has been laid our before us. This could be the status quo, what your parents set out before you, or even directly towards what you don't want.

This applies to every area in our lives, health, career, relationships, finances, quality of life, family, physical environment, and spiritual. 

Your nervous system is a set and detect system, it's incredibly powerful and when you give it something to focus and expand on prepare for life to elevate in many ways! 

A north star is a simple way to give your nervous system a focus, to build a new identity, and ultimately new neural pathways.

You may want to create a new North Star if you:

  find yourself coasting
  feeling off track, or not "on purpose" in life
  have reached a big milestone and are now seeking your next level
  are curious if you are aligned with your heart (soul) or your mind (ego). Hint hint, it's an integration of both that will take you where you want to go!

I recorded a 5-minute video to help you identify a north star, and make moves in this direction day in and day out to become who you are here to be!

You''ll find it above, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

Breathing through life,

 Do you ever catch yourself holding your breath? 
Or having a hard time taking a deep breath?

Your breath is like an on/off switch for your nervous system. It naturally responds to the stress in front of you with short and shallow gasps for air, AND helps to mitigate the effects of stress once the threat is gone by taking deep sighs or long exhales. 

It's really common in modern day life to get stuck in a survival pattern of breath, because your physiology still feels like it's in a stressed state even if hours/days (ehem sometimes years...) later. 

The gift of breath is that is it something we can consciously influence. This is why it is one of the best tools for supporting your nervous system. 

If you:

  find yourself triggered into fight/flight/freeze/fawn often
  ever feel reactive
  ever feel tense, or breathe shallow
  are curious to explore the connection between your breath & biology

I recorded a 15-minute video to help you increase your capacity for love through a simple prayer and exercise!

You''ll find it below, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica

How to grow your capacity for love,

Did you know that your capacity for love is greatly shaped by your primal years, from the time developing in your mothers womb to 3 years of age?

How your mother experienced love and support, whether your environment was nurturing and met your needs, ripples into your experience of love and support today. This imprint may be impacting your capacity for self love, the love you show those around you, and how you experience love. (Read more about that here, if interested!)

The Hawaiians created the Ho'oponopono prayer because they believed that love and forgiveness are key to releasing burdens on the heart and to our healing. 

Here are a few emotional states you may experience that could benefit from consciously practicing forgiveness:

  resentment
  bitterness
  judgement
  frustration or anger

I recorded 5-minute video to help you increase your capacity for love through a simple prayer and exercise!

You''ll find it below, and please as always, reach out if you have any questions!
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In gratitude & good health, 
Dr. Jessica