Recover from Burnout and Restore your Nervous System with Somatic Practitioner Jessica Conway

Introduction

0:00Welcome to the Exploring Healing Arts podcast, your go-to source for learning about different healing techniques and meeting exceptional healing arts practitioners from around the globe. Together we explore where the physical meets the subtle, the possibilities that exist for healing, and a diverse array of methods to try from acupuncture to yin yoga and Reiki to family constellation therapy. My name is Elizabeth Alexander. I am the creator and curator behind

0:30this podcast, a Reiki master and energy healing practitioner. This podcast is something I have dreamed of for many, many moons, and my intention is to birth the resource I wish I had had at the start of my own healing arts journey over a decade ago. Whether you are just getting started on your own journey or you are intentionally diving deeper into a healing arts practice, this podcast is the place for you. You will hear inspiring stories, get real life practical tips, and connect with

1:01exceptional practitioners and teachers from around the world. No two paths in healing are the same, but that does not mean you need to be alone. Join us to explore and experience healing together.

Guest Introduction

1:18So today's guest is a near and dear friend of mine. Jessica Conway is a somatic practitioner and multifaceted healer with over 14 years of critical care nursing experience. Her own journey through burnout and nervous system dysregulation led her to become a trauma-informed somatic coach, a safe and sound protocol provider, yoga instructor, and meditation guide. Jessica also holds a master's of science in nursing and is a registered nurse in California. As a passionate seeker of truth and

1:48wisdom in the human experience and someone who feels with her whole heart, Jessica empowers others to prevent and heal burnout and nurture resilience through private coaching in her transformative course, rise and resilience. Her mission is to help you trust your own inner guidance, rekindle your vitality and embark fearlessly on your unique path towards a wild and authentic life grounded in your body and truth. Welcome Jessica. Hi, Beth. Thanks for having me. Just really grateful

2:19for you in this platform. I'm so stoked. This is something we've been talking about for a long time. Yes, we have. Yeah. And it's finally here. And so people that are listening are listeners. Jessica is one of my best friends, full disclosure. And we've gotten to wear a lot of really wonderful and rich hats in each other's lives. We have been taking classes together and gone through experiences together. She's been my teacher. I've been her student. I've been her teacher. She's been my student. Yeah. I mean, a very full journey. Is there anything that you want to add to that?

2:55I mean, yeah, I think you've just really led the way for me with my business and sharing what I'm passionate about. Just you do it so beautifully. And I just yeah, living with you and being your best friend, it's been really inspiring to watch and kind of figure it out with you by my side. Yeah, life and business. We've been figuring out a lot together. I call Jessica my soul sister.

Ancestry and Roots

3:20Yeah. So what is your ancestry? And what are your roots? And how do you stay connected or not to them? Yeah. So I was actually born in Santa Barbara, the ancestral land of the Chumash. But my mother's ancestry is Ashkenazi Jewish Jew. So from Northern and Eastern Europe descent, my father's lineage is Norwegian, Irish, Scottish. And I stay connected. It's interesting. I was reflecting recently on this,

3:57and I've created this like, kind of comp, I call it a competent protector or like, you know, during times of overwhelm, disempowerment, paralyzing worry, and just feeling alone in that I often call upon my ancestors in a version of like, a surrendering prayer or blessing. But I also have this imaginal competent protector that I call her wild inner known. And I feel like she's an ancestral guide and connected to my lineage. And she's this fierce feminine energy of protection. And I also think

4:30she's part of my own true nature. So I very much feel connected to my ancestry when I call upon her. Oh my gosh, I have the chills as you're saying that. That's so cool.

Current Location

4:44Yeah. So where are you physically located? Like, where are you living and working right now? Yeah. So I'm located on the ancestral land of the Northern Chumash people, also known as Morro Bay, California. And it's on the central coast. We have miles of wild coastline, a lot of fog that I'm constantly in battle with. And this really ancient volcanic mound at the end of Morro Rock Beach that is just so majestic and very healing to witness.

5:17It's beautiful. You're like right at the tail end of Big Sur too, like that part of California. Yeah. And there's a lot of vast empty land here. So it feels really wild and open and a slower pace of life, which I'm leaning into more and more these days. Sounds delicious.

Burnout and Somatic Healing

5:38Speaking of slower paces of life, we're here today to talk about burnout and somatic healing. And I know that burnout is a topic that you are passionate about, both in terms of your own story of overcoming burnout yourself and helping others with it. So I'd love to start with your story. Yeah. How has burning out shown up in your life? Yeah. So I've been a nurse, as you said, for over almost 15 years now. And the majority of that time has been in the ICU, intensive care unit. So very high stress environment, very fast pace.

6:15And being in that environment really took a toll on my nervous system. And before somatics, I didn't have this language and didn't know what was happening. But I was having like GI symptoms, a lot of weird, chronic inflammation in my body, a lot of anxiety, sleep disruption. And then it was starting to affect my relationships and how I was showing up outside of work. And during the pandemic, like most, I think this could be a very common story to a lot of people, my burnout kind of came

6:49to a head. And I came home from work one night. And just I kind of call it this like dark night of the soul moment where I came home from work and kind of collapsed on the ground of my apartment with this just overwhelming energy that was very unfamiliar to me. So very scary, very unknown thoughts in my head. I'd never thought feelings in my body sensations that were way too big for me to process. I actually called my mom that night crying and had her come stay with me because I was really

7:21just scared of what it was. And in the weeks following out of the love and care of my family and doctors, they kind of wanted to diagnose it, medicate it to get me through. And you know, there is a time and a place and a path for that. I'm not discrediting that path. But something in me kind of knew this was not the path I was ready to take just yet. And so I was lucky enough to be seen a somatic therapist at the time. And she just had this lovely perspective in and of itself, which was

7:53so empowering and healing that she's told me, she's like, Jess, you've just experienced too much stress, that your nervous system's window of capacity has kind of gotten a little bit rigid and smaller. And you've currently gone too far out of a window of capacity of your nervous system. So she's like, I think with enough time and resourcing and somatic practices, we can bring back the flexibility, the resiliency of your nervous system and widen your window of capacity so that you can feel like yourself again. And I have not stopped diving deep into the somatic rabbit hole

8:30since that moment. I love it. I might also preface that I feel like I'm a very sensitive human that feels life at like 140%. So that very much has also attributed to the burnout. Thank you for sharing

Somatics Explained

8:47that. And for the people that are listening, I know you and I are deep in somatic studies and somatic practices for years now. But it's also a field that not everybody knows about. So when you're talking about somatic skills or somatic strategies, somatic practitioners, like, what is that? What is somatics? Yeah, so soma means body, which yeah, I didn't know even. And somatics is living body. So somatics views the body as alive, receptive, expressive, with its own memory. And the memory

9:22of the body isn't necessarily the memory of the mind in pictures and movie form and visions. The somatic memory of what our body holds onto is in the form of tension and constriction and sensations. And so somatics healing is a type of healing that includes the body and the nervous system and this like primal language of the body in the process of healing. So the healing is at the biological level, it's at a deeper, more experiential level. And really, if I were to sum it up, the goal of somatic

9:57therapy and somatic healing is to get the body into a felt sense of safety and connection and attunement. So really feeling at the biological level, this sense of safety. So you can't just tell yourself, Oh, I'm safe. You know, I'll be fine, or muscle your way through. It's like the body needs to be included, which, yeah, it's a different lens and a different modality for sure. It sounds like, like a bottom up approach, like you start with the body and work your way up instead

10:27of like starting at the mind and working your way down. Yes. And the mind is definitely included in somatic type healing modalities. But yes, we definitely intervene at the physiological, biological level, nervous system level. And a lot of people that, you know, go to somatic therapy have tried the like talk therapy for a long time or coaching world. And it was similar to me, I had done the same. And it's just like, okay, I have the mental knowledge and the wisdom in my mind. But my body is doing something different.

10:57Like, I keep having this trigger. And I know one, like, okay, I need to be more confident or I need to do XYZ. But my body is not doing a whole different thing. And so that's when I'm like, okay, I need a little bit more support with my body.

Nervous System States

11:16So can you tell us a little bit more of like, just a brief overview of like different nervous system states? Because I think that would be helpful for listeners to have coming from the lens of like, you know, that you and the somatic practitioner you were working with knew you were outside of your window of tolerance. Like, what does that mean in terms of like our nervous system and how it works? Yeah, so I'd say when there's an when the body feels safe enough, it's inside the window of tolerance. And in that state is where homeostasis is and relationships can happen and connection.

11:51And curiosity is in that inside the window of tolerance, compassion, love. It's a very relational space, because the body feels safe enough to be in connection. And in connection, and co-regulating with another human being in connection is a biological imperative. And so when it's safe, it can connect. But in our biology, if there's more threat, and our body senses more threat than safety, when we receive enough threats, our brain state and physiology, profoundly and almost

12:26instantaneously changes. Wow. So we go from this brain and body that was full of connection, and choice to a very narrow, simple menu. And that menu is flights, we can flee from the perceived threat or real threat, we can fight it, we can freeze, we can fawn or collapse. And these are all at the biological level. So we don't have a lot of choice or conscious input into this happening. This is our body happening in response to a threat

12:57in the name of survival. And so when I say we're outside that window of tolerant, we're kind of stuck in one of those fight, flight, freeze or collapse states. And you know, there's no good or bad state nervous system state. I'll also say that. But the goal is to be able to hit these states and then come back into the window of tolerance, come back into connection. But what happens with burnout and chronic stress is we get stuck outside, and we can't find our way back. And it sounds like that's kind of what happened to you on your like dark night of the soul experience

13:31where you just collapsed. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think I was writing my window of tolerance that edge for far too long. And finally, my body is like, yeah, we don't have enough resources to keep fighting and fleeing. We're just going to collapse now.

Identifying Burnout

13:47Yeah. So what are like, if someone, you know, we've talked a little bit about how burnout has shown up in your body and some of the responses, how might other people like identify it? Or what are some other signs and signals that where someone is experiencing burnout? Yeah, I have this like metaphor for burnout. So I think if you were to think of our life force energy as this river, this river of life that's flowing, and burnout is almost like getting stuck in an eddy

14:18in this river. And so you're just stuck. And you're not flowing with your whole life. And so you've been in dysregulation for too long without enough resourcing to get out of the eddy and back into the flow of your life. And, you know, so burnout is this chronic stress for that is like anything that's too much, too fast, too long. And it really it disrupts that innate rhythm of the nervous system. And this innate rhythm of our nervous system is a pace that most supports our healing. And so it

14:51disrupts that burnout also disrupts our connection to our own body, to another relationally, it causes a lot of disruption, because we're in a state of threat and not connection. And it takes us out of the here and now it really disrupts our ability to be in the here now in the present moment. So I think those are kind of actually the most disruptive effects of burnout. You know, of course, there's medical stuff that happens to the body in these states, you're out of homeostasis. But really, it takes

15:23you out of connection. And I think that's in the present moment. Thank you. So it sounds like, you know, one of the gems that you got from your own really challenging experience was being pointed towards somatic healing modalities. And you've gotten some great results, it sounds like it. And now you're helping people with this. So when you talk about like, resourcing or trying to do things to get yourself out of the eddy and back into the flow, like, what are some of the strategies or the ways that you've done that yourself or you coach clients

15:57through? Yeah, so it's kind of creating this like counter vortex to the eddy to like resource your body. And this is an interesting answer I'm going to share. I think it takes actually a lot of attunement to one's own self. I'll share a little story the other day, I'm in a somatic experiencing program, and that we were doing this practice session where one person was being a practitioner, one a client. And I was sharing some dysregulation I was currently experiencing. And the practitioner,

16:29you know, wanted me to, okay, take a deep breath, calm your body, you know, I think her goal is to resource me and to regulate me. My body was not ready to do that. There was a part of me that when I was able to attune to myself, this part just wanted to be seen and heard, not fixed, not healed, not told to take a deep breath. I just wanted to like be like, no, like, I feel threatened, I need to just like, be not alone in that. So I think one of the biggest things of somatics is attunement. And,

17:04and that leaves a lot of creativity, but it takes just a lot of awareness of self and compassion for yourself. But a resource is really anything that allows the body to feel safe and in connection and attuned to and has to be at that felt sense level. I love your story. And just the level of awareness that you had, even in a situation where someone was kind of like coaching or pointing you in a different direction to be like, actually, no, like, yeah, I need. And I know that's something that you've cultivated for yourself. So like, how does one cultivate that? Like, if you're just kind of at

17:39the point where you're like, I've just collapsed, or I'm not in connection to my body, or I don't know how I feel, or I don't feel necessarily safe to share how I feel, like, what are steps that people could be taking towards that? Yeah, I mean, it's so true. I take for granted, I've put a lot of work of building this, like, what we call an empathic witness. So I can be that for myself now at times, but not always. And I still go to friends, coaches, somatic therapists, someone who can be this

18:10empathic witness, because when we're in these states of overwhelm, burnout, dysregulation, the body in order to feel safe really needs another witness that has the capacity to hold what we're going through and not be dysregulated, like has the compassion and warmth of just allowing it to be there without fixing or healing it. And so that muscle can be built in yourself. But it really does take another to hold that and allow our bodies to then, you know, in the presence of

18:44this empathic witness, the body really innately knows how to heal itself, it just needs that present. And then the body knows what to do. It's pretty crazy. Yeah. But I've seen it far too many times to not be a firm believer in it. Well, it makes me just think I'm like, we literally need each other on a biological level, you know, and we don't innately maybe come into this, like knowing these like this is something, I guess this is a question, like, to me, it seems like we don't innately necessarily know how to move through the nervous system states. And it's something that has to be

19:17like modeled or taught, or like we have to be co regulated through. Yeah, I mean, I think it's one of the most beautiful lenses of somatics. It's like somatics doesn't view the person as a client, they view them as a human and the symptoms are not a disorder or disease of anxiety, depression. What it is, is a symptom that's coming from a nervous system that doesn't feel safe. And so you don't really address the symptom, you address the nervous system not

19:48feeling safe. And you get it to a place of safety. And you see how the behaviors, the habit patterns, the addictions, the symptoms kind of just go away on their own. But really, at the root of it is this longing we all have to feel safe and connected and attuned to. And I love what you said and kind of touched on to where it's like, sometimes like the word dysregulated, you might think that it's like bad, but there's also like a level of wisdom to it. And like, we need all of these states, but you were saying earlier, there's a need for more

20:21flexibility within them. Can you talk more about that? Yeah, so a healthy nervous system can access fight, flight, freeze when needed. So I think what it's discerning is my body responding to an environment in a correct match? Or is there a mismatch? Is my response too much for what the environment around me? And so with these chronic states of stress and not enough resourcing the body and safety, we can get caught in that eddy,

20:55we can get kind of stuck in one state. And then we lose touch when we do have an opportunity to be in connection and presence, and it is safe. We're still stuck in that eddy. And so we're dissociated from our bodies, we're in a state of anxiety and rumination, our bodies are contracted and still feel the threat, even though that threat's been removed. So it's not enough to just remove the threat, we have to bring in safety. And so one of the things I love that you do is your weekly like

21:27joy of sharing what brings you joy. And that's actually such a wise practice. Because in these states, it's like, we have this negativity bias, and our bodies are wired to then see everything as a threat, whether or not it's a threat. It's like our brain, our biology is wired to see threat. And so one of the things you can do is to actively seek, find, feel, absorb in your body, joy, pleasure, gratitude, safety. And I don't know if we want to do a little somatic practice right now.

21:59Sure. Sure. Just like a little asterisk. If you're driving, maybe like, I was going to say to the road, yeah, participating. But if you're like in the safe, quiet comfort of your own home, when you're not responsible for something like driving or cooking, just lead us. So this is a great practice to do as like a reset button to the nervous system. Awesome. So what I want you to do is to let your eyes go where they want to go and see what you want to go and see what you notice. And you can take your time looking around your room, but let

22:37your eyes go where they want to go and see what you notice in your body as they land somewhere.

22:53And so my eyes went to this tree outside my window above the screen. And I could feel this deep breath happen in my body and just a reminder of the here and now and reorienting to that sense of safety in the body. And so this practice someone could do four or five times a day as just that little reset button. If you feel that you're kind of creeping in towards the edge of your window of capacity, it'll help bring you back in.

Somatic Practice

23:26It's beautiful. Thank you, Jess. Yeah. So I love these like these little snippets, you know, these little resources that you can apply really anywhere and anytime. And I know that's a big part of what you guide people through. Like you educate people, you co-regulate with them, you guide people into these practices. And sometimes also like it's just the environment is like not supportive for your nervous system. So can you talk about like maybe some ways to discern if it's like the environment's just

23:58not sustainable for your nervous system? I mean, I think some of it, we've got systemic issues in our culture and society that kind of push us into nervous system overdrive. Totally. But if you have like, just based on your own experience, some thoughts on like what are signs and symptoms of maybe that's the environment and it's not just you. Yeah, I think we all have a unique window of capacity of our nervous system and an environment where one person may thrive, maybe an environment of threat to someone else. So I think it takes a

24:32compassionate, sober looking at one's window of capacity and level of resourcing and evaluating if it's an act of kindness to stay and work on widening one's window of capacity and bringing in proper resources to do so. Or if it's an act of kindness to oneself to leave and take another path, because what we want to do is slowly stretch our capacity in a way that doesn't re-traumatize the body. But like you kind of touched upon, I want to mention that having proper resourcing is a

25:07very much a privilege in our country and sadly not a human right. So safe housing, financial resources, safe relationships and community, and time to simply rest and get out in nature are definitely a privilege. But I can share, yeah, a personal story of, you know, when I was in the ICU, I had to take a sober, compassionate looking at my capacity and the signs and symptoms my body was telling me, you know, all the ways my body was telling me this was just too much. And I gave it

25:40some time to try to widen my capacity and bring in resources. And then there came a time where I was like, yeah, I think it is an act of kindness and empowerment to switch roles. And that's when I started the somatic coaching practice. But I've also gone into hospice nursing, which has just been so beautiful for me to work at a pace that my nervous system feels safe and to be surrounded by an environment that is supportive to my unique window of capacity.

26:13Thank you for... Oh, there's so much richness in that share. Yeah. Thank you. For people that are maybe like feeling like they're teetering on the edge, like they could get sucked into the eddy, but they're not quite there, like in terms of like burnout prevention. Are there any things like simple practices or steps that you would recommend? Yeah. In my course, I teach this like five step. I term it the nurse resiliency protocol. It's not just for nurses. It just happened to be the acronym. But I think if you're kind of at that edge,

26:50and you're looking to widen your window, come back into your window, the first thing you need to know is notice that you are at the edge. So bringing in awareness, and then just a lot of compassion for yourself and all the strategies it has to try to keep you safe and to let you know, communicate that it doesn't feel safe. And then resourcing is the third step, the R in the nurse protocol of find, feel, absorb, safety, cues of safety, that pleasure, that joy. And once you're resourced, so really that phase one is all about resourcing and not to bypass the problem at hand. But in order to face the

27:27problem head on with the right part of our brain and body involved in that, you know, more somatic inquiry, we need to be resourced. And so then we can go kind of turn towards the problem at hand, turn towards, you know, making that decision if we stay or leave. So phase two is kind of more of that, like, deeper, kind of reorienting to our lives, and coming into attunement with what's here and now what wants to be known, held, touched, even if it's difficult, challenging or unwanted. So that's

27:59kind of phase two. Thank you. And then, you know, for people who have gone outside of their window of capacity, what are the pathways to healing once you've already burned out? You know, like you're there, you've noticed, you're aware, you're outside of it. Like, is it different for everyone? Or are there some like, parallels in terms of like, ways that you can start healing from it and recovering? Yeah, I think when you're outside that window, and you know, everything is your biology, your brain is

28:32just wired for threat. And you're just kind of stuck in that eddy, that vortex, that phase one, yeah, it's establishing stability and getting through that acute overwhelm, and building resources. So building that counter vortex to the eddy, and all the somatic resources and tools we have, along with the most effective thing for a nervous system that's under threat is a safe other, a co-regulating other person. So our bodies, you know, heal in the presence of another that we feel

29:06safe with. And then again, yeah, the next step is, so it's kind of the same for prevention and healing burnout is that like nurse protocol that I teach in my course and kind of shared a bit on here. But yeah, it's like that phase one resource. And then you have the capacity to like face it head on, face your problems head on. And this goes beyond burnout. I mean, this really could be applied to any challenge trigger. It's like, you don't want to face it head on when you're still in a state of distress. So resource your body, come back into your window. It likely will take support from a

29:42friend, a colleague, a coach, a therapist, and then yeah, can face it head on with that resourcing on board. But it's definitely a titration. What does that mean? Yeah, just kind of titrating how much you look at the problem at hand, digest it and go back to resourcing the body. So a lot of awareness, a lot of attunement of like, okay, I'm hitting my edge. I need to take a breath. You know, I recently had a big conversation with my partner and I was reminded

30:12by my somatic therapist. Okay. You know, make sure you're checking in with your window of capacity during this conversation and bring in, you know, resourcing, take a pause, take a break. You really want to have this conversation inside your window of capacity because that's where, you know, the brain is in a state of curiosity and compassion and relation. Because as soon as I'm out of that window, I am, everything's a threat. My mind changes to, this is a threat. I need to get out of here. My body changes. So I knew one of the most loving things I could do for

30:46that conversation was try to stay in my capacity. So as like, you know, a sensitive person yourself who feels at 140%, I have a couple of questions just like from that lens for other people who maybe relate and understand that. Like one, why somatics for someone like that? Yeah. I think when you feel life at 140% and you're just like this open channel, it's easy to get into

31:19this is too much too fast, you know, for my body. And so to have that attunement, that awareness, and that empowerment to know, okay, like I have this unique window of capacity. I am a sensitive human in this world. May I notice when I'm at my edge, which may not be someone else's edge, my unique edge. And may I bring in the resources, the slowing down, the level of care that I uniquely

31:49need in this moment. Sensitivity, you know, is a beautiful thing in this world. And yet the kind of the pace of this world, it does just feel like we're just at a constant cortisol drip of things happening and in this world, and it's so easy to feel it all. And we won't be able to help and heal this world if we're outside of our capacity. So it is a act of kindness and compassion and love to really be attuned to oneself.

32:20That's beautiful. I'm like reflecting on so many of the answers here. And there's like a level of simplicity to somatics that I'm just like deeply appreciating. Like I feel like I keep asking, you know, different questions, different lenses, but there's so much of it seems like it's coming back to attunement, like kindness, connection and community. Yeah. And repeating. Honestly, if you were to sum it down to two words, it'd be like, yeah, awareness and attunement.

32:53Because like once you're aware, you can quickly intervene and just attune to what your unique body needs. And it likely involves connection and having a lot of compassion for it. But like I said, in that one story, you know, it's not all about like attuning with, okay, I need to take a deep breath and relax and find inner peace and calm. Like, no, like, my body is in it right now. And like, okay, it just needs to not feel alone. And it needs to be acknowledged and heard. And that in and of itself, just like, lifts the veil of shame and blame and needing to be fixed and needing to be

33:27something different. And that in and of itself just is like ginormous. Yeah, totally. Well, it sounds like deep pathologizing, too. It's like, instead of being like, oh, because you're having this symptom, something's wrong. And instead, it's like, hey, this is happening in my body. And there's a level of wisdom or intelligence to it. Can I be still enough to like witness what that is? Exactly. Yeah. Wow. I like, I just kind of laughing because I'm

33:57like, okay, keep taking like the courses, we keep taking the courses, we're learning so much. And yet it really like, it's like, again, you can't do it up here. It's like, it has to be embodied. And that's why you practice and repeat it over and over and over again in the presence, like you said, of loving others. It's funny, in my somatic experiencing that course I'm taking right now, that was my biggest takeaway. It's like the mind wants to make healing so complicated, it wants to make this process of healing so complicated and so dramatic. But really the

34:32body's way of healing is so simple and sweet and loving and compassionate. But the body just speaks this primal language that we know as babies, like we know it, but we're kind of taught to not listen to it as we grow. You know, our culture has really taught us to not listen to our body and not be embodied and not, we kind of focus more on the mind than we do the body. But it really is a simple, sweet way of healing. And at the deepest level, I mean, but it also is the deepest root level of

35:06healing. So yeah. I just, I like, I am once again, like listening to your responses. I'm just in awe, you know, like, the body, the wisdom that's there. And like, the simplicity, if we can still ourselves enough to be with what's there, you know, and sometimes, like you said, you need a person to be able to contain or hold that space for you. There's so many possibilities from that place. Yeah, totally. And I think that's one of the most beautiful parts of enlisting someone else.

35:39It's like when we're in that state of threat, just our options get smaller. Like we don't see all the options available to us. And so it takes that empathic witness that can see where we're at, have compassion, but also see all the paths and options we have to take and point those out to us. I recently had a therapist. I still see my somatic therapist on the regular. She's my younger. Shout out. She's been amazing to us the last few years. And I was in the trenches and I, you know, but I had enough awareness to know, okay, I'm seeing this

36:14one way and it's a small, narrow way of looking at it. And it's very much threat focused. So in her presence, I was able to regulate and with her help, see all the options that were available to me and feel into all of them. And it's like, okay, my body, this does feel like the right path. And like, what is aligned with my body. And yeah, I just, you need that support to see it all. Yeah. Well, and how beautiful that it's like, you're getting that support from her. And like,

36:45we've both provided that support for each other. And now you're providing that through stepping into your role as a somatic coach and somatic practitioner. You provide that for other people too. Yeah. And it's really just providing the environment, the right conditions for someone else's own innate healing to happen. Cause we all are different and we have our own innate ways of healing and it just requires the right environment. Yeah. That's beautiful. So I would love for you to tell us a little bit, like, what is a session with you?

37:20Like if somebody was coming to you to like overcome burnout, or they've just realized that they're disconnected from their body or they're feeling sensitive and want to get some more like support or resourcing or skills around like navigating life as a sensitive person, like what does a session with you entail? Yeah. So the somatic umbrella is really big. And so I have fallen into what has worked most for me, which is bringing in a lot of mindfulness and somatic parts work or internal family systems,

37:54it's called modalities, but essentially, you know, someone will come in with a issue at hand and we'll talk about the narrative of that problem, but then we'll slow down. Cause I can see with the narrative that they're out of their window of capacity. So we pause, we bring in some resources, we attune to the body. Where do you feel as you're sharing this narrative? Where do you feel it in your body? How do you know you feel anxious or like, how do you know, you know, usually it's like, I'm feeling anxious. I'm feeling overwhelmed. Okay. How do you know? What is the sensations in

38:26your body? The way your body's telling you, you feel this way. So can bringing the body in, I'm on my end, watching their nervous system and making sure they're staying within their window of capacity. So that's my biggest role. And just bringing this level of like, helping the human in front of me kind of unmerge from the problem to give enough space to bring in that curiosity, the curious mind. I'm not necessarily helping them make meaning. I actually don't like to help bring in the making meaning part, but I'm creating an environment where they

39:00have the tools and the support and the embodied experience to kind of repattern their nervous system, rewrite the story in a very embodied way. So a lot of it is working with these small parts in us that do feel scared and giving it enough space where you can be witness to it and bring in that curiosity, the compassion, the warmth and see what are they scared of? What do they need to feel safe? We need to protect these parts. We need to speak for them, not from them. So a lot of

39:31times we're acting and speaking from the parts. And really the goal is we need to act for them and not from them. That's beautiful. In the name of protecting them, making our bodies feel safe and connected. And I will say this too, if you were to ask me that same question tomorrow, it's the hardest. Like we said, it's really hard to explain this with words because it is an experienced thing. So I totally butcher it every time. Well, I think it's just different. It comes through

40:02differently. But speaking of experiential, and we'll talk a little bit more at the end on like how to connect with Jess, but you do have on Insight Timer a bunch of like meditations and like guided somatic practices where if somebody just wanted to go and like try some of what you're talking about to see how it feels in them, they could do that there, right? Totally. I have an Insight Timer page with a ton of free guided meditations, nervous system embodiment practices, and a really cool somatic flow writing practice, which if for those that like to journal, it's a really beautiful way

40:38to do that somatic inquiry we've been talking about and attunement. Awesome. So we'll be linking to that in the show notes for people that want to go and you've enjoyed listening to this, the words have gone through to you and maybe you want a little bit more robust experiencing. Yeah, Jessica's here to help with that. So we're going to transition into rapid fire questions. I do these with all the guests at the end. There are five questions. Just say the first thing that comes to mind your short and sweet answer. All right. Cool. So what is your human design? I am a manifesting generator.

41:14Awesome. Which I don't know a ton about. Although I once heard that you're supposed to do it lights you up and it's likely that changes frequently, which makes sense to me. Although the somatic thing has stuck, that has stuck. But yeah. I love that. I always include human design for people that are listening because it celebrates all of our unique expressions. And I think it can be helpful to understand the lens of the person that's talking about what they're talking about. So yeah,

41:44Jess does what lights her up because she's a manifesting generator. Where's your favorite place in nature to be? Oh, so many. The mountains of the Eastern Sierra. I'm actually about to go there tomorrow for a backpacking trip. But honestly, one of my favorite places is my own backyard here. Los Osos, the neighboring town has a state park, Montana de Oro. And I go in the morning at sunrise and dip in the ocean after doing a little meditation and breathwork practice. It's my favorite place to

42:19hike. And it's really uncrowded and beautiful mountains on the beach. Wow. Yeah. What is your beverage of choice right now? You turn me on to this. Sparkling water with hibiscus concentrate and lime. You are my beverage guru. I was kind of like, which of our top 20 beverages is she going to pick today? Oh my gosh. When we lived together, we just had, I mean, we really, we really went above and beyond

42:50with the sparkling waters, teas, smoothies, everything, juices. What is your top tip for good energy hygiene? I think getting out in nature with a supportive friend. Yeah. And how would you define healing? Yeah, I love this question. Healing, I would say is bringing back that innate drive and rhythm of the nervous system that's been interrupted by burnout, chronic stress or trauma. And it's really

43:25coming back into connection to one's body, to another and to the here and now, because really burnout, trauma, chronic stress disrupts all of these.

43:37That's beautiful. Thank you.

Offerings and Conclusion

43:40So what are your offerings? Like how can people work with you and how can they find and connect with you? Yeah, I offer one-on-one integrative somatic coaching remotely. And there's an option to do safe and sound protocol, which is this listening protocol that helps to retune your nervous system. You listen to music. It's a beautiful way to really heal the nervous system. And my course that I just put my heart and soul into came from my own experience with burnout and my

44:10own healing journey called Rising and Resilience, A Journey to Freedom from Burnout. And it's self-paced online course designed to repair your nervous system as you learn to listen to the deep healing wisdom of the body. And then I have for the listeners, if you go to my website, jessicaconwaysomatics.com, I created a somatic breathwork for sensitive souls. So it's this guided practice of breathwork. It's free. It does require you just give me your email, to sign up for my email list. I only send out a few emails a month, usually a lot of free

44:46guided meditations and just my writings I love to share. So yeah. And then you mentioned Insight Timer, which is also a place you can find me. I want to try the somatic guided breathwork. That sounds awesome. So yeah, we'll be dropping those links in the show notes. So if anybody wants to go straight through and try that guided somatic breathwork with Jess on her email list, we'll be linking to that. We'll be linking to her website where you can find the one-on-one coaching and also the rising and resilience course and the Insight Timer links will be

45:18there as well. So if you're curious, open, want to learn more, yeah, go check her out. Yeah. And I have a free 20-minute consultation. So yeah, see if it's a fit. If this sparked your curiosity, we can set up a free 20-minute consultation and answer all your questions. And yeah, I would love to support you on your healing journey. Thank you so much, Jess. You know, I adore you and I love getting to share space with you. And it's so fun getting to be here with you sharing your story and just so much of the wisdom and

45:51the richness that has come out of your own journey and the ways that you show up to share that with others. I really appreciate you. Thank you, Beth. And honestly, like, you were there for me during this whole journey and have been a top co-regulating other for me. And this was so fun having this conversation with you and sharing this. So thank you for having me. I really, really appreciate being on this platform and all that you're doing to spread the word of somatics and energy healing. And yeah.

46:22Yay. Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast. I hope that our words, our stories, and the wisdom shared on today's episode inspire you and support you in feeling connected. If you loved this episode, please leave us a five-star review so we can reach more people. And as a thank you for listening, join me for a mini course on energy hygiene. You get three simple practices you can do anywhere, anytime to support you in feeling

46:55more grounded, connected to yourself, and confident in your energetic boundaries. Sign up at energyhealingelizabeth.com slash energy hygiene. Thanks for being here today. And I look forward to being with you again soon. The primary purpose of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast is to inspire and educate. As a reminder, the information and opinions shared on this podcast are not intended to be a substitute for

47:26professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage you to speak with your doctor for professional medical advice or treatment. Opinions offered on this podcast are just that, opinions.