Why Regulating Your Nervous System and Co-regulating With Nature is The Crucial Piece To Decrease Your Emotional Eating Patterns
Welcome to the Satiated Podcast, where we explore physical and emotional hunger, satiation and healing your relationship with your food and body. I'm your host Stephanie Mara Fox, your Somatic Nutritional Counselor. I can't wait to talk with Aisha Tambo today. Aisha is a queer, indigenous Australian and South Sea Islander woman. She has been settled in Toronto, Canada since 2009, and calls both countries home. She has spent over 13 years working in mental health and addictions and is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She has a part-time private practice, where she offers personal training for the spirit. She focuses on women and nonbinary educators and professionals who have done therapy, but still struggle with anxiety and healthy boundaries, and who want to bring their bodies into the conversation to understand their sensations and symptoms differently to support regulation and presence in themselves and their experiences. Welcome Aisha!
Aisha Tambo 01:07
Thanks so much Stephanie. Yeah, glad to be here.
Stephanie Mara 01:09
Yeah, I'm really excited to dive in with you today. And let's first start with what is Somatic Experiencing for those who don't know, and I would love to hear how you have blended it with the work that you do.
Aisha Tambo 01:22
Yeah, so Somatic Experiencing is an approach of resolving trauma through the body. And it was created by Dr. Peter Levine. And it's basically looking at how survival energy can get stuck in the body. So our fight or flee, freeze, or fawn energy can get stuck in the body and how we can reconnect. Reconnecting to the body helps us to move some of that energy through our systems, so that we can reintegrate it. And so, you know, we often, I think, you know, his work really relied, like I'm looking at how animals in the wild can be in situations where, you know, other animals are chasing them trying to eat their legs off or something, but they don't get traumatized and humans and domesticated animals tend to have what we call traumatic experiences. And so looking at how we have these innate systems processes in the body through the nervous system that can support us to move out of traumatic experiences. And then, you know, one of the key pieces to that is to understanding how the nervous system works and what it looks like for ourselves. And what we notice for ourselves, when we might be, you know, feeling stuck, or feeling a bit zoned out, or, you know, maybe we get a bit bit angry, you know, more than usual, or we go from zero to 100. So, sort of understanding some of those experiences through the nervous system. Yeah.
Stephanie Mara 02:50
So powerful and makes me think of deer, you know, when you see a deer of just like, maybe you've stopped your car suddenly, and they bounce off. And they just like they shake it off.
Aisha Tambo 03:01
Exactly.
Stephanie Mara 03:01
And then they just like move on with their day. And so we, as human beings have kind of lost that ability to shake it off.
Aisha Tambo 03:09
Yes, that's totally it and you know, the deer is a really good example. Because, you know, when, you know, they always talk about deer and stuck in the headlights, right? Like, there's that freeze that happens when something that's like a bit overwhelming or shocking can happen. And then, you know, sometimes they get hit by a car, sometimes people can stop, sometimes they can move on, you know, but it's that those like impulses, or those responses that come from the body that aren't our choice, and I feel like that's been really, that's a really powerful thing that I've found in learning SE for myself, Somatic Experiencing, for myself, and also teaching it to the clients that I work with is that, you know, these processes happen automatically. They happen through this like brain, the brainstem or the lizard brain, so we don't get to choose. And, and there's a lot of I think, it sort of helps us to be really compassionate and kind with ourselves like, yeah, I didn't get to choose if I was if I go into freeze or if I start to dissociate, or, you know, that fight responses, it's like something is signaling in me that there's a threat. And whether I'm aware of it or not, that's what can be making the body and making me respond in the way that I am. And then how can I start to learn more about that so I can have more understanding, and then I can start to have a bit more choice. Once I have that, right? Because that feels really important. Like these things just happen. We don't get to choose, we feel stuck, because I'm like, I always have that reaction. And it's like, yeah, but when we can learn from the body place, especially with sensations, then that can help us to start to understand why these processes might be happening, and how we can you know, get support to shift them.
Stephanie Mara 04:52
I love that you're bringing in this piece of compassion. That is just so important because especially when we're talking about our relationship with food and body, that if you go into a fight response, a freeze response with food, that it's not your fault. That something is being perceived as a threat in that moment, and that you're reacting out of a place of, you're doing the best you can with the state that your body is moving into. And you didn't choose that state, that's something that your body just did, because it's trying to protect you.
Aisha Tambo 05:28
Absolutely, yeah. And so getting to know those cues, or those triggers, and like making space for that then can give us you know, there's there's a few different pieces that we hold, and one of them is like, you know, thinking our like meaning making, and our thoughts are like, oh, you know if once I understand it through my mind, then I should be able to shift it. But the beauty with I think somatic type work, and particularly from my experience Somatic Experiencing is that you get to see that it's it is these like automatic processes through the autonomic nervous system, that they just happen, you don't get to choose because it's not your thinking part of the brain. It's this oldest part of the brain. And so then yeah, how can we be with some of those processes and bring our thinking on board to help the understanding to help with the compassion that may help it to shift.
Stephanie Mara 06:19
Yeah, so I'm curious, how can someone start to get in their body to notice and observe what state they might be in? What tools have you taught those who have worked with?
Aisha Tambo 06:32
Yeah, that's a good question. So I like to, at the start of my work, like the start of my sessions, I will invite folks to just to notice how it might be to be in the room. And that might be in the room that they're in, if we're in on a virtual session. If we're in person, then it's like, you know, what's it like to come into the room in this moment with me, and just notice if you can bring your attention just to noticing the ground, noticing the support of the chair, maybe through the back body, you might notice something else in your awareness, but just like getting a sense of how it is to to be in connection, both with yourself, with the ground and then bringing sort of the connection with me if I'm in the room with them, then how is it to bring me into your awareness as well. And so it's like this curiosity of like, getting to getting information about how do I notice myself? How do I notice my body and oftentimes, when we have, you know, like, chronic symptoms, or we have experiences with our bodies that are unpleasant, those are the things that we notice, first of all, first off, because we've got, you know, we've got a really good relationship with them, even though it may not be, you know, always a pleasant relationship. So it's like, you know, oh, okay, I might have a, you know, I'm in the room with someone, and I'm feeling a little bit nervous. But can I, you know, I notice the nervousness, and then can I feel just my hands touching my thighs, or the contact of my, you know, my pants or my jeans, or whatever it is I'm wearing, can I just feel into that for a moment, and then bring my attention away. And it really is like, it really is a muscle. So, you know, for some of the folks that I work with that have anxiety going into the body can be really unpleasant, you know, I don't want to go in because as soon as I go in there, I feel all the things that I don't like or feel uncomfortable or painful. So I don't want to go into the body. So that's really good information. And for me, it's like, okay, then we don't go into the body yet. Right? We'll talk about the theory of the nervous system. But let's just like what's it like, just to notice being in the room, can you notice the window, can you notice a plant, and that can support just with like, because there can be a lot of information that comes, there's a lot of stimuli that we're always processing. So if I can just focus on one thing, and not having to push anything, but if I can just focus on the plant that's in the room, I might notice that maybe my breathing starts to slow down a little bit. Or maybe I notice my breath. And that's enough. Like I can actually notice my breath. And it's not, it's not even that it's pleasant, it still feels tight, but that's what I can notice. Great. And then I'm gonna bring my attention back to the plant. Let me see if I can see some more details about the leaves or about the soil or the color or, and so it's sort of this like, we do this, what I call a figure eight, kind of like going out and connecting to something on the outside and then coming back in and checking in with myself on the inside, which might be just the breath. And then I come back out to the plant and then I go back in and we're just doing this figure eight and it's kind of like if you think about it in terms of inhale, exhale. Or you know, like it's this this rhythm that's in our bodies anyway, and it's actually the rhythm of the nervous system sympathetic, parasympathetic, sympathetic, parasympathetic, so it can mirror that, you know, sort of, if we do that, in out in, it can start to support the mirroring in what happens in the nervous system.
Stephanie Mara 10:11
I love that imagery of the figure eight. I can really see someone also utilizing that also in the moments that they're feeling like an intense urge to reach for food. And they don't know what else to focus on. And it's like, okay, could you bring your attention out to your environment, and focus on the plant in the room, or your pet in the room or something that feels like it feels safety producing in the room, and like, checking in with that object, and then checking in with yourself just to give yourself space from the impulses or the urges that are coming up to, like, if we experience a sense of safety back in the body in this moment, that no matter what happens, everything's going to be okay.
Aisha Tambo 10:54
Yeah, yeah. And again, it is a muscle. So it's like, as I am doing that, I come out to the pet, you know, Fur babies are amazing for that, right? Nature is amazing, which is why part of like, the work that I do is really helping people to reconnect to the resources that we have, what I call land or country, I'm indigenous so that's how we refer to it, but all of us are connected to nature, we're all part of it. So it's like, yeah, my plant, there's a tree outside, I think about when I used to go swimming at this waterhole or at the ocean. And those even connecting to those memories in nature can support our system to, to down regulate a little bit, or to just be in a bit more, you know, a less sort of activated place. But again, it does take time, and it does take having another supported, like regulated system. So Stephanie I'm sure with the work you do you provide that for your for the clients that you work with the folks that you work with of like, kind of holding and giving them support, and then they get to like, tap into that and to support themselves to come down or to support maybe even just being curious in a different way.
Stephanie Mara 12:05
Yeah, I think that's an important reminder of that, sometimes, we actually need something else to regulate, you know, there's what we're talking about is self regulation and co-regulation. And sometimes self regulation isn't possible.
Aisha Tambo 12:21
That's right.
Stephanie Mara 12:21
Like we might just be so offline, that it's just not possible to even think clearly about what your choices might even be to self soothe. So that's where actually bringing in something else externally that might feel regulating, that co-regulation, can be supportive. And I would love for you to talk more about how you bring land into your work. Because I think this is actually a very important piece of you have nature/land all around you that actually you can utilize as a co-regulator.
Aisha Tambo 12:54
Yeah, I mean, there's two pieces there, when I when you asked me that, one is that it is everywhere, right. So it could be the plant that's in your apartment, it might be a rock that you picked up, when you're walking along, you know, a trail, it might be a memory that you have of being somewhere when you were younger, that when you connect to that, when you connect to that physical object, or when you actually physically go out and walk through the park, if you're taking your dog for a walk, and if you're able to take those moments to pause and just check in with yourself and do that figure eight, I feel like okay, my dogs not doing anything chaotic. You know, it's, it's doing what it does, or, you know, when I go to the you know, or if it's if your experience is like when you go to the dog park, you actually love watching the dogs play and it really gives you a sense of like joy and stuff, then those are the resources that you want to connect to. Either when you're there when you're thinking about it, and then do a quick check in Oh, how do I notice that I like that in the body. And again, it might just be I just take a sigh, I just take a deeper breath. Great! And then bring your attention back out again. So you know nature and our Fur babies and all of these things are things that we can, we can connect to really easily and you know, I'm not an attachment specialist at all, like, you know, with attachment theory, but it's like a lot of I think some of the repair that we're trying to do is that it's not that we're trying to do stuff by ourselves, it's that we do it in connection with others, you know, we do, quote unquote, healing or like being with ourselves in a different way in relationship to others. And whether it's a physical human being or whether it's a plant or our furbaby or the water that we go to sit beside, you know, it's like it kind of can help us to lean into something else that can support those deeper breaths, which can support our nervous systems in a way that we might not necessarily have have on our radar, but it is there. Yeah. I don't know if that makes sense.
Stephanie Mara 15:04
Yeah. It absolutely makes sense. Everything you just said makes a lot of sense that when we start to regulate the nervous system more and feel safe in our body, that other things get to start to bubble up. Like why did the nervous system dysregulation happen to begin with. And I think people get potentially confused in that state, that space of Oh, but I'm starting to feel safer in my body why are all of these memories or these things coming up now. And I'm wondering if you've noticed that in your work that actually, once you start getting down the healing path that actually more things get to actually get to be put on your plate because you feel more regulated to attend to them.
Aisha Tambo 15:49
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting as a couple of things. So I have this a colleague of mine, her name is Vanissar Tarakali, and she talks about this concept of this idea of unwinding oppression. And so I use the idea of unwinding in the sense of like, if we imagine that our bodies are completely like constricted or like, tied up with this energy that, you know, a traumatic experience, let's say, and then as as we start to feel a little bit more regulation, or I don't know, if feel is the right word, but like as, as our system start to shift, then that tightness can start to loosen just like a little bit and a little bit like micro micro turns, in a sense, it can start to loosen, and as that happens, then more of our experience comes into our awareness that we get to then be with in a different way, because the system isn't bracing against it. So ya know the bracing happens, because often, what we experienced was too much, it was overwhelming. And so we just, you know, our system does what it needs to do to keep us safe. So it kind of keeps that outside of our awareness. And then as this like what you say, regulation or more of ease in our system can happen, then more of those pieces can start to surface that we can then process. And you know when the key is to like, be processing them with someone so that they can so that we're not just trying to do it for ourselves, and also in a really gentle and titrated way. So just a little piece by piece by piece, so that we then don't overwhelm our system again, and then that pattern will come back again, because that's what my body knows what to do when something happens, that's too much for me. So there's a few different pieces here. So there is that, you know, just again, I think coming back to that we really we do need to be with sort of regulated nervous system as well, that can kind of give us some feedback and help us to drop into what we're experiencing and help us to hold it too because it is, you know, it's too much often for us, which is why it overwhelmed or traumatized us in the first place. And so we need to come into connection with someone that can help us to hold it and look at it in a different way.
Stephanie Mara 18:04
Yeah, I'm curious about those moments. If you have any resources that you offer, around when you realize, Ooooh, actually attending to the thing would maybe feel like too much that actually this isn't the optimal moment for me to attend to that thing. And what is potentially a resource that someone can practice reach for in that moment, that also makes it so it's not completely self abandoning.
Aisha Tambo 18:32
Yeah, I often ask my clients like what they do to make themselves, what helps them, you know, like, so, you know, sometimes it's taking a shower and just being in the water. Sometimes it's like, oh, I go and I lay down and I take a nap and that helps me to disconnect for a minute. Because the what can arise can have like what we call a charge or activation around it, right? And so there's a response in that, there can be a response in the body to that idea, that thought, that memory, that situation and so it's like, oh, okay, if I think about this, I can feel myself getting like, upset or whatever. So okay, let me just how can I pause? What helps me to pause, right? Sometimes it might be good if I just go and check out and binge watch on Netflix, you know, some a show, right? A show that I like, but I really like encourage people too to be like, oh, what can you do? How can you connect to nature? Whether it's in the shower, whether it's like going for a walk, any of the things, there's no like hierarchy, it's like what helps you to kind of have some space so that you don't get pulled in and knowing that, again, the self compassion is such a huge thing that knowing that I might get pulled in and I might not get myself out as quickly as I'd like. But the fact that I'm aware of the pattern is maybe a bit more awareness than what I had before. And so it's I'm moving in the direction of being able to shift it. And I'm just like gathering intel I'm gathering information what helps me Oh, I like taking a shower. I like going for a walk. I like connecting with that particular friend that's really soothing and can make me laugh. You know, I go and just be with my pet or you know, listen to music, whatever it is.
Stephanie Mara 20:15
Yeah. Bringing in that what you even talked about before, like, okay, so if you choose Netflix, for example, because this is one that comes up in my sessions a lot as well, where it's like, well, I went to go watch my show that makes me feel good about myself. But then it was like five hours later, and I didn't feel good about it anymore. And so I think even when we're starting to practice new ways to show up for ourselves, it's doing that that figure eight you were talking about earlier of even checking in, Okay, I just watched one episode. How do I feel now? Would watching another episode be supportive? Okay, you watch another episode. Okay, check in again. Alright, how do I feel now? Am I starting to notice my body get a little like itchy? I'm like wiggling right now. Do I feel like I kind of need to get up off the couch. Okay, so your body's starting to give you information that two shows was actually your sweet spot. And now it wants to get up and move on to something else. And I use that as one example. And even the other things that you talked about, when do you notice Oh, I'm in the shower, my fingers are starting to prune. And actually like it, it doesn't feel nourishing to stay in the shower anymore, that it might be like a moment by moment, check in of okay, I made the best decision now. And what's the next best decision and the next best decision and on and on.
Aisha Tambo 21:35
Yeah. Yeah. And like, as you say that I also hear, you know, the self compassion is like, you know, after those five hours or after you've come out and you're a prune, you're like, Oh, okay. Okay, right. So that, like, actually, you know, I like to think about it all, there's actually a lot of activation in my system if this is what's happened and here I find myself. Okay, cool. So then what can I do again, to support myself? You know, so it's like, we're finding those ways in of like, how we can be aware of ourselves, that and then also, you know, even just practicing self kindness might be a challenge. And so it's like, Oh, okay. After the next five hours, I'm gonna see what my thoughts say to me, you know, I'm gonna see how I feel. And I'm just gonna try and shift that. Okay, you know, so it's like, not not not really having, this might not be helpful, because I'm like, I don't really know what's going to work. It's like, folks have to try it, and then see what they sense or what gives them space or what helps them connect to kindness or kinder thoughts, or an easier way to be with themselves, and let that guide them.
Stephanie Mara 21:36
Yeah, it's so well said, we talk a lot here of how important experimentation is, like, you can offer different tools. But ultimately, we don't live in anybody else's body, you get to take the tools and be like, Well, what works for my unique system, and I love that you brought in of, okay, so if you end up watching the five hours of Netflix, or if you end up being in the shower a little longer than your body wanted to be also in that moment, it's coming back to yourself again, and being like, I did nothing wrong. What can I even learn from that experience around why did I need to continue to stay in that? And how did that actually feel supportive in some way? So that even when you come out of that experience, you're still staying compassionate and connected with yourself.
Aisha Tambo 23:27
Yeah. And also maybe even asking yourself, Oh, what happened that I needed to do that? Because that helped me. Like, can I backtrack and think about did something happen that I was aware of. And it could be again, like something that's outside of our awareness, or could be this side of signaling from the body that's saying, Something's not okay, there's a threat. But I'm like, Oh, can I think about like, maybe it was a conversation that I had with someone that then I was like, I need to go and watch Netflix, but I don't realize that that was the trigger or the where the impulse came from. So we could like kind of backtrack, in a sense to see like, oh, okay, and then think about maybe what we can do differently. If it's having a conversation, like, I like to think about it in terms of work, you know, because not everyone gets along with their bosses, but it's like, okay, so I know I have to go talk to my boss. When I think about it, I get like upset in the stomach, right? Like, I can feel my my stomach kind of churning. And so it's like, okay, so how could I make it better for myself? Do I have to see my boss in person? Can I just email them? Can I just talk to them over the phone? Or if I'm, you know, if I have to go and meet with them, can I not stand directly in front of them? Can I kind of turn my body a little bit away so that it's not so activating for me, you know? So just these little things that we can think about doing. Especially if we know what gets us upset, then how we can shift it, oh, I'm not going to stand as close to that person. I'm only going to spend 10 minutes with them. And then I'm going to go outside or say I have to go the bathroom and give myself that space, you know, and then come back and see what it's like. And then go back, you know. So again that figure eight.
Stephanie Mara 25:02
Yeah, that makes me think of a practice I actually had to do in graduate school, where we all got pieces of string and had to put them around our body to discover what is our, like, our energetic boundary, like how we all were paired with someone and someone had to be like, okay, is this too close for my body to be in range of you? And and you learn like, oh, wow, okay, even depending upon the person you might feel more comfortable having someone closer to you or further away. And even recognizing that, like when you said like, Okay, you're in front of your boss and, you know, noticing even where your body is in space, that looking maybe head on to someone might feel a little unnerving, or might bring up some emotions, and just even turning yourself to the side might feel safer, where you can still be in dialogue, you're still talking to that person, but you are staying connected to yourself of how can I put my body in this space that supports it in feeling safe.
Aisha Tambo 26:00
Yeah, yeah. And I want to again, like just bring to bring to mind just the, if the if you're feeling curious about playing with it, then that's a really good place to be, if that's available. And if it feels like you're just kind of going through the motions, you know, you could try it and see what happens. But if you feel curious about trying it, let that curiosity guide you towards how you want to play with some of the suggestions right, like you might hear like, No, there's no way I'm not looking at my boss, like that's like rude and disrespectful, then there's a cue that that's not going to work for you. Right? So honor that and try something else. So like, you know, like, you can play with it because there is no right or wrong. Again, it's just like, what makes sense for you, how you think how you feel and what's going to support more ease in your system.
Stephanie Mara 26:50
Yeah, and I know you had a piece of imagery you wanted to bring in today. I would love to talk more about this. Yeah, yeah, you can describe it.
Aisha Tambo 27:00
Yeah, well, um, so with Somatics, I think it's really good to look at sensations. And so I think about sensations is one of the channels that we look at, when we, one of the ways that we experience our lives. So sensation is really important, because sensation is the language of the nervous system. And that's why, you know, folks that come to see me they've often already done like, I work with folks that have already done therapy. So they you know, they have a really good understanding, they have the self compassion down pat, they have the kindness down pat, but it's more like, Okay, I want to bring the body into the conversation. So sensation is one of those channels, meaning making our thoughts is another channel, which most of us are really good at, right? We're really good at sort of, like, thinking and understanding and, you know, a lot of us do have to practice like building that self compassion muscle and the kindness muscle. So meaning making or thinking is another channel, emotions is another channel. And so, you know, a lot of us, we may not get to control how we feel. But we can think about that in terms of like, oh, you know, for me, my, my sadness channel is, is turned up really high. So I feel sadness all the time, right. And it's not a bad thing. But it's just like, Okay, this is sadness, it comes through. So we're kind of looking at patterns in a sense to, alright, I'm really connected to sadness, but I'm not connected to anger. Oh, interesting. Or I'm not so connected to self compassion. Hmmm Okay. So these are things that we can be curious about. Another channel is our behavior. So again, we were talking about standing in front of our boss directly versus turning our body a little bit to the side, or, you know, when I go into situations where I feel uncomfortable, maybe my shoulders are up, and I don't realize and so what would it be like to like, before I go into that interaction, check in with my shoulders, okay, shoulders just dropped down a bit, okay, and then see what happens as we then go into the interaction with our shoulders intentionally down, and it might be that we get out of that interaction and our shoulders are up again, it's like, okay, cool, something happened and my shoulders needed to go up, because there was some signaling in the body that I needed to have that response. Okay. Imagery. So there's an image channel as well. And we think about that in terms of like memories that can come up or, you know, sometimes we can see pictures in our head when people are talking. And so that's the image channel that we can check in with them. Again, some people might have that channel turned up really high. And that's really cool, because it's just, you know, information again, as with all the channels. Connection. So connection is another channel. So that's connection to myself, you know, do I notice myself when I'm in that situation, or do I like kind of disconnect, okay, there's some information. And when I'm with the other person, let's say can I be in connection with them and connection with myself? And what supports me to be in connection with both and if it doesn't happen then again just information. And consciousness or our awareness. So our, you know, as we practice these things, we might already be really aware of certain channels, right? I'm really aware of this upset stomach that I get, or I'm really aware that I get really angry, and I wish I didn't, but that's what's in my awareness right now. And so I want to use that awareness to be like, oh, you know, where are some of these other channels? You know, are they here? Are they not? How can I support them to show up a bit more? Oh, and energy. Rhythm is the other channel. So it's like, okay, so how do I, you know, some people might notice energy, and others might not necessarily notice it. But it might be that, you know, when I go outside, when I'm at the beach, there's just this feeling there or, you know, when I go out to nature, when I go for a walk, when I'm in the shower, there's a there's a, it's like a feeling like an emotion, possibly, but you might also get the sense that there's a rhythm there that you can connect to, that supports us to have a bit more ease. You know, some people like the rhythm or the energy of the nighttime, some people like early mornings. And so it's like getting, and we all also have our own rhythms. And so it's like, you know, we can be curious about what, what works good for me, I like working in the morning, because I like the slowness, or I like the middle of the day, because I like the busyness and I like, you know, being active in that way. I like the nighttime with the quietness, or whatever it is. So, you know, just, these are some of the ways that you can get curious about what your experience is at with this fuller picture of like, all the different ways that we experience our lives, ourselves, and our relationships, connections.
Stephanie Mara 31:43
Yeah, what I really hear in that is just a learning about yourself, and then just honoring what you discover. Because there's so many different ways to experience life. And that's even as you went through that list, I would even invite individuals to like, back up and re-listen to it again and notice your bodily response to each. But if there was one, as you were listing these things that got you really excited, like I noticed myself when you were talking about the energy of the beach, oh, I got this, like this warm and just like expansion in my chest that felt light and resonating. And I was like, I really love the beach.
Aisha Tambo 32:26
Me too!
Stephanie Mara 32:26
Of course my body responded to that of just Oh, yeah, that. I immediately saw the imagery of the ocean, and I felt soothed in my body just even thinking about that. So as you're listening to all of these options, it's also even getting curious, like, what imagery, what different way of experiencing life, it might be through the different senses, resonates with you, and that there's, there's like nothing wrong with you, if one thing resonates with you and another thing doesn't, it's just, oh, this, this is just information about me and my body and what works for it.
Aisha Tambo 33:01
Absolutely. And the image that I wanted to, I think I don't know, if I mentioned it, but the image to help you to think about all of those channels, I've got a it's a, it's a seven sided polygone. So it's like a seven sided figure. And if you think about like, which channel like they would be the channels would be one side of each of those figures, and they're all connected, but some of them are turned up a bit more than others. And so it's like, you know, you can, you can maybe connect to some of them a lot easier. And it's just being curious about the other channels without, you know, with no judgment, just curiosity, if that's possible, and and then just you know, holding that, okay, which which channel is turned up right now. Okay, which one, which one, which one and just kind of being curious in that way. And so you when you mentioned that, Stephanie about thinking about the beach, one of the things I invite my clients to do too, is if they feel connected to something in nature, sounds in nature, then to play those audios, you know, YouTube or whatever and play the sounds and see how it may support, you know, a breath slowing down or something slowing down for us, or maybe there might be some more ease or there might be something that we can connect to that supports us to feel a little bit better in whatever way that means for us. Right. So the audio can be a good way looking at images being out physically in nature. Those are some other easy ways to connect if we're living in the city, you know, and we don't have as much access. Yeah.
Stephanie Mara 34:39
Yeah. I love that you're bringing in this balance of noticing what resonates with you, and utilizing that often as your maybe go to first place to feel more regulated and safe in your system in a moment when you don't. And that when maybe you're in a space where you can step into more curiosity, getting inquisitive around what channels are turned down. Like, I love that you're bringing that in, because it's like, okay, here, I'm noticing what my preferences are. And what comes up for me if I'm don't tap into, let's say, like, of all the channels, I think of like energy. I'm like, not tapped into the energy of the room. Like what comes up for me when I even think about that? Does that feel uncomfortable? To even imagine tapping into the energy of the room? And that just gets to be information you get to be curious about.
Aisha Tambo 35:31
Absolutely. Yeah, it's always coming back to this curiosity place, I think, because that gives us a bit more agency than when we judge ourselves when we're critiquing. Or, oh, it's, this person said it's supposed to be like this so then I have to make it like this. You know, and so it's like, oh, the beauty of us being different is that we all have ways to interact with our lives. And it's like, finding the ways that make make the most sense for us, like that meaning making and then that it feels right, in our own bodies. You know, and so that's part of the reason why doing the somatic work is so critical, because it's like, yeah, if it was just about thinking, none of us would have the issues that we have, right? It's that these other pieces that are outside of our thinking part of the brain, which is the youngest part of the brain, it's like no toddler, you don't get to decide, sit down and let's bring these other ways in, you know, that, that have you know, they're older, the oldest part of the brain is like through the brainstem, right? So it's like, these are gonna trump anything that I think, and therefore, I need to build that relationship with those parts of like, my system, my body, my nervous system.
Stephanie Mara 36:43
Oh my gosh, this is such a powerful conversation. And I want to make sure we leave time for how can individuals keep in touch with you, like, I love that you are fusing this piece around Somatics and land and how we can actually utilize our external environment as a regulator, and I love all the tips you gave today that even like, if you're in a city, like I loved that of just, you know, put on noises of nature, so that you can bring that into your environment. So, you know, how can individuals keep in touch with you? And you know, any offerings that you have?
Aisha Tambo 37:15
Yeah, so right now, like I'm offering one to one work, that sort of works best with my capacity, and, you know, sort of knowing my limitations, so I'm doing one to one work, and if folks are curious, they can email me, they can actually, first would be to check out my website. And so it's somatictherapytoronto.ca. And Stephanie, if you don't mind to add...
Stephanie Mara 37:35
Oh all of these will be in the show notes. Yeah.
Aisha Tambo 37:37
Perfect. Yeah. So somatictherapytoronto.ca. You can see my write up there. And you can see if it resonates. I do a free 30 minute consult call too so you can you know, we can sort of chat about what it might be like to work together. Folks can also follow me on IG, I'm not that good at social media, to be honest. But if you want to, like you know, poke your head in and have a bit of a look, then I'm @bridgingthedreamtime on Instagram. And you can also look me up at bridgingthedreamtime, which is my Facebook business page, which isn't that active again because that's not my zone of genius. But...
Stephanie Mara 37:37
Yeah, social media kind of takes us out of our body.
Aisha Tambo 38:16
Yes, absolutely.
Stephanie Mara 38:19
It feels always a little counterintuitive when you're a somatic practitioner that you're talking about getting in the body on a thing that like is taking you out of your body. So totally get that.
Aisha Tambo 38:29
Yeah, try to find that balance. Yeah. So you can look at my business page, which isn't that helpful. But you could also just look me up on Facebook as well. And I post stuff there. That's probably more related to my business and the work that I do. Yeah. And then my email is aishatambo11@gmail.com. And I also, you know, folks can text me as well. And I'll leave my number there as well. So yeah.
Stephanie Mara 38:55
Amazing. Well, thank you just so much for your time and your wisdom today. Noticing my body, I feel just kind of tingly and light and excited just about everything that we just explored. And yeah, if anybody has any questions about the things that we discussed today, I'll put both of our email addresses in the show notes. And to everyone listening, thank you for being here. And I hope you all have a beautiful rest of your day. Bye!
Keep in touch with Aisha here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgingthedreamtime/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bridgingthedreamtime/
Website: http://somatictherapytoronto.ca/about-aisha.php
Contact: aishatambo11@gmail.com