How can a highly sensitive person benefit from holistic counseling? Are you thinking about going to therapy for the first time? What are some quick self-regulation tools that you can use anytime, anywhere to bring yourself back to a level of calmness and peace?

In this podcast episode, Lisa Lewis speaks about self-soothing practices for nervous system regulation with Chris McDonald.

MEET CHRIS MCDONALD

Chris McDonald is a Holistic Licensed Therapist and owns a group online practice, “Path to Hope Counseling”. She is a 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher, is Certified in Brainspotting and offers gentle yoga to clients in session, workshops and private yoga sessions. She specializes in treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma and grief in young adults. Chris also offers Therapy for Therapists and is host of “The Holistic Counseling Podcast.” Her favorite holistic daily routines include yoga and meditation.

Visit the Path To Hope Counseling Website and listen to The Holistic Counseling Podcast.

Connect with Chris on Instagram and Facebook

FREEBIE: 9 part email course on “Becoming a holistic counselor

IN THIS PODCAST:

  • Holistic counseling for highly sensitive people
  • Advice for first-time therapy seekers
  • Some self-soothing holistic tools

Holistic counseling for highly sensitive people

Traditional therapy is helpful but can be limited. 

A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work in therapy, and holistic counseling practices are often much better suited to people that are more sensitive than others.

When we look at holistic counseling, there are so many more options and alternatives that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapy.

Chris McDonald

Holistic counseling provides you with more tools and strategies that you can add to your overall therapy experience, making your recovery and healing journey more encompassing and tailored to your individual needs.

Advice for first-time therapy seekers?

As a highly sensitive person, think about what it is that you need, or deeply want. Research your local therapists and consider:

  • Which types of treatments do they use?
  • Which modalities do they use?

Do you want more traditional or holistic therapy

There are so many different kinds of therapies out there … we’re all so different but to consider that maybe the first person you go to may not be the one for you, and that’s okay! I know it’s hard to reach out initially but you want someone you feel comfortable with.

Chris McDonald

Even though it may feel daunting in the beginning, keep looking around at different therapists until you find one that you feel you can truly connect with, and feel comfortable and safe talking to.

Some self-soothing holistic tools

1 – Put or hover your right hand on your chest and your left hand on your belly. This turns on your parasympathetic nervous system, which is your calming response.

We can just wait [here in this pose] and be in the moment with it, noticing what’s there. Sometimes you might notice a shift [like] maybe you might take a sigh or a deeper breath. You might notice your heart rate going down.

Chris McDonald

Play between a lighter touch or a stronger touch with more pressure, and see which one makes you feel more soothed.

2 – Have your hand on your chest and the other hand on your belly, the back of your neck, or behind your head. Now, gently tap the hand on your chest, as you would do with a baby.

If you want both hands on your chest you can tap both sides of your chest. This is bi-lateral stimulation which is soothing for the nervous system.

Chris McDonald

3 – Quietly say affirmations or ask questions to yourself either out loud or in your mind:

  • I am here for you
  • I will help you feel held and understood
  • What message do you have for me?

4 – Breathe intentionally. Deeply and intentionally.

5 – Consider something that you want to release such as a limiting thought or belief, or emotion that feels stuck.

  • Breathe in and think of the word “relax”
  • Pause and hold the breath
  • Breathe out, exhale, and think of the word “release” to let go of that thought, belief, or emotion, and imagine it evaporating into the air.

6 – Try some self-massage such as massaging up and down your arms, across your shoulders, and even up to your scalp.

RESOURCES MENTIONED AND USEFUL LINKS

Visit the Path To Hope Counseling Website and listen to The Holistic Counseling Podcast.

Connect with Chris on Instagram and Facebook

Check out this Self-Brainspotting Demo and How to do Vergence

Listen to Sound Therapy and Healing for Highly Sensitive People with LA | Ep 52

Listen to HOW TO START YOUR OWN MEDITATION PRACTICE: SOLO EPISODE BY CHRIS MCDONALD

How to Be A Champion of Change and Vulnerability with Dai Manuel | Ep 80

Practice of the Practice Network

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Audible/Amazon, and Spotify.

CONNECT WITH ME

Email me: lisa@amiokpodcast.com

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ABOUT THE AM I OK? PODCAST

So you’ve been told that you’re “too sensitive” and perhaps you replay situations in your head. Wondering if you said something wrong? You’re like a sponge, taking in every word, reading all situations. Internalizing different energies, but you’re not sure what to do with all of this information. You’re also not the only one asking yourself, “am I ok?” Lisa Lewis is here to tell you, “It’s totally ok to feel this way.” 

Join Lisa, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, as she hosts her, Am I Ok? Podcast. With over 20 years of education, training, and life experience, she specializes in helping individuals with issues related to being an empath and a highly sensitive person. 

Society, and possibly your own experiences, may have turned your thinking of yourself as being a highly sensitive person into something negative. Yet, in reality, it is something that you can – and should – take ownership of. It’s the sixth sense to fully embrace, which you can harness to make positive changes in your life and in the lives of others. 

This may all sound somewhat abstract, but on the Am I Ok? Podcast, Lisa shares practical tips and advice you can easily apply to your own life. Lisa has worked with adults from various backgrounds and different kinds of empaths, and she’s excited to help you better connect with yourself. Are you ready to start your journey?

Podcast Transcription

[LISA LEWIS] The Am I Ok? Podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like Faith Fringes, the Holistic Counseling Podcast, and Beta Male Revolution, go to the website, www.practiceofthepractice.com/network. Welcome to the Am I Ok? Podcast, where you will discover that being highly sensitive is something to embrace and it’s actually a gift you bring to the world. We will learn together how to take ownership of your high sensitivity, so you can make positive changes in your life, in the lives of others, and it’s totally okay to feel this way. I’m your host, Lisa Lewis. I’m so glad you’re here for the journey. Welcome to today’s episode of the Am I Ok? Podcast. This is Lisa Lewis, your host. Hello everyone. So good to have you listening in today. I have a special guest on the show and this is the second time I’m going to interview her and I’m thrilled to have her on the show again. She has such a lovely attitude and demeanor. So my guest today is Chris McDonald. Chris is a Holistic Licensed Therapist and owns a group online practice, Path to Hope Counseling. She is a 200-hour registered yoga teacher, is certified in brainspotting and offers gentle yoga to clients in session workshops and private yoga sessions. She specializes in treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma and grief in young adults. Chris also offers therapy for therapists and is the host of the Holistic Counseling Podcast. Her favorite holistic daily routines include yoga and meditation. Welcome to the podcast Chris. [CHRIS MCDONALD] I’m so happy to be back. Thanks Lisa for having me. [LISA] So good to have you on the show again. As I like to ask all my guests who come on the show, do you consider yourself a highly sensitive person or not, and if so, or if not, yes, share a story about that with us. [CHRIS] Yeah, I had a recent story to share with you where I went to a dinner. It was a top chef dinner they had locally and they crap crammed in so many people in this space that I did not realize that when I walked in I was just like, oh my gosh. It was so loud that literally I was plugging my ears at points and I had to get up and go to the bathroom because I think I told you I’m real sensitive to noise and I’m looking around, I’m like, is anyone else bothered by this? I literally had to shout to the people I was with to talk. It was just, and it kept getting louder. It was great food, good drinks, but man, that just, wow. Yeah, that’s a recent thing. That’s one thing that really gets to me. I think just socially too, I’m introverted but extroverted. I like to go to parties, hang out with people, but I have my time limits and at that point I’m like, I’m done. I can’t do anymore. That’s how I manage it too. It’s just I have to take breaks or it’s just my system will tell me and I listen to it. [LISA] I’m curious, how did you feel when you went home? Did you just feel drained or? [CHRIS] Yeah, well I told my husband in the car, I go, “Don’t talk, don’t say anything. Let’s just sit inside.” It was just like such a, it was like this ah feeling of getting out of that? [LISA] Is he highly sensitive? [CHRIS] No. [LISA] So like that didn’t even bother him, “Like what?” [CHRIS] That’s why I’m always like amazed. I’m like, wow, okay, that’s okay. We’re all wired differently. [LISA] Yeah, we sure are. And I think it’s just so interesting to be around people that are not and it’s like it is really like, that didn’t bother you or? [CHRIS] Yeah, exactly, so different all of our experiences. [LISA] Yeah, it sure is. So what is holistic counseling? [CHRIS] Holistic counseling is looking at the whole person, treating the whole person, mind, body, spirit. So it’s using traditional therapy, which is using building the relationship, we might use some cognitive strategies but going a bit deeper. I think of it as up-leveling counseling and using other strategies with the body too. I use a lot of somatic, we call that strategies using the body and therapy. I use yoga. Sometimes there can be all different types of modalities people use. There’s a whole realm of them out there that people do that they call themselves holistic. I also include the spiritual component, whatever that is for clients if they want to talk about it and help them come up with their coping plan using spiritual beliefs too, if that’s what they want. So yeah, that’s looking at the whole person in treatment. [LISA] Oh, I love that. That’s how I work with clients too. Say more about what the somatic processing provides in holistic counseling compared to like traditional counseling. [CHRIS] For me, in my experience, I feel like traditional therapy is just missing that component of using the body in therapy. A lot of our traumas are stored in our bodies and our bodies have the somatic intelligence that can tell us what’s going on that give us that little clue. We might feel like that dropping sensation in our stomach or tightness in our chest and that can give a clue what’s going on in there. And sometimes it is stopping clients when they’re talking. As an example, I had someone that was feeling really anxious and talked about tension in her shoulder so I was like, “Can we just pause for a moment? Can you put your hand on your shoulder where you feel that, and let’s just sit with this for a moment.” So it’s really slowing down at times because if we don’t give space for our emotions and our bodies to heal, then it’s going to stay as things are right. We’re not going to be able to heal. So we got to give time, give a moment with that and just see what comes up with any tension or other sensation in the body just sitting with it, what emotion, what thoughts come up. Some amazing things did come up that day too. She realized there was some deeper emotions going on with anger, which is interesting because it was anxiety, she thought it was. Then some negative thoughts about that, life’s not fair and it went in, we went into some situations in her life where she feels that things aren’t fair. So it just brings it to a whole other level. [LISA] Do you find working with clients and that they’re having that emotional experience that you being like the witness to their experience allows them to feel safe and release some of that stored emotion? [CHRIS] Absolutely. I love the word witness you said. I think that it’s definitely, we are the witness here as therapists for whatever comes up. And part of what I teach clients is allowing for whatever wants to come up to be present with it because, I don’t know about you Lisa, but a lot of my clients, they push things away. They compartmentalize, ok, I feel that. I don’t want to feel that because. Who wants to feel, who wants to go towards the emotion or something uncomfortable, but that’s the only way, is to work through it, is to be with it and sit with it and help yourself towards that healing. [LISA] Yeah, it sure is. I’m even finding out in my own process that having another person be with me, whether it’s a therapist or a friend or a family member to hold that space and be that witness for me, like that’s like the healing element to letting go of that experience, whether it’s traumatic truth. [CHRIS] Yeah. because I think a lot of clients I see too, they hold it all inside and it just, when you do that, it’s going to come out in some way. And a lot of people get panic attacks or physical symptoms, gut issues. I have a lot of people with that because they’re trying to solve everything on their own and not talk about it and trying to keep it to themselves and that just will backfire for sure. [LISA] I also think underneath all of that, like yeah, not wanting to share it with anyone else, maybe even questioning, is this even true or not true? And then there’s so much shame and guilt, which may, it’s usually not even the person’s fault. It’s the thing that happened to them and then thinking it’s, they did something to create the experience. [CHRIS] Yeah, it can be really difficult. Another thing too, I think that comes up is a lot of people don’t want to accept that they have some of these feelings and that’s what can help lead to peace too, is looking at your relationship with your emotions and how can I get to that place of acceptance that it’s okay if I’m angry, especially females. I don’t know if you noticed that too, that we’re just told not to be angry, to be quiet, not share our, stand up for ourselves. But once we can accept that it’s okay to have that anger, to express it or whatever emotion, I mean that can help to lead to some release as well. [LISA] So the job that you’re doing is so important, it’s so important. [CHRIS] Yes, for sure. [LISA] And that the bravery and the courage that people seek out therapy. [CHRIS] Oh, for sure. [LISA] So how would a highly sensitive person benefit from holistic counseling? [CHRIS] In so many ways, I think. There’s so many options because I think, for me traditional therapy is helpful but it’s limited right in the approach. And I think that when you look at holistic counseling, there’s so many more options and alternatives that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapy. Let’s say that you don’t want to go to holistic therapists, that’s fine. You can still use some things like essential oils. A lot of people benefit from those. I use some today, some lavender is one of my favorites to use. It’s very calming for the nervous system. Or if you need to be more energized using some like orange oil can be helpful. So there’s just things that you can add to help with your experience with therapy. I think that can take it a little bit deeper. Especially if you use something like brainspotting, which is using your visual eye field. It’s like EMDR, but it’s using just a brain spot. We stay in a spot that we feel activation or we can go in a resource spot, which is a commerce spot in your visual field and staying with that. So it’s going deeper into these issues instead of just using talk therapy and cognitive strategies. [LISA] What is EMDR, for someone that’s listening and maybe to even know what doesn’t know what that is? [CHRIS] That don’t what I’m talking about? [LISA] Yeah. [CHRIS] I’m trying to remember what that stands for because I’m not trained. [LISA] I’m not either. [CHRIS] Is it eye processing, I don’t know, Lisa. [LISA] Eye memorization processing something. [CHRIS] I know it’s a big buzzword that more people are talking about that but brainspotting is an offshoot of that. It’s just using your visual field. So let’s say that I’m activated by something that happened this morning. I got in a fight with my husband but if I look to the left, just as an example, I might feel more of that tension in my belly, feel tense in my shoulders, upset, but if I look to my right, I feel calmer. So we have what I call the activation spots based on where we look and then resource spots which are the calmer or grounded space in our bodies. That’s a real short, short version [LISA] And what would you recommend for someone who is reaching out for therapy for the first time in their life, what would you recommend them asking the therapist when they’re just going through that initial step? [CHRIS] I guess to really think about what do you need, what is most helpful for you, especially as a highly sensitive person and what kinds of modalities do they use? What treatments do they use? Is it more traditional or is it holistic? Because there’s so many different kinds of therapies out there and therapists and we’re all so different. But to really consider that maybe the first person you go to may not be the one for you and that’s okay. I know it’s hard to reach out initially, but you really want someone you feel comfortable with and, especially if there’s a certain modality you want to try, because we’re not trained in everything. That’s the thing. So if there’s something specific that you might want to work on to really think about who am I reaching out to that is already trained in that. [LISA] Yes, exactly. My thought is when someone reaches out for therapy, is interviewing me and just asking me questions that I just want the “right person” for that person, whether it’s me or someone else. Because I would want someone to want that for myself whether it’s me or somebody else that’s a good fit. [CHRIS] Yeah, I say we’re like shoes. Not every shoe you try on is the best fit. [LISA] Yeah, that’s true. [CHRIS] Some are too tight, some are too loose. [LISA] Yep. [CHRIS] You got to find something that’s just right for you. Because in my experience when I’ve gotten therapy, if I have someone, I’ve had someone who’s not, I’ve not been comfortable with and once you find someone that you feel like you can be yourself and open up, it’s going to be a game changer to really help you through the therapeutic process and work through your issues much quicker and more effectively. [LISA] Yes, for sure. What are some holistic tools that could benefit listeners in their practices? [CHRIS] Well, one thing that I know that you and I talked a little bit about was self-soothing is something that can be so beneficial. I found in my experience that not a lot of people are familiar with it or know how to even sooth themselves in their nervous system. It can take some practice and it can take some bravery. I know you mentioned being brave, reaching out, but some of this too is being able to step into this space, to comfort yourself. When you’re not used to it can feel a little awkward, can feel uncomfortable, but it really can make a difference in helping yourself feel better. When we say self-soothing, I just want to clarify too that we’re not talking about I’m going to have chocolate cake and ice cream. That could be soothing maybe, but I’m trying to think of more healthy things to get you in your body too, to calm things, to sooth and to feel a little better. So we’re trying to figure out things that aren’t like alcohol or drugs or overeating, those things that could be, can turn to more unhelpful ways. [LISA] And I’m thinking of just the word self-soothing, like, hey, Chris, I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself. I don’t need like self-soothing, that’s stuff [CHRIS] Yes, you do. But it’s funny you mentioned that because what do we do with babies when we hold the baby? What do we do on their backs? [LISA] We’re soothing them. [CHRIS] Or tapping them. Tapping can be good for, that’s a self-soothing too. Tapping ourselves, that calms the nervous system. Those simple things that we get away from, don’t we disconnect from? [LISA] Yeah, we sure do, especially as we get older and then we just harden and like no we need to stay flexible. [CHRIS] Yeah, and just be open to these different ways of, it’s building a different relationship to yourself too because we’re not used to that. A lot of us are, especially in your heads, just overthinking and let me try to solve this problem without getting into the body. [LISA] Yeah, I love that. I just love that, what you just said. So would you like to guide us through a self-soothing exercise to help regulate the nervous system? [CHRIS] Absolutely. So I like to give options because for some people they may try one of these and it’s not really for them and that’s okay. So I want you just to sit with a little bit, but if it really is highly activating, you can try another one. So I’m going to give you a couple options and what am I talking about? So these are going to be different holding exercises that you can do anytime. It’s even in public. I don’t think anybody would even notice if you need to sooth yourself. So these are very simple and that’s why I love them so much too. The first one, if you can put your right hand on your chest and left hand on your belly, if you’re comfortable touching yourself, if you’re not, you can just hover above. I know not everybody’s comfortable with that. So one hand on heart, one hand on belly. You know what, this is enough for a lot of people just to stay here. What we’re doing here is turning on that parasympathetic nervous system, that calming response. We can just wait and just be in the moment with it, noticing what’s there. Sometimes you might notice a shift, maybe you might take a sigh, a deeper breath might notice your heart rate going down, especially if it’s, if you’re in high anxiety activation state or you just might feel calmer after doing this. Now if this feels more activating, which I know with some people with trauma, different, touching our bodies in different ways can be activating in different positions. So you can also have one hand on your chest and one hand behind your neck and just hold. Now if you want to use light touch, if that feels better, try that. Or you can do stronger touch and push a little bit harder. Some people like that, just like with if, you’ve heard of weighted blankets, some people like a little more pressure and just staying with that hold. You can also try one hand on the back of the head, one hand on your belly, see how that feels. Again, trying the pressure, do I want more pressure or less? Again, if one doesn’t work, go back, try a different one. When I invite you, if you have your hand on your chest just to tap gently, just like we do a baby on their back, we’re not tapping really hard, just enough to give a little pressure. This can be soothing and if you want both hands on your chest, you can tap both sides of your chest. This is bilateral stipulation, which is soothing for the nervous system. You can also do this on your legs if that feels better, so one hand on each thigh and just tapping back and forth, seeing how that feels. You can also use, you can stop tapping now and just go ahead and pick one of those poses and think about what is an affirmation to say with that so you can say to yourself, I am here for you. I will help you feel held and understood. Or you can ask a question as you have your hands in a hold, what message do you have for me? See what comes up, and just sitting with it. You can also add breath. So right now just focus on your breath, just notice where your breathing is. Do you notice a deeper breath in your belly, slower or is it more of a shorter breath? Just notice without changing it right now and see if you can follow the rise on the inhale on your belly and fall of your belly on the exhale. Just follow along with that for a couple breaths. Breath is another way that we can sooth ourselves and sooth the nervous system. So take it, inhale through your nose, breathing in and pause and nice long exhale, breathing out, letting go, and inhale, breathing in and pause and exhale, breathing out. I want you to think of what is one thing you want to release. We’re going to exhale and release that out. So it could be an emotion, could be something you want to let go of, a negative belief. Just have that in your mind. We’re going to inhale. I want you to think of the word relax. So inhale, relax, and pause. On the exhale, the word release, so say that to yourself. Release whatever it is you want to let go of, and exhale, release, releasing. Imagine that evaporating into the air or into the earth. Try that again. Inhale, relax, exhale, release. One more time. Inhale, relax, exhale. Release. Letting go. Letting go. Just allow yourself to get back to your normal breathing pace, noticing how you’re feeling and take your right hand. So if you can put it on your left shoulder, we’re going to do a little self-massage. So go ahead and squeeze that shoulder and twist a little bit to the right, just squeeze and twist all the way down your arm, upper arm to lower arm and then back up. We don’t pay enough attention to ourselves sometimes and how good self-massage can actually feel. Try it to the other side, so left shoulder, squeeze a little bit. Of course you don’t want to do this until it hurts. Any pain you can stop, squeeze, twist down the arm, down the upper and then the lower and then back up and then go into your face. See if you can bring your fingers to your forehead. Do some small circles, there’s a little bit of massage in the face and go into your temples, small circles and go one way and then the other. Ooh, I can feel tension I didn’t know was there. That’s the beauty of doing these practices. Going down to your jaw, you can open and close your mouth as you do this. A lot of people hold tension in their jaws. Then going up to your scallops, you can open both fingers of your hands and do a little shampoo like you’re at the hairdressers, just pushing, putting little pressure on your scalp, going up and down in small circles with your fingertips, a wonderful soothing practice. Then bringing your hands on your lap and just noticing what came up for you during this practice, what’s your emotions? There could be more than one. What’s your energy level? How do you feel, Lisa? [LISA] Well, I feel relaxed and then I feel tired, like I want a take a nap. [CHRIS] Okay, good. [LISA] I was feeling, I was releasing fear in my stomach. [CHRIS] Oh, okay. [LISA] Like there was a tightening and then all of a sudden like it just, it let go. [CHRIS] Wonderful. [LISA] It felt really good. [CHRIS] That was beautiful. [LISA] Thank you. [CHRIS] Like I said, the holding poses, those are pretty easy to do. Just take a few minutes. If you’re really feeling that activation and having a difficult time with strong emotion, let me just sit with it. Let me just put my hands in these positions and see what comes up. [LISA] Now would these exercises be good to use like at that dinner party you were talking about? [CHRIS] Yes. So even, because again, if I, even if I’m sitting at the dinner table, I can put my hand on my belly. I could tap a little bit and I’m always coming back to my breath too. That’s something as part of me as a yoga teacher, I’m always like, where am I with my breathing? Okay, let me go to the bathroom and do some deeper breaths if I need to. [LISA] Yes, if it’s too loud or too much where you’re at. [CHRIS] Yeah, but the trifecta too, is to do like one of the hold, do it with some breath work, using your senses. I didn’t talk about that too. So you can also use hearing if you want to be able to calm your nervous system with some soothing music. Sometimes I do that during meditation, just put on some calm spa like music or if there’s things that you like to smell like a lotion or essential oil or cinnamon and taste we can use too, like a mint. [LISA] What does cinnamon do? Is that just awaken the sense? [CHRIS] Yeah, it’s just another way to connect. A lot of people have positive memories of cinnamon too. You think of like holiday time or cookies. So cinnamon can be a soothing scent. [LISA] Yeah. [CHRIS] And touch too. So something I’ve been doing today, because I have a crystal, I really like, so it’s like rough and smooth. That really helps me, even during sessions, I’ll hold it in my hand just to ground myself. So having something that a familiar object can be part of soothing too, just brings you back to the present moment. [LISA] What do you recommend for someone who’s having a panic attack and they can’t breathe? [CHRIS] Yeah, that’s always tough too. I know it can be helpful to try to get to a place where you can really focus on your breathing and I know that it sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes breathing with it, if you have to breathe faster with it, sometimes like that can slow things down. But doing the tapping can be helpful to calm the nervous system. [LISA] There’s actually the tapping on, right on the chest or does it matter where? [CHRIS] Yeah, it doesn’t matter where, as long as you’re doing each hand. So you can do it on your knees when you’re sitting left, right, left, one second for tap. Do you want to know a brainspotting tip? [LISA] Sure, yeah. [CHRIS] I can send you this in the show notes. So it’s called virgins with your Eyes and they’ve shown that this helps with stopping a panic attack. I teach this to my clients. So if everybody can just take a pen, you have a pen in front of you and put it about six inches in front of your eyes and look at the pen and then look through the pen at a spot farther away. Don’t get too caught up in how far. Just look at a spot that’s farther away and then come back to the pen. What I need you to do is for 10 seconds, look at the pen and then 10 seconds look away, 10 seconds, look at the pen, 10 seconds look away. Just keep going with that until you notice a shift. Keep going. This actually helps with the vagus nerve. I don’t know if you’ve heard of that. That can really help stimulate that and calm things down. [LISA] Can you explain what the vagus nerve does? [CHRIS] Vagus nerve helps to, it’s the biggest nerve in our body that helps to turn on that parasympathetic nervous system too, which is the calm, calmer response really can help with activation. One thing I’ve been doing, Lisa too, that’s very soothing I wanted to mention is mantras. So mantras can be words or sounds that we repeat over and over for meditation or just with the sound, the sound ohm, oh h m in yoga, I’ve been practicing that and let me tell you, with amazing results. It almost can’t even describe like the difference I feel after I use some ohms. It’s very calming. Ohm is the first sound of the universe and the most powerful mantra there is, it’s really, does amazing things for your vagus nerve to calm things down and settle things down or chanting anything where you’re singing. All of those things are really connected to the vagus nerve that can help with soothing. [LISA] I know when like I, when I chant like ohm, it just goes really deep into my core, like lower belly, just really deep. [CHRIS] I can really feel it. I think it’s one of the most powerful practices. I know some people make fun of it, like, oh yeah, ohm and ha ha like it’s a joke but it, there is some serious stuff that could really be helpful for you. I honestly did one this week and I had like a spiritual experience. I can’t even explain. Like, I had this image of myself floating and flying. I don’t know where it came from, was amazing. I didn’t question it. I was like, whatever wants to come up. [LISA] Oh that’s, yeah, that’s so beautiful to have those experiences. Then it makes you want to do it again and again and again. [CHRIS] Exactly. It’s not to say that you’re always going to have something coming up like that crazy, but it really is something to think about trying. On an Insight Timer, they have a 30-day challenge. This is in January we’re recording, but that was one of the challenges. They had different practices you can do and it was just called mantra and the teacher on there was amazing. It’s just, ugh, if you have headphones on, put your headphones on and you hear the ohm in both ears and as you do the ohm you got to try it. [LISA] Yeah, I have to definitely try it. I was just thinking too, just if you don’t have Insight Timer, I know that that one’s free. You can just Google or go on YouTube and just type in like ohm and you’ll hear there’s so many different free ones out there to try. [CHRIS] Yeah, exactly. If you’re not comfortable, I know a lot of people aren’t comfortable making the sound of ohm or doing something out loud, you can still listen to it and get benefits. [LISA] Yeah. I like to use chime meditation. [CHRIS] Oh yeah. I haven’t done that. [LISA] When I go to sleep at night and I’ll just pull something up on Google or YouTube and just leave it on and I fall asleep to it and it’s just very, it’s like a deep, a deeper sleep. [CHRIS] Yeah. And sound healing too, is, I was a skeptic, I’m not going to lie, I was like, really? What’s it going to do for me? So I went to two different sound healings after the first one I was like, oh my God, this is amazing. If you’ve never been in these, they used the singing bowls and my friend Atkins, who, she’s a sound healer, but she would use different instruments and it does something, I could feel like my chest opening, like my heart opening, again, a different experience. I can’t quite describe all of it, what it does, but it’s just profoundly like centers you and just helps you work through things. [LISA] Yeah, it sure does. I had her on the show too. She was a guest on my show. [CHRIS] Oh, okay, cool. [LISA] And she gave us a little sample of her sound healing. [CHRIS] Oh yes, she’s wonderful [LISA] One thing I like about sound healing is you don’t have to move your body. You can just, you just lay down and you — [CHRIS] You just lay down [LISA] You just, you’re just there and just take it all in. [CHRIS] Yeah, experience it, if you can, for sure. [LISA] So Chris, what is the most important thing you want listeners to take away from our conversation today? [CHRIS] I think just try to be open. I know some of the stuff I teach is a little bit out there for some people. It’s okay. Give yourself a chance to see what works. And everybody’s so individual on what is helpful and if something doesn’t work, that’s okay. Try something else. Experiment. And like you mentioned Lisa, going on YouTube, there are lots of different free things out there and just see what works and give it a go. [LISA] Great. I love that. Do you have a free gift for my listeners today that you’d like to share? [CHRIS] Well, I do want to share, I don’t know if your listeners have meditation practices, but I do have an episode on my podcast about how to start your own meditation practice because for me, meditation is another soothing modality. That’s episode 73. So if you have your podcast player open, you can go to the Holistic Counseling Podcast and check that out. Or go to my website, which is www.holisticcounselingpodcast.com. [LISA] That information will be in the show notes too. [CHRIS] I’ll send you the Virgins link too if you want to learn how to practice that more. [LISA] Yeah, yeah, yeah. We didn’t go back to that. So if we go back to there real quickly about, so what is that doing when you’re looking at the pin and then looking further away and going back and forth? [CHRIS] It calms the nervous system through the vagus nerve basically, the simplified. But it’s all research based and it works [LISA] Great. And where can listeners get in touch with you? [CHRIS] Again, through my website or I’m on Instagram as well at Holistic Counseling Podcast. [LISA] Great. All that information will be in the show notes so you can find it there. Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Chris. I just love talking to you and I love the practices that you offer and just guiding you through it. [CHRIS] Oh, it was so great to be back and I hope your listeners benefited. [LISA] I’m sure they did. And thank you, my listeners for tuning in today. Remember to subscribe, rate and review wherever you get your podcast. To find out more about Highly Sensitive Persons, please visit my website at amiokpodcast.com and subscribe to my free eight-week email course. This is Lisa Lewis reminding each and every one of you that you are ok. Until next time, be well. Thank you for listening today at Am I Ok? Podcast. If you are loving the show, please rate, review and subscribe to it on your favorite podcast platform. Also, if you’d like to learn how to manage situations as a highly sensitive person, discover your unique gift as a highly sensitive person, and learn how to be comfortable in your own skin, I offer a free eight-week email course called Highly Sensitive People. Just go to amiokpodcast.com to sign up. In addition, I love hearing from my listeners, drop me an email to let me know what is on your mind. You can reach me at lisa@amiokpodcast.com. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. 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