Some of you may know that Trinity's son was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition last year that made him very sick for a very long time. The ultimate diagnosis was Ulcerative Colitis, which prevented him from really keeping anything in his stomach and kept her family up all night for weeks and months on end making them desperate and exhausted. Thankfully, they have been able to find a remedy to maintain his health. But, this experience took a toll on both Trinity and her son's nervous systems and they both always feel a bit on edge whenever he eats something or needs to go to the bathroom.  The challenge is now is that they are not really sure how to let go of this trauma. 

Which is where our guest today, Janis Isaman, comes in. Janis is the founder of My Body Couture, and helps people feel physically, emotionally and mentally better in their body. She is an experienced clinician who combines restorative movement and trauma-informed therapeutic modalities in a one-on-one setting to support people, who experience pain and trauma in their bodies, resolve their trauma and regulate their nervous systems to achieve their therapeutic goals.

We discuss the variety of modalities Janis uses in our episode today and which approach to take to down-regulate our nervous systems and which to use to heal trauma that remains stuck in our bodies. Janis walks us through the ways in which she works with her clients to get to know their lifestyle challenges and provide reasonable solutions, underlying education and life-changing approaches that have gained her recognition as a lifestyle expert in Reader's Digest and invited as a guest on over 250 podcasts!

In this episode, Janis mentions that our nervous system is meant to adjust up and down all day. However, most of us never find a way to down regulate and live in a space of stress. If you know what we're talking about.... please tune in to this episode! 

It is our goal to bring you practical advice so that you can live the next chapter of your life to the fullest. And, we hate to break it to you sister, but we know you pride yourself on the amount of stress you can shoulder, but you're on your way to burn out. So, ladies...if this is you, let's listen to Janis, let's learn to slow down and savor every moment because life is just too short. 

Today, Janis teaches us: 

1. We databank our experience with trauma and use it at a reference point for what might happen in the future. In these instances, we sometimes need to move the trauma through our bodies through movement. We need connection with people who are regulated, we need validation and to be shown we are safe through a new set of experiences.
2. Not only have we been taught to ignore our body signals, we've never been taught about our bodies. This makes it difficult to even identify where in our bodies we are actually experiencing pain. Sometimes it takes a 3rd party to help individuals "see" where their body and nervous system is reacting to trauma.
3. When we say trauma "lives in our body" we often picture that trauma sitting somewhere within us (picture butterflies in your stomach), and that we can easily just work on a part of the body to release the trauma. But, what is actually happening is a physiological response to outside triggers that may manifest in various places in your body to remedy this, we need to tackle the root of the trauma to minimize the trauma response.
4. Our nervous system is meant to adjust up and down all day, but most of us put our bodies through so much stress, that our nervous system isn't functioning optimally and is stuck on high alert, which takes its toll over time.
5. Different approaches may be taken in order to down regulate your nervous system versus heal trauma. To down regulate your nervous, you can use restorative practices. To heal trauma, you may need to turn to trauma informed practices to help you heal.

To find more of Janis:

Website | mybodycouture.com

Facebook | @mybodycouture

Instagram | @mybodycouture

Elephant Journal |@janis-isaman/

LinkedIn | @jisaman

YouTube | @janisisaman

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