The Self-Agency Advocate

A candid chat with Kirsten Wilkinson from @Legacy Motion as we cover all the ins and out of our upcoming 300HR Trauma-Informed Movement Facilitator Training. (Starting October 23, Online & Interactive).

This training allows you to learn the skills to share trauma informed practices that include yoga, embodiment, and somatic therapies with all people and all bodies.

You will have access to a global international community of likeminded individuals who are interested to find ways to utilise all our innate wisdom within our bodies and our nervous system to find restoration.

This training is broken down into 3 100HR modules, which can be taken individually. However for the most knowledge rich and transformative experience, we would love to have you along for the 8 months.

This is a personable training with only 20 SPACES AVAILABLE so that we are able to build strong communication between all students, whilst creating and maintaining an on-going community of movement facilitators across the globe.

To find out more information & enrol today please head over to: https://www.theselfagencyacademy.com/copy-of-understanding-trauma-online

Amanda,

Food is medicine. It heals you. It is the fuel for our entire being.   

In this video I want to shift the conservation towards a more healthy and balanced relationship with food, to see it as a source of joy, of nourishment, of fuel, and truly of medicine.  A big part of maintaining and thriving a personal practice is your mental health and making sure that it is nourished and supported through the foods that you consume.   

How can we best support out mental and physical well-being with food? 

What does proper nutrition look like? 

How can we learn to listen to our individual body and needs?

Do you have a daily personal practice? Maybe you already have one but you struggle to make this routine? Or maybe you feel lost as to where to start?

In this video we explore how to create your unique personal practice, the impact it can have on your life, and the best way to make this sustainable so that we can do this long term.

A personal practice is unique from person to person. No one can determine what will really work for you. Whilst others can offer tips and advice, we have to develop it ourselves so that it is sustainable and maintainable.

In this video I explore:

And much much more!

We have spent a lot of our life believing that we are helpless and that change is out of reach.

We do not constantly have to be this ‘work in progress’.

We do not need to be this piece of art that needs mastering.

You are more than perfect exactly as you are.

How do we truly rest?

We need to decrease the amount of stimulation as much as possible. This allows our whole nervous system to deeply rest.

In this video I explain the IMPORTANCE of deep rest on our nervous system and HOW to actually switch off and rest.

Self regulation - the ability to come back to a place of safety.

In this episode I talk about the tools we can use to drop back into a place of safety. A place where we feel calm in the present moment and where our nervous system can return back to a regulated state.

I describe some different breathing techniques which you can use to explore how you are feeling and return back to a baseline state.

The BREATH is the most powerful tools we have to identify our emotional state. It is one of the quickest ways to drop back in and come back to a base line. Our breath is like a compass - when we notice how we are breathing we can tune into how we are feeling, our emotions.

In this episode I define the difference between Self-Care and Self-Soothing.

Self-soothing involves immediate relief to allow ourselves the chance to breathe and switch off. This allows us to build the resilience to move towards Self-Care.

Self-Care asks us to look at how we are fundamentally caring for our mind, body and spirit as a whole.

Self- Care is rebuilding and maintaining your resilience. It is rebuilding your capacity to show up and interact with the world around you. It allows us to take control and feel more empowered over different aspects of our lives.

Invitation to you:

Draw a circle and divide it into the 5 sections, one for each of the 5 elements listed belows. In each section, write down what you do for this element, whether it be a self soothing or self care activity. You might start to see a trend. You might see certain aspects of your life that you feel you are giving lots of attention towards, and you might notice areas which you are neglecting. From here, you will be able to see which elements need more attention and whether you need to incorporate more Self-Care

Physical

Emotional

Spiritual

Mental

Energetic

Whilst we may not have control of the external world. We have control of ourselves, and our own internal workings, so we must try to take as much care of our own internal landscape. This therefore makes handling the external forces a little easier.

Kelsey and I discuss the importance of advocacy to raise awareness about disability and make sure everyone has equal opportunities. We talk about the importance of normalising disability in a world where we are trained consciously and subconsciously to fear difference and to fear ‘other’. Kelsey is passionate about educating others and creating space for awareness and normalisation of disability.

Kelsey Ferrill is a grad student at Royal Roads University (#@RoyalRoadssu on Instagram) pursuing her Masters of Intercultural and International communications. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the Moebius Syndrome Foundation (@MoebiusSyndromeFoundation) and works closely with @PositiveExposure which is an organization that uses the arts to create a more inclusive, equitable world for all. Advocacy is Kelsey’s #1 passion; it is what sets her soul on fire and gives her purpose. She really wants to spread the message of acceptance and inclusivity and most importantly, not judging anyone on appearance alone. Kelsey believes that her life experiences can be used for good and she hopes to work internationally for a non-profit that supports and advocates for people with disabilities.

Jake Ernst and I dive into connection, the true meaning of relationship, and how to create safety with others and in oneself. We look at how we can create space for self-exploration and inquiry while holding compassion and patience on this journey

Join us in an informative and light-spirited conversation around trauma, healing, growth, and all things wellness. While this work can often feel heavy and daunting, you’re not alone and there are ways you can invite in all dimensions of yourself - there is room for sadness and happiness, overwhelm and contentedness, fear and excitement. There is room for all of you here.

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Jake Ernst is a therapist, writer, and speaker based in Toronto, Canada. In his work, Jake is interested in unexplored feelings, unprocessed trauma, and unmet attachment needs in childhood and adolescence as catalysts for mental unhealth and unwellness in adulthood.

Jake works with teens, young adults, and parents.

Through speaking, workshops, and writing, Jake explores the bold and vulnerable stories which are rarely told or brought to the forefront. He dives deep into the uncomfortable and seeks to expand and reimagine our understanding of how relationships, pain, trauma, and mental health impact our lives.

Connect with Jake on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mswjake/ or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mswjake

Myself and Mei Lai Swan explore the importance of acknowledging trauma and social justice within the yoga space. We talk about what social justice really means and how we can take care of all people and have systems and cultures that really support our individual and collective well-being.

“I saw the need for training that incorporated yoga, trauma and social justice”

What is social justice? How do we really take care of each and have systems and cultures that really support our individual and collective well-being?

“Yoga is an inherent part of who we are. It is the deep self inquiry. The point of yoga is to wake up to who you are and that's available to you no matter where you are born, no matter your lineage. It is your birthright.”

Mei Lai Swan is the founder and lead facilitator of Yoga for Humankind. Dedicated to the paths of yoga, meditation and community for over 20 years, Mei Lai is an experienced yoga teacher trainer and certified Embodied Flow facilitator with a professional background in music, community development and social work. She specialises in embodied practice, trauma-informed yoga, social justice and nada yoga (sound and mantra).

Mei Lai is passionate about creating authentic spaces for fostering conversation, building community and sharing practices of embodied social justice and collective wellbeing.

With a BA in International Development/Environmental Studies and a Master of Social Work, Mei Lai spent six years working in remote Aboriginal communities running community development programs, before returning to Melbourne to run psychosocial programs with people seeking asylum. She has trained broadly in somatic-based trauma therapy, counselling, and Trauma Centre Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY-F) and has combined these skills to deliver individual counselling, group work programs, and specially-tailored yoga programs for asylum seekers, refugees, disadvantaged youth, and people experiencing chronic pain and trauma.

She is a doula, founder, previous CEO and ongoing board director of Birth for Humankind, a non-profit organisation  providing free birth support to women experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.

www.yogaforhumankind.org / @yogaforhumankind

www.meilaiswan.com / @meilaiswanyoga