News — Somatic exercises

Have you noticed that your face is puffy when you wake up or you have bags under your eyes, no matter how much sleep or self-care you get? From puffiness to bags to fine lines, these are actually the signs of “cortisol face.” High cortisol levels, triggered by prolonged stress, can silently change your appearance, affecting everything from your skin's texture to facial fat distribution. You may think it’s just aging, but it can be your body’s response to long-term stress. Face before and after releasing excess cortisol: Cortisol face shares symptoms with other stress-related conditions like fatigue, mood swings, and sleep disturbances. When your...

If you've noticed a hump forming at the base of your neck between the shoulder blades, you're not alone! This accumulation of fat is known as a neck hump, and it causes discomfort as well as self-consciousness for anyone affected by it. It's important to know though, that having a neck hump is not your fault. While there are multiple causes of why you would form a neck hump, one often overlooked cause is due to elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol, the hormone produced in your body in response to stress, can lead to fat accumulation in multiple areas of the body — including...

If you've ever experienced stress, anxiety, or trauma in your life, you may have turned to traditional methods of healing like taking certain prescribed medication or going to talk therapy to alleviate your symptoms. But have you ever tried somatic exercises? What are somatic exercises? Somatic exercise is a form of body-centered therapy involving gentle movements that target the body's central nervous system. This kind of somatic therapy focuses on unlocking sensations and releasing repressed emotions and physical experiences by encouraging and utilizing the innate connection between the mind and body. Essentially, somatic exercises are repetitions of simple movements that can provide...

If you're one of the many who suffers from sleep problems then you're definitely not alone! One third of the adult population reports struggling with falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting a good night's sleep all-together. 🤯 And considering sleep is an important indicator of overall health and well-being, these statistics are alarming and concerning... But why are SO many of us struggling with sleep anyway!? One of the leading reasons our population struggles with falling asleep and staying asleep is stress.  And specifically, the high cortisol levels that occur in our bodies when faced with stressful situations. When your cortisol is...

Your nervous system is a remarkable and intricate system that constantly works to regulate and coordinate your body's functions. And while that remarkable and intricate system is designed to function seamlessly, there are times when it can become overwhelmed. When this overwhelm happens, the nervous system can, essentially, shutdown. A nervous system shutdown can happen due to a multitude of reasons, but the one we're seeing most in younger generations now-a-days is from chronic stress. When you're chronically stressed, your body gets flooded with the stress hormone cortisol — and cortisol heavily impacts your nervous system's ability to function properly. How Chronic Stress Triggers Your...