🌱 tools for tending to our nervous (eco)system - Garden of Queerdom Edition!

Quick-reference links

Table of Contents

What do sessions in this intro series look like?

In tools for tending to our nervous (eco)system, I'll be facilitating space for folks to learn introductory content for the Resilience Toolkit--an evidence-based set of tools for navigating stress in ways that cultivate:

  • self-awareness - learning our bodies' unique language of stress and relaxation as a way of reclaiming our time from systems that captialize off of us being individually and collectively burnt out, on edge, and depleted
  • agency - building a foundation of repeated experiences in being able to recognize and trust the signals and messages we receive from our bodies--as well as feeling equipped in taking subsequent action to support and advocate for ourselves during moments of stress

It is not our goal to be "regulated" or grounded all the time, nor is it our goal to never be stressed. The goal is to build trust in our bodyminds through practices of noticing what is going on in our bodyminds, noticing what is going on in the environment around us, and being able to use that informationt to support ourselves in meeting our needs in the moment as best we can.

Here's what you can expect:

  • Exploration of personal wellness history in the context of what currently affects your stress-relaxation landscape
  • Brief introduction to stress, resilience, how they're related, and why it's important
  • Short, accessible somatic tools for navigating stress followed by aftercare practices
  • Space to connect with each other and share your experiences around the cultivation of your personal practice with the tools 

What we won't be doing:

  • we will not be pushing through discomfort
    • I will likely be facilitating from bed, a sofa, or a floor nest, and you're invited to make yourself as comfortable.
    • I'm not a "master" and nor do I aspire to hold such authority or to bring that hierarchy into the space. Between your expertise on your body and my experience in facilitating learning, we will be experimenting with accessible tools and habits for tending to your nervous system that centers comfort, support, and ease.
    • These practices are not brand new, and they may seem familiar to practices you've done before, or even habits that you might already do without thinking. By the end of the series, the aim is to explore what feels comfortable for you in experimenting with how to implement these tools into your daily life with or without a facilitator, and to discern for yourself which tools work for you and which ones don't at any given time.
  • we will not be directly processing traumatic events
    • the Resilience Toolkit is designed for stabilizing from and triaging in-the-moment stress in an embodied way. While this may create some spaciousness and capacity for being able to eventually process traumatic events over time, we will not be directly or intentionally processing trauma or traumatic events.
    • This may look like: turning to a practice or taking a pause/break if we find ourselves re-experiencing a traumatic event instead of talking through or retelling the experience. 

Group sessions

Intake

As part of participating in an intro series, the intake portion helps me gather some details so that I can set up and host the space in a way that allows both of us to participate in an informed way. While this intake form is optional, please let me know if any of the contraindications in the following section (Contraindications for Tremor Practice) apply to you.

View intake questions 📝

Contraindications for Tremor Practice

The following are contraindications to practicing specifically the therapeutic tremor (more often referred to as the 'adaptive tremor' in this context) within the Toolkit:

  • Brain implants
  • Seizures originating from the brain stem

If either of the above apply to you or are part of what you navigate in your health, then participation in the portion of the series that covers the therapeutic tremor will not be possible.

Participation in other tools is still possible.

Bi-weekly group sessions

In each session, we'll check in before diving into some educational content. We'll invite in questions and discussion before spending some time in embodied practice, and we close with a bit of time for reflection. 

Meeting Dates for the current session:

[Office hours / back-up dates (purpose TBD) on Thursdays 10-11:30, Sept. 10, 24, & Oct. 8]

General agenda:

  • Check-in + landing practice
    We take a few moments to land in the space and check in with ourselves and each other. We practice a tool together before moving into instructional material.
  • Exploring different frameworks around how we talk about stress and resilience
    In each session, we'll explore a different framework around understanding and giving language to how we talk about our experiences of stress and relaxation. This includes an overview of strengths and shortcomings of the framework, some examples, and optional discussion
  • Learning/Practicing Tools
    We learn a new tool, or practice tools that we've learned so far. 
  • Questions + Reflections
  • Closing

Group Guidelines

  1. Every prompt is an invitation.
    You always get to choose--no shoulds or have-to’s in this work, the time is yours to spend how you wish. Permission to say no, I don’t know yet, let me take a second, can you tell me more first, and to listen to your body
  2. Taking care of ourselves
    Stretch, eat, drink, stim, use restroom, rest, etc. Take pauses as needed when you need a break.
  3. Confidentiality & Consent
    What’s said here, stays here. Share the wisdom, do not share any personally identifying information outside of this space without express consent. 
  4. Honoring diverse ways of participating
    We recognize that long pauses, listening and/or absorbing are all valid ways of engaging; words, movement, sound are all welcome and invited forms of communication
  5. Divesting from perfection
    We can’t be articulate 100% of the time. Allow for "first-draft" language. None of us know everything, but together we know a lot. Using ‘I’ statements to speak to your unique experience instead of broad generalizations
  6. Being accountable to each other
    We are conscious of and have integrity with our language and our behavior. Accept responsibility for unintended impact. Acknowledge harm. Make space for grace.

Developing a personal practice

In between each session, you'll be invited to start experimenting with the toolkit tools and exploring what a regular practice of the tools could look like in your day-to-day life. Each group session will have some time set aside during check-in for folks to (optionally) share with each other anything you've noticed, learned, and/or encountered as you try on the tools for yourself.

Schedule optional 1:1 time

After each session, you'll have the option to book a 1:1 with me (30-45 minutes), and that time is to do with what you wish--including asking questions, getting additional guided practice around using the tools, having support in crafting your own habits and rituals for practice, or other support that may feel helpful that week.

schedule 1:1 💬

Ongoing support

After completing an intro series, you'll be welcome to participate in any of the weekly practice sessions that I host--in or beyond Garden of Queerdom programming. Sessions are capped at 6 participants on any given day, with the option to book in advance, or drop in as space allows.

Contact

It may take me 24-48 hours to respond to direct messages.