Rachel Hardy, Author at Rachel Hardy

Sensation: The Language of the Reptile Brain

February 27, 2020 0Comments

“You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves” - - Mary Oliver In the personal growth and self help worlds, we often work with our mindset, our thoughts, and our beliefs. Often, we work with our our emotions, and typically we come from an intellectual and “understanding”…

Why Do I Get Anxious When I Meditate? Why “Calming Down” May Not Always be the Optimal Goal

February 23, 2020 0Comments

The benefits of meditation and mindfulness practices are becoming more and more well known. And yet, many folks struggle to meditate and find it an extreme challenge to “go inside” and be still. Often, the assumption is that the individual simply needs to exert greater discipline or “just practice”. And it…

How the Nervous System Works Part 2: How Trauma Affects the Body

January 2, 2020 0Comments

Let's talk about how trauma affects the body. We know that in a healthy nervous system, we move easily between the three states of sympathetic, slow parasympathetic (ventral vagal), and quick shutdown (dorsal vagal). In a nervous system that has undergone trauma (or overloads of stress), the nervous system can become…

How the Nervous System Works Part 1: The Branches of the Autonomic Nervous System

October 5, 2019 0Comments

In this post, we'll take a look at how the Nervous System works, and how understanding it can be helpful to our health, wellness, and optimal functioning. Photo: Shutterstock The Autonomic Nervous System is divided into two branches. You may be familiar with the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Branches of the autonomic nervous…

Neck and Shoulder Release: A Workshop in Self Myofascial Treatment

January 16, 2017 0Comments

Do you experience chronic tension or pain in your neck, shoulders, or upper back? Does no amount of stretching seem to release it? Does daily work at a computer lead to constantly stiff neck and shoulders? Ready to take control of your health and well being, and experience greater ease of movement and relief from chronic tension? In this…

Holiday Restorative Yoga & Massage

December 13, 2016 0Comments

If the holiday season has you stressed... or you simply need a deep re-set and re-charge for the new year- I'd like to invite you to join me and Carrie Janell for a deeply relaxing "Restorative Yoga & Massage" event at Kinship Yoga in Highland Park. **This event is now sold out. Please join us for…

Referred pain: the infraspinatus and shoulder pain

August 26, 2015 0Comments

My new client came in for a session, reporting shoulder pain, primarily in the front of his deltoid (the muscle at the top of the arm). The pain had started while lifting weights one day and had not gone away, worsening after time spent working on the computer. He said he suspected it was a rotator…

Piriformis Syndrome and Sciatica

May 16, 2015 0Comments

Many people are unclear about the difference between piriformis syndrome and sciatica: "which one do I have?" To answer this, it's important to break down the terms and understand what we're referring to. Sciatica is a term that refers to pain that is caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve. It is most often felt in…

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