Body Mapping: Listening to Your Body with Sam Halliwell

For this special final-for-now episode of Wisdom Without the Guru, Endo Coach Sam Halliwell returns to introduce body mapping — a practice designed to help us notice physical sensations, emotions and the signals we may normally overlook. 

Sam explains how body mapping overlaps with somatic work and nervous-system awareness, why some people become disconnected from physical sensations, and why the same part of the body may bring up very different things at different times. She also discusses the importance of approaching deeper emotional material carefully and knowing when additional support may be helpful.  

In this episode:

•  What body mapping is and how it differs from a simple body scan 
•  The connection between stress, the nervous system and body awareness 
•  Why some people struggle to feel certain areas of their body 
•  Using journaling to notice recurring sensations and themes 
•  When body mapping may be better explored with professional support 
•  Similarities and differences between body mapping and Yoga Nidra 
•  A guided body mapping exercise you can follow along with
•  How repeated practice can reveal different layers over time 

The guided practice begins at approximately 39 minutes and includes a full-body scan followed by questions designed to encourage curiosity about what you notice.

About: Sam Halliwell is an endometriosis coach and creator of The Embodied Alchemy Method™, a trauma-informed approach to healing that blends emotional processing, mind-body awareness, and personal transformation. After years of navigating pain, fertility struggles, and medical dismissal, she now helps women reconnect with themselves and reclaim their lives from the inside out. Sam’s work is rooted in lived experience, practical tools, and deep inner change.

Connect at: IG, FB, Website

Transcript

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Introduction & Recap

Regina Sayer 0:00

Thank you everybody for joining me for what is the final, for the moment, episode of Wisdom Without the Guru. It has been a pleasure to host so many fabulous guests and to give so many tools and advice and stories to listeners, and also the opportunity to allow guests to tell their stories because stories are what connects us all. Different aspects of it, the trials, the tribulations, the joys, the happiness, the sadness, the pain, the trauma, everything. It touches us all. So join me for this final episode with my return guest, Endo Coach Sam Halliwell. I'm so happy that I can end with this particular episode because it is an episode that gives you a tool that you can use to work on yourself. We have the exercise towards the end of the podcast. So please do listen through and try it out. And try it out afterwards as well. I know that during the podcast, I myself did experience certain things happening when I participated in the exercise while Sam was walking everyone through it. So again, I just want to thank all of my guests. Thank you so, so, so very much. I really appreciate the time that you have given and the willingness to share your stories in the hope of helping somebody else out there listening. And I want to thank all of the listeners and all of the followers on social media. Thank you so much for being part of this journey. Thank you so much for listening to the stories of others. I really, really, really hope that you are on your journey to healing yourself and finding your true self and to being this wonderful person that I know that we all can be if we can just dig through all of the things that try to keep us down or try to silence our voice or try to bring us into a darkness that it's hard to get out of. I know this, I have experienced it, I know how hard it can be. I have not experienced it in the same ways that many of our guests have, and that I'm sure that you listeners have. But I have experienced my own version of it, and we cannot compare our pain to others, we cannot compare our trauma to others, we cannot compare our love and joy to others, because for us it is individual and it is based on our experiences and everything and everyone that we have ever known in our entire lives, and if you believe, possibly in other lifetimes. So once again, thank you, and I hope that you will enjoy this episode and stay well wherever you are in this big, fantastic, beautiful world.

Regina Sayer 3:18

Hi everybody, and welcome back to a special episode of Wisdom Without the Guru. I'm your host, Regina, and today I'm joined again by Endo Coach Sam Halliwell, who was with us before. So welcome back, Sam. It's so nice to have you back.

Sam Halliwell 3:32

Thank you, it's nice to be back.

Regina Sayer 3:33

Well, I think we are gonna well you are principally gonna be talking about a lot of things. But before that, let's note Sam was previously on the show during her story, being called the unwanted child, taking on adult responsibilities in addition to her schooling at the early age of 11. And she also experienced being ignored, misdiagnosed, chastised the time saved by doctors for the unrelenting pain she endured during a menstrual cycle. And also finally learned she had endometriosis. And after that, through treatment, a lot of pain, two childbirths, and she was told that she couldn't. She then found ways to heal herself, but even some medical professionals that she felt too thought remarkable. So today she's going to be taking us through a body mapping exercise, which is one of the tools she uses for her own healing and that she incorporates into her coaching of clients with endo. However, this tool is not only meant for women with endo. So with that, let's start. Because I don't know anything about this, but I really want to know. So a lot of times when people bring stuff on, I have at least some idea, but I've actually never heard of this before.

Sam Halliwell 4:56

Okay, interesting.

Regina Sayer 4:58

So, first of all, what exactly is body mapping?

Sam Halliwell 5:02

So,

What Is Body Mapping?

Sam Halliwell 5:03

body mapping, it's a guided process of tuning into the body and noticing sensations, pain, emotions, things like that. Essentially, our bodies are mess is a messenger. Our body is designed to give us messages all the time. The link between our body and brain is so strong and it's a two-way link. What we think in our heads affects our bodies, and what happens in our bodies affects what shows up in our mind. There's such that strong link. And when we have that link open and are open to receiving the messages back and forth, we're able to adapt and recognize what's happening in our day-to-day in a much more present way, more mindful way. And we're able to have less tension, less pain, less challenges in our body as well. What happens though in especially in the modern world for a lot of people, men and women, but it seems to affect women on a slightly higher level, but it happens to both genders. The world is designed in a way that keeps keeps our body out of a harmonic state, out of that nice standard, normal state. And it causes changes in our body. And then when also we have something like chronic illness or or any things psychological as well, trauma or um challenges that we've had, we can learn to shut off that two-way signal. And I described last time how that happens quite a lot with endo ladies, as well as other chronic conditions that you almost we call it like almost um head-on-a-stick syndrome. So we may as well be heads on a stick because we've effectively cut off any sensations below the neck. From a place of, you know, some sometimes very um what what seems very sensible reasons, you know, if you've got a body that's in a lot of pain all the time, you're not going to want to be tuned into that. And it's uncomfortable to be tuned into that. And so we develop a mechanism of our it's almost like la la la la, I don't want to know, I don't want to know, stop sending me stuff. But what that does is it cuts us off from everything else as well, not just the one thing that's happening. So with body mapping, by tuning in, it allows us to re-establish that connection if it's gotten lost, and also build upon learning those messages that are coming from our body, what they mean, and therefore how to work with them. Because each area of the body essentially has a story. It holds stories and it tells us stories. And with body mapping, we can then literally, hence the name, draw a map of where those stories are living inside us. So there is no perfect way of doing this. You know, I want to set that straight up front. It's not about perfection. It's about experimenting, it's about learning, and it's about establishing that connection. And it's also on a very personal level because what something might mean to me can be very different to what it means to you. Now that's not to say there aren't commonalities. You know, there's a very, very famous author out there, uh Louise Hay, who talks about how certain parts of our body commonly mean a certain thing. It's good if you're completely unsure about something, it's a good resource to check, hmm, I wonder what the kind of commonality is here? But it may be, even if that commonality is true, it may be still something different. So let's say it's a part of the body associated with grief. Then how that shows up and what that means for you versus what it means for me, even if we both hold that same emotion in the same place, is a very different thing. And that's why I use the body mapping because it enables a opens up that reconnection, allows us to find that support in our bodies and from our bodies. Our bodies literally support us every single day. It's the longest relationship you'll ever have is with yourself by any stretch of the imagination. And so cutting ourselves off from it doesn't serve us in the long run. So yeah, essentially that's what the body mapping is, is opening up and tuning in, looking for where these parts are in our body, and it shows up in different ways. So sometimes it does show up as pain when something is stuck in the body. Sometimes it may be like a heat, it may be a tension, it may be just a twitch. Like it shows things show up in our body in different ways, but all of them tell a story.

Regina Sayer 9:07

Okay, so I do have a question. One is how long has body m well, I've got two questions. One, how long has body mapping been around? And two, who developed it?

Sam Halliwell 9:17

Good questions. There's a few different theories around it. Truth be told, off the top of my head, I don't know exactly who invented it per se. I think it's been around definitely since like the seventies, maybe a bit before. But in different ways and in different there's so many iterations of it that your very sensible question there is actually not necessarily the easiest answer. Because there's different layers and it depends on which lens you're looking through it. From an author point of view, the most famous is Louise Hay. She did a lot of stuff on it. But there's there's a lot of different ways out there for it that it that it comes about and different ways it's used.

Body Mapping, Somatic Work & the Nervous System

Regina Sayer 9:50

Okay. And is it very similar to somatic work?

Sam Halliwell 9:54

Yes, absolutely. Because of the way it connects to our autonomic nervous system, there's a massive similarity there. So when it comes to our autonomic nervous system, it's split into two parts. We have the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. And they again work in relation to each other. One will turn on and the other one will turn off, and then vice versa. And it's a symbiotic relationship in that way. Both of them are really important. It's it's becoming more and more common to talk about these things with the surgeons at the moment of talking about things like breath work and somatic work. These things are starting to get talked about. And actually, as part of that, the sympathetic nervous system is getting a little bit of a bad rap. There's good logic why, but the risk is that we see it as a bad thing, and it's not, it's very, very helpful. The challenge comes when we don't have a good regulation between the two nervous systems. So our society day to day, the way that our lives are structured nowadays, we tend to be a locked, if not permanently, in the sympathetic nervous system, and that's where it then becomes a problem. So on a very basic level, if you think about the two systems, the sympathetic nervous system, that's the fight flight. That's the thing that, you know, something is happening now, let's deal with it, whether that is fight, flight, freeze, etc. And we've all heard that terminology quite a lot, right? And it's that's where it's very useful. If something happen is happening, if there's a danger, if there's a challenge right now happening, you want that system to kick in. It's so incredibly important. The problem occurs when we're in it all the time because of the physiological changes it has on our body, the psychological changes, and also then it makes us less able to respond to true needs for that system because if it's always on, the amount of more on you can turn it is harder. So you you end up then in a situation where your body constantly feels in threat mode. We then don't go into the parasympathetic. And the parasympathetic that should be our kind of um normal at rest state. And indeed, one of the big advantages of the parasympathetic, and and one of the reasons we need it, is because it it's the rest, it it involves rest. It allows us to pause after something has happened, it allows the body to renew. It's the place where we can heal. You can't heal in sympathetic, you can only heal in parasympathetic. And this is where this body mapping again comes into it as well as the somatic work, because it opens up and allows us to drop into that parasympathetic state to allow those healing and renewal changes to happen for us. Mind, body, and spirit, like the whole the whole thing comes into play at the same time.

Regina Sayer 12:36

Okay. I was just thinking, so do you naturally go into a parasympathetic state when you sleep?

Sam Halliwell 12:42

Technically, yes, but there's a big but there. In that when we've got uh over activation of our sympathetic nervous system, even at sleep, we can still be in activation of it. And that's where some cases like insomnia and things like that can occur. It's because our bodies are not able to truly rest. And so in the attempt to rest as our body goes through the different stages of sleep, it will reach a trigger where it kicks back in to the sympathetic, which is not helpful. An idea of sleep, you should be in the parasympathetic, but it doesn't it doesn't always happen when we're living in a very chronic stress state, and and that's why sleep becomes when we're stressed, that's why our sleep goes completely kaput as well, right?

Regina Sayer 13:27

Okay, so my other question had to do with the difference between men and women, because I mean it is said, and I guess it's a general agreement, and I don't know if I necessarily believe this, that men and women feel emotions differently. And I say I don't necessarily believe that because I'm so tired of this line being drawn between what men feel and what women feel, and I really think that we both need to talk to each other in the end. So in terms of doing anything like data mapping or somatic work, does it work differently for men versus women? Or I mean who is more beneficial for it? Excuse me, who does it benefit more? Or I don't know. I just thinking about some of the things that I've read or that I've heard, uh it just feels like it would work differently according to those beliefs that are out there.

Sam Halliwell 14:18

It does and it doesn't. So it's important for men and women to be balanced it back into the parasympathetic and not be in chronic sympathetic nervous system. And our bodies do respond in slightly different ways in both. With the sympathetic nervous system, how we respond to that, there is a difference in in genders, and it's not it's not completely exclusive. It's not oh men will always do this and women will always do this at all. Uh but you know, men are more likely to go into the fight and even flight, and women are more likely to go into the freeze state. And again, that's how we respond to the physical changes that are happening. Also, women tend to show um greater dominance in the parasympathetic and they're more sensitive to the hormonal changes generally, simply because of just the way that our our makeup is, and men tend to be slightly higher in the sympathetic and have a higher sensitivity to it. It doesn't mean that men should be in sympathetic and women should be in parasympathetic. In fact, even for women, if we were in parasympathetic all the time, it actually would be just as just problematic. It's just quite rare because of the way that society is. So, yes, these distinctions between the gender do influence how we respond to the stress, how our different systems inside the body, such as our cardio system works, and how the physical body, the physiology of us, responds as well. And it's still important across both genders, across all situations, because it is that harmonious state for our bodies. And just as with women that stress and trauma and things can get stuck in the body, it so can with men as well. And through the somatic work I have, even though I specialise in endo, I work uh that's my big specialty, but I actually work with a variety of people. The work I've done works with men and women. I've seen that regularly.

Regina Sayer 16:07

Okay, that's good to know.

Sam Halliwell 16:08

Yeah.

Safety, Trauma Awareness & Working with Children

Regina Sayer 16:09

Is there anybody who should not do this? And I would imagine that when you learn it, you can do it on your own because that's what you do. But is there anybody who maybe is starting out who shouldn't really try doing this on their own because it could bring out things that they're not ready to face on their own?

Sam Halliwell 16:27

Yes, to a degree. So you know your own self. If you know that you've got something really problematic or traumatic that that you're not able to deal with right now, having the sensitivity and awareness, it may be not always the appropriate time to do it. Now, I would just caveat that with find a way to then be able to work on whatever it is that's causing that challenge and that problem for you. Uh, you know, seeing a therapist, seeing a coach, depending on what the thing is that's going on for you. And then with that support, it's still good to do. But it's about being that, you know, it's it's another buzzword at the moment, but it's about being that trauma aware, you know, knowing how you respond to stuff. It also um can be that if you know you're incredibly tense or incredibly um struggling with things that have happened before, taking it very slow, as and when you do do it, making sure that support system is available to you. And I'd say actually for anybody, don't do it just before you're about to go into a big meeting with your boss. Even if you're, you know, feeling clear as a whistle and all things are pointing north, like kick your moment, you know, doing it while um in a in a home environment where you can sit and journal for a bit and if anything comes up, how to deal with it. So, yes, being aware and being conscious that it can bring up stuff, absolutely. The deeper you go into it, the more it's going to bring up. So making sure you know what what is available to you and what how far you can take things. Certainly the kind of level I'm going to take through today, it's on a very light level because I don't want anybody uh listening to go into some deep dark trauma that they're going to not be able to deal with. So as soon if you feel something you're like, oh, I just can't deal with this right now, as something comes up, take the pause. And we can um move our body and shake it off to be able to also, if need be, avoid it in that moment to be able to come back later with therapist, councelor etc.

Regina Sayer 18:14

Yeah, I ask also because I you you did say that we're self-aware, but not all of us are self-aware, and some people actually don't realise that they have trauma stuck in their body.

Sam Halliwell 18:24

Yes, absolutely.

Regina Sayer 18:25

Can you use this for children?

Sam Halliwell 18:27

Uh yes, again, with caution and with you know sensible boundaries around it. And again, it's knowing the child. If you you wouldn't use it with somebody who's just come out a child who's just come out of a very traumatic situation. But day to day, you can um work with your children to I mean, if nothing else, one of the things that even if it doesn't bring up something, one of the things that happens automatically with the body mapping, providing, you know, we're not about to go into a meeting with the boss or you know, but it's not something you do while driving. But it calms us down, it brings us into that parasympathetic. And if nothing else, for children, that's really good. I use it with my girls. We'll talk about things where, you know, if they're if they've got a stressful day at school or you know, they had a falling out with a friend yesterday and they've got to go back in today. We'll talk about how to elongate the breath and how to relax the body, which brings us into that parasympathetic. And then by scanning and doing the body mapping, which is essentially a scan, it lowers our heart rate, it lowers our stress levels. So if nothing else, it does that with kids. But you've got to be incredibly cautious because in the same way with adults it can bring stuff up, it can with kids as well. Because of that, be extra sensible, I guess, is the thing I'd say.

Who Can Benefit from Body Mapping?

Regina Sayer 19:38

Who can benefit the most from doing body mapping?

Sam Halliwell 19:41

So it can be for anyone living with a chronic pain or condition like like endo, because it will help unlock where the physicality of that disease is from something else. So it can help us understand some of the underlying patterns and causes of a physical pain or a chronic condition. Uh it can be for anyone who feels disconnected from their body, uh, especially, you know, people in uh who have been in overwhelm and pushing through and constantly just like, you know, constant hustle, hustle, hustle, that overactivated stress. Anybody who's ever ever thought, gosh, you know, my body's talking to me and I don't really understand what it's saying and I don't know what's going on here, why is it that I always seem to get a cold every you know month that seem to have like really low immunity to things? Or simply just someone who feels stressed or shut down or overwhelmed. It's also then a daily, uh it can become a daily maintenance practice, right? So even if you're not feeling stressed and in pain, etc., right now, I use this tool daily myself, even when I'm feeling top of the world. Because if nothing else, it it's a moment to pause, it's a moment of mindfulness. It takes just that time out of the day for ourselves for a moment, and it helps maintain things because when you practice it regularly, you can also tend to find things quicker. The first time you you do it, it can be that like there's too many messages coming through, I'm not quite sure what's going on here, or that you're kind of like, oh, I don't really think I feel anything. That's because you know if you've been shut off for quite a long time from your own body, it can take a while to it's like you imagine it like a radio, you know, sometimes when it were the old-fashioned ones when you had to, you know, fiddle with the little buttons. Sometimes you you can hear the music of the station, but there's still that little bit of static, and that can happen with our bodies too. But when you're practicing it on a regular basis, as soon as something comes up, the message can come through with it quite quickly, as opposed to spending weeks going, Oh, I just can't get rid of this cold or I can't get rid of this pain, what's going on? It'll be immediately like, hmm, what's that to do with Ah, okay, that's that. So it becomes a it becomes a practice as much as you know going for a walk and and listening to the bird song.

Regina Sayer 21:48

Yeah, you you said something there, if you don't feel anything. So, first of all, yeah, if you don't feel anything, I guess keep going. And secondly, how long does it take before you actually feel the benefit from doing this?

Sam Halliwell 22:01

It depends what comes up as to how quickly you feel the benefit from it and what you do with what comes up and how you respond to that. So as a one-off practice, if something comes up and you're able to then deal with it either through support or that it's as soon as it comes, sometimes as soon as something comes into our awareness, the power of it can decrease. So sometimes we don't always need the support around it. As quick as you're then able to deal with what happens, it can be as quick as that. It also can be like almost instant, as I say, certainly on a maintenance level as well, the bringing awareness to it, because it decreases the power of it, that can have a massive benefit straight away. And also on the very, very physiological basis, that relaxation state, straight away, our bodies will move state, will move physical position. So there's some parts that happen immediately and some parts that happen a long time. As for not feeling it, uh yes, keep doing it. One thing I say, and this does come up quite a few times for my clients because of their conscious and unconscious cutting off from their body sensations, that the first few times I do it, they'll be like, Yeah, I just can't feel anything. And I've even had a couple of clients go, I don't feel anything anyway. My mind body doesn't do that at all. I'm like, well, okay, it I can promise you it does. And it's about opening up that channel again because you've literally just closed all the barriers up. So one thing I bring to mind and I talk about then is if you were to go into your kitchen now and stub your toe, you're gonna feel it, right? So unless unless someone is paraplegic and literally can't feel anybody else, when they go into a kitchen, they're gonna and stub their toe on the table, it hurts, right? There's there's no two ways about it. I use that example because it affirms to people our bodies do send us signals and your body does that too. If you're able to having hurt yourself, feel it, you are feeling things in your body. The difference is that they're the only times you're feeling it is when those nerves are hit in it in a in a painful way instead. Having accepted by that point, a client will accept, oh okay, maybe I maybe I can do this. And that's one of the barriers as well, thinking I can't, I can push you away too. And it's about letting go and surrendering, and that's not the easiest thing to do. But it is keeping with the breathing and it's practicing. I had um one client who was particularly shut off, who was... there was more going on than just endo, there was a lot that was happening. And so for her, doing a full body scan was too much at the beginning. And so what we focused on was we picked one body part a day rather than doing the whole body because it was just it was too much for ho for her. She was so in sympathetic nervous system, she was so on high alert that trying to focus through all the parts was just too much. So that's why we brought it down to okay, well, today we're going to start with the right thumb. Okay, that's all I want you to do tomorrow. I just want you to spend two minutes concentrating on your right thumb. And notice what happens generally. It doesn't matter whether nothing happens, doesn't matter whether lots happened, it doesn't matter. And that's a big part of it as well. Those who who don't feel something, a lot of judgment can come in, and that's then the the the ego part of us, bringing that judgment, like, oh, I can't feel anything, oh this is silly, oh god, I'm there must be something wrong with me. I must not be someone this works for, oh gosh, I'm so and then we start saying nasty things about ourselves. I'm so useless, I'm so rubbish. Those kind of things then start creeping in. All of that is the ego taking us away from what's happening because our ego is then trying to keep us safe. Now that would be an indication as well of either that you've cut it off for quite a long time, or that there's something that you know is is coming up your ego's trying to help you avoid from. So that's where you would then look to build in that support system and and and talk to somebody about it. But unless you are literally uh, you know, medically paralyzed, you can feel it just may take a while to learn. It's like learning a new language if you've not done it before, right?

Regina Sayer 25:45

So

Journaling, Body Signals & Going Deeper

Regina Sayer 25:46

I heard another word, another key word in there. Journaling. So should you be journaling when you do this?

Sam Halliwell 25:52

It's beneficial. You don't have to, but it's beneficial. Uh certainly at the end of a body mapping exercise, I would encourage it simply because it's again, it helps open up that channel, right? When we notice and pay attention to something, it shows up more. Okay. So if we were to do a body mapping exercise and then five minutes after doing it, we forget everything about it. Don't don't do anything with anything we felt, it won't have as much of an impact as making note knowing what came up. And also it in doing journaling, it takes away that judgment piece I just mentioned. Because with the journaling, you can just notice without understanding what the message is. So it can sometimes be that after a body mapping exercise, even if you write, well, I scanned everywhere and didn't really feel anything, okay. Then what else keep writing at that point? What else about that? So it may be that then you start hearing in your head and therefore coming out on the page those judgments that you are making. The yeah, I didn't feel anything and I'm so rubbish, I'm da da da da da okay. And in doing that again, that all work also identifies what's some of what is going on for you, right? Or if you feel something but have no idea what it means, so let's say um, you know, you notice that you get a tingling in your elbow, let's say, and you're like, Well, I don't really know what that means. What's that gonna do with anything? I noticed it, but by writing it down, it's securing and widening that channel between your brain that interprets these things and your body, because by writing it down, you've noticed it, you've consciously recorded and noticed it, which says to your brain, I noticed that my left elbow is doing something funny there. And it means the next time you do it, you may then get more of the messaging because your brain is going, okay, we're doing this body thing. All right, I'll I'm gonna start to get on board with this dude. Right, let's let's see what we're doing here. And again, it just strengthens that relationship. So I would always encourage journaling. You don't have to, but it definitely makes a big difference when you do.

Regina Sayer 27:50

And are there different levels of body mapping? I mean, if you were to learn this, are there different stages that you need to go through in learning it?

Sam Halliwell 27:58

Yeah, absolutely. And again, that then is the depths of what you go into, right? So as I'm going to talk about a very light version today because I'm not with working with somebody for whatever comes up for them, and I want everybody that wants to participate to do it in a very safe way. So there's depths to it, and then when you've got the physiological layer, but there's also the psychological layers. As an example, with our sympathetic nervous system being on all the time, our nervous system gets stuck, we get stuck in that survival mode. Our bodies contract and move in a different way, which also then affects the fascia system, which lives underneath our body, and also that then affects our the somatic nervous system, which is the so the autonomic nervous system that's it happens unconsciously, we don't control that. But our somatic nervous system, that is our somatic system in in in a whole, that is what moves us. So, you know, I want to go for a walk today, so you know, you move your arms, that's somatic, right? And this is again where the two connect so heavily. But stuckness in the autonomic nervous system affects everything else, and that's where we can get this stiffness and this inability to move. And then those things then cause physical challenges. And then there's the reverse of it that when we're in a stress state, when we're in physical challenges, we are more prone to stressful environments, we are more prone to chaos around us, we are more prone to trauma, we're more prone to living it, reliving things. So that's where the different layers come in, in that initially, what is most likely to happen today is it will be simply a physiological response, people will notice. That's much more likely. And then the layers when you're working with somebody, I'll then um also when I'm in a session with a client doing this, what we may discover is that younger part of themselves, a time when they didn't feel safe, or moments when they had to silence themselves. That inner child angle, that layer then, starting on the body, we go into and are able to transform and move how that is showing up, either through an inner child working or something like the somatic nervous system, because again, then it's all in relation to each other. When we change one, we can change the other, and that changes the other, and etc. etc. So that's where the different layers come in, and also the practice of it, right? So because I practice it daily, I will have a deep level of stuff that will come up, not every day. I'm not going into deepest, darkest stuff every day, but I will have a depth of it because of the repetition of it and because of the support system I do have, that if something comes up that is really hard for me to work through, I know X amount of people I can immediately call up and take through. And that's where the different depth comes in. But you've got to start with the physiology of it, you've got to start with again opening up that channel with with your body. And there's also again on the depth level, when there's something like chronic pain, if it's really acute, really, really strong, it would be really hard to then listen to anything else in the body if something is in absolute agony right now. There'll be lots of places in your body that want to talk to you and say something, but they are literally being drowned out by this part of the body that is screaming over here. So again, that steps on a different level because until that part is that's screaming is able to lower its voice to be able to feel heard and dealt with in some way, the other parts just have no chance of getting a word in. So that's steps in two different ways, almost kind of like across and and down, if you like.

Learning Body Mapping & the Importance of Support

Regina Sayer 31:21

Okay. If somebody did want to learn this, do they learn it through a coach or is there I don't know, what do you do? Who do you go to?

Sam Halliwell 31:28

There are different places that bring it through. Anywhere that talks about the physiology around it, the link with the somatic system, the link to how um how one thing moves another. There's lots of places out there that can learn different parts of it. I'd essentially say one of the first steps, truly, is to be practicing it first for a long time. Before I started helping clients with this, I spent years doing it for myself.

Regina Sayer 31:53

Yeah, you need to know it works.

Sam Halliwell 31:55

Well, yeah, and also be able to know how to respond to what comes up, right? So when I first started doing this, it was with a coach. So uh I had a coach who took me through um a version of this. I then learned, and again, it's a skill building, right? I learned the skill to be able to listen to myself, to be able to handle whatever occurred, to be able to respond in different ways and to keep that link open and strong. It was only after doing that for quite a while that I then was able to do it for other people. Because if I'm as a as a facilitator, as as a coach in this, if I'm showing up on a call and I'm stuck in my sympathetic nervous system, I'm not able to show up for the client in the right way. So when I say I do this daily, I on a day when I'm taking clients through stuff, I'll do it before every single client session. This and a couple of other little tools I do beforehand so that anything of mine is dealt with and removed before I show up in a session with a client. Because otherwise I'm not going to be able to be as open. I'm not going to be able to hold the space in the same way for somebody else. So I would say ultimately anybody wanting to learn it, the first step is yourself with somebody who can hold you through all the different ways that you need to explore. Then you can learn how to hold the space for others. Because also the thing that's very um key in this kind of work and why I do it daily is well, I can only hold space for somebody through something I've been able to work through myself. So if there's a part of me that is talking and I'm avoiding it, and if I was to avoid it now, my ability to hold someone through that is going to be limited because otherwise anything that's happening for them is going to trigger that same response in me. And as a coach, I can't come I can't come onto a call in that triggered way because that's not going to be beneficial for them or me. And I'm also then not able to hold them safely through it and be that trauma aware for what's going on truly for them. So that's where the pieces to it of you know to learn it, especially if you want into then use it with anyone else. Spend a long time teaching yourself your own body's version and be committed to working through. It's not easy. Some days it's really hard, but it's so rewarding the other side of it, what we're able to let go of, and it enables us to be more present in the moment rather than this moment being affected by something else from years ago. Or did that happen at any other point other than right now?

Regina Sayer 34:18

It sounds like it's practice that you actually integrate through practice and through experience you integrate all of that knowledge and, and of course, healing as well. And it doesn't sound like this is something that people can just randomly pick up on the internet. mean, yeah, they can probably pick up a few of the, you know, walkthroughs like what we're going to do here. But if they want to go into any depth and it's better if they go through someone like yourself or somebody else.

Sam Halliwell 34:44

Yeah, and actually should do because of the fact of what it can bring up. So it's because it doesn't just bring up a physical thing. It's so so easy to walk through this world avoiding having support and wanting to do things by ourselves. But where this nervous system is so attuned is to a community. It is it our humans are so community-based, we're so social based, that it is the ability to it's in conversation with another or others that we're able to move things in a very different way. If I was to have completely started working on it entirely on my own, I wouldn't have been able to ghost through and deal with some of the things that had came up for me. And I'll just shut them off, you know, because that that level of control, in the same way that I'm inviting anybody today, if something comes up and you're like, can't do it, okay. Well, literally shut it off right now. But I would have stayed with it shut off because I wouldn't have then been able to work through it on my own. And even now, having done this for oh gosh, I haven't totted it up but a w a while for sure. Um, occasionally, rarely, because I'm I'm so attuned with it, occasionally something will still come up because I did have a very, very challenging upbringing where I'm like, gosh, I can feel that coming up, and this is this just feels a little bit much for me. I can't work through this on my own. And it doesn't mean that I have to have a big full-blown session with my coach. It can just be dropping a message like, hey, I'm I've tapped into this thing that's happening for me today, and it feels rough. Like, can you just be you know available if I need to drop you a note? And then I'd go, Yeah. And I've got a couple of people I can do that to. And that's why working through it with someone is so important. You can just stick on a very physical level, you know, as you're as you're doing it, as soon as something emotional comes up, you can go, no, no, don't want to deal with that. And you could go through doing that. You won't have the same benefit. You'll also start to again switch off some of the sensations because your brain will start going, well, every time we notice that funny feeling elbow, we're just ignoring it. So, okay, clearly the the instructions are don't notice it anymore. And that's a choice we can make. There's, you know, don't judge anyone who who does that. It does mean the healing that can come the other side of it, though, is also something you're you're not necessarily able to access. And it's a choice, and that's okay, but it's something to be aware of, and that's why that support is key.

Regina Sayer 37:00

Okay. All right. So the practice that you're going to take us through today, how do you round up? Because I'm just wondering if we need to round up quietly. And I just make sure I've got everything asked before you do this.

Sam Halliwell 37:13

So it's it's it's a closed eye moment, but it's not a meditation. So, you know, I will get you to come back into awareness of the of the room and and things like that just to make sure you're fully present in the here and now. This is not a meditation. It's again a different depth, we're not going to go through today. Again, we'll kind of come back and I'll ask uh, you know, advise anyone to take a pause and take a little journal, a little moment if they uh if they want to write something down. Uh yeah, essentially you can ask a couple of things after. What I would encourage is to sit with what has occurred and not necessarily ask detail about what has occurred for you. But if you were to say, oh, when you said XYZ, I felt this, that, and the other, I would not advise that. And the reason is because we go straight back into our heads as soon as we start asking those questions. We're analysing what happened, we're judging, even though it doesn't feel judgmental, that is what we're doing. We're analyzing it, which is a you know all in our head, it's all thinky thinky, and we've immediately come out of our body again, which is what we were in. So staying with the body is so key. And as the longer we're able to do that, to be able to keep the channel open and also keep us in that calmer state, our body learns, starts to learn that that calm state is a norm for us, as opposed to immediately going, well, what about what about and then we're straight out of it again. That's what I'd that's what I'd say. I'm certainly not going to leave any everybody just you know floating away. And uh and it's not a meditative state, at least not today. It's gonna be closed eye, asking a few questions.

Regina Sayer 38:43

Okay. So I'll try to ask very general questions and not my right shoulder is twinging or something like that. Okay, and then also I would imagine that it wouldn't be very beneficial for listeners for me to ask very specific questions about what happening to me because then they might think that also oh I felt that too. Does that mean the same thing for me when it doesn't necessarily?

Sam Halliwell 39:04

Absolutely. And that's what I've said at the beginning about that, how it shows up for you. Actually, the why behind it could be could be very, very different.

Regina Sayer 39:10

Okay. Let's do it.

Guided Body Mapping Exercise

Regina Sayer 39:12 Sam Halliwell 39:12

Let's give it a go. Okay. So just to check that you're comfortable, make sure you've nicely seated. And then remind you this is a closed eye piece, so be sensible, don't do it while you're driving or or any of those sort of things. Wait and pause and come back to it. So if you gently close your eyes, and the first thing we're going to focus on is just being present in the moment and focusing on our breath. When we're in the sympathetic nervous system, our breath can become quite shallow. So this is just allowing some deep breath just to allow a relaxation to occur in the body. Some deep breaths in and out. And just notice what you can feel right now, and it may just be your bum in the chair, your arms resting on the on the arms of the chair or table or something in front of you, or even on your lap. This is usually where we notice a little part of our body that needs little wriggle or a little movement. You can do that if that happens. And now we're going to start just going through the body bit by bit. And as I mentioned, each part of the body, just notice. You don't need to change anything, you don't need to understand, you don't need to judge. Just simply notice, notice if there's any tension, any heat, any numbness, anything different at all.

Sam Halliwell 40:29

So if you bring your awareness to the top of your head, your eyes, the back of your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your neck, bringing your awareness ever so gently, and your left shoulder, your right shoulder, now your left arm.

Sam Halliwell 41:32

Elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, your left thumb, first finger, middle finger.

Sam Halliwell 41:38

Ring finger, and your pinky.

Sam Halliwell 41:39

Now keep breathing deep breaths as you take your awareness to your right arm. Elbow, forearm, hand, your thumb, first finger, middle finger. Ring finger, and your pinky.

Sam Halliwell 41:43 Sam Halliwell 42:29

Keep breathing deep. Just noticing anything different in your body, any body part that feels different to anywhere else. As we bring our awareness to the bottom of our neck, our chest, top of our stomach, our belly button, lower part of our belly, our genitals.

Sam Halliwell 43:40

Our left leg, top of our leg. That's it. Our left knee, down the bottom part of our leg, our ankles, tops of our feet, bottom of our left foot. That's it.

Sam Halliwell 43:40

Our left big toe, next toe, middle toe, fourth toe and the last little toe. That's it.

Sam Halliwell 44:00

Keep breathing as we bring our awareness to our right leg, top of our leg.

Sam Halliwell 44:04

Our knee, bottom of our leg. Our ankle, the top of our foot. Bottom of our foot. All right, big toe. Our next toe. The middle toe. The fourth toe. And our little toe. Coming up at the back of our bodies, now feel the back of your leg.

Sam Halliwell 44:48

You can feel both legs at the same time now. Feeling the back of your legs.

Sam Halliwell 44:54

The back of the top part of your legs. That's it. Feel your bottom, your glutes. The base of your spine. The middle of your back and the top of your back, back up to the top of your head.

Sam Halliwell 45:30

And I want you now to focus on a part of your body that you may have noticed that felt different, whatever that different looked like to you. And if you've got multiple parts that you notice something different, just pick one that's no right or wrong. And just pause and focus on an area of your body that felt louder. Or even an area that was a bit more numb and you couldn't quite feel in the same way that you did somewhere else. That's it. Rest your awareness and your focus there now. Place your hand gently there. And take a breath. Imagine sending that breath to that part of your body. Sending the compassion and the support. And gently ask that part of you -

Sam Halliwell 46:32

What do you need? What are you trying to tell me? What should I be aware of right now? Just allow what comes through.

Sam Halliwell 47:14

If it feels right for you, don't worry if it doesn't. You can imagine a younger part of yourself feeling this. What would she or he want to hear right now? Maybe offer those words to yourself. Say those words to this part of your body.

Sam Halliwell 47:40

Trust whatever comes up for you.

Sam Halliwell 47:59

Well done. Now I want you to very gently bring awareness to your whole body again. Notice your outer edges.

Sam Halliwell 48:06

Feel your hands and your feet, the tip of your nose. Feel the awareness of the of the chair or the surface beneath you.

Sam Halliwell 48:22

Just slowly bring yourself, bring your awareness back to your body, back to the room you're in. Give your fingers and toes a gentle wriggle.

Sam Halliwell 48:33

Trying to bring that movement back into play. And when you're ready, you can open your eyes.

Sam Halliwell 48:46

Coming back into the moment. And you can take a moment to grab a pen and paper if you've got one and just notice, write down whatever you noticed. What surprised you?

Sam Halliwell 49:00

Did something come up? What was it? Did anything shift? How?

Sam Halliwell 49:08

With body mapping it's not about getting immediate answers. Sometimes it's just giving yourself the gift of listening. That in itself is so powerful, as I say, it opens up that connection. But I would encourage you to write down a few notes about what you experience, because the more you practice, the more you see those connections between your body, your emotions, and your story.

Sam Halliwell 49:34

And so if for those of you who are listening, if you took wanted to pause as well, you can you can do that now.

Sam Halliwell 49:50

And I want to mention again that there's no there's no right or wrong to this, right? This is a couple of things that that a few of you may have noticed as we were doing that. I moved quite quickly through the body parts. One of the reasons for that is because of the medium that we're doing this on, because I don't want anybody to go stuck deep into something right now. On a one-to-one session, I would pause at certain parts for us to explore what's going on, but conscious of uh you know not seeing everybody who's who's listening and watching this, but I want to keep you all nice and safe.

Sam Halliwell 50:24

Where you're able to, and as you want if you're wanting to develop this practice for yourself, you can go through longer, but actually wouldn't always do it on a longer basis. Sometimes doing a very quick scan is very good. But if it's a practice that you're wanting to get into and dive into, then you would also do some sessions where it's quite a bit longer.

Body Mapping and Yoga Nidra

Sam Halliwell 50:43

Another way you can practice this in a slightly different way, but also opens up those channels is something called Yoga Nidra. Those of you who have ever done Yoga Nidra might have noticed some similarities in the way that I was talking and moving, that has a lot of crossover with that. And again, yoga nidra, that's usually used to before bed to help us sleep. That tends to be the most common place that's used. But again, for the same reasons, because by scanning through and breathing deeply as we do it, that helps us get into that parasympathetic, which then helps us sleep, which is why Yoga Nidra is really good for sleeping. So that's why it all links, right? But again, there's something to develop. There's millions of different apps out there with loads of free options. I would highly recommend a Yoga Nidra practice for getting used to it. And yeah, reach out if anybody's got any particular questions. And um, yeah, anything that you want to ask at the moment, Regina.

Regina Sayer 51:31

Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the Yoga Nidra because when we started, I was like, okay, this is your needs. I'll just give my experience of yoga nidra to anyone who's listening. Years and years ago my husband had colon cancer and I pretty much freaked out. I just went into like over stressed overload. And one of the things that I started doing and he's healed, just to say he's fine, is I started doing yoga nidra every morning. And I noticed, and at first you don't notice it, it takes two to three weeks and I saw a significant difference in my comportment. Is that an English word? It's a French word. Yes. And that I less stressed, was much more quiet, I wasn't dwelling on stuff so much. So yeah, I felt that it really, really worked as something that I always recommended people as well.

Regina Sayer 52:02

I didn't notice that. And there's something else that you mentioned during the practice because I was thinking this as well, that when you're going through that, you don't always feel every part of your body, you know, and I've noticed this in yoga nidra as well, you know, it says, okay, feel where your back is lying against the ground. And like, weirdly, I don't feel that the ground is rock hard. So I'm glad that you did mention that. So in general,

Practical Q&A Doing Body Mapping

Regina Sayer 52:52

when you have this not being able to feel sensation, is it necessarily just because I mean I noticed there are a couple of things going on for me. Is it because there's other stuff that's just overwhelming that, or is it just because you're just pretty much desensitized in that part of your body for the moment?

Sam Halliwell 53:16

It could be either and or both. It really depends on the individual. Our bodies are are all built slightly differently to a degree as well. There are some things that some people can do that others can't, and vice versa. And that also changes how we're able to feel and respond to things. I've got quite an elongated big curve in my back. So it means that I never feel the base of my back against something. That's a physi physical part that's part of my body. It doesn't mean I don't feel that part, but I don't feel it ever in contact with something, even if I put a cushion there, just because I've got a hyper curve. So there are some things that are like that. My my husband injured his thumb a long a couple of years ago. If I ask him to feel that thumb, he literally has no nerve endings there because he's injured it. So there can be something that's very simple in that kind of way. And it could be a desensitization from a, you know, your ego not wanting to go there right now. And it could be uh just that there's other things going on. And so, you know, like the how I say often with my clients who are in acute pain, they don't notice some other part other than the part that's literally screaming. So there's lots of different things I'd say.

Sam Halliwell 54:20

And the other thing I just want to mention here that I think is really important to note, because of the medium we're doing this on, it did have more of that Yoga Nidra feel. And there is an overlap between the two, but there is a difference between the two. So the body mapping difference is the um the lived experience part. So especially the bits where I, you know, well, what does that um what is it you need? What are you trying to tell me? What's happening here? What do I need to bring into my awareness? And for those who were able to, they're you know, imagining a younger self part of yourself. That's um one of the big key differences between the body mapping and something like Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is just purely the body scan. We we have to do the scan first, we have to do the the the looking at the different parts, because else it's really hard to center in on something not impossible. I I've done enough of them now that I don't have to go to the entire body, I will just be going through day to day and something will I'll notice them and go, huh. What are you trying to tell me? And I don't have to go through the whole body, I'll just notice the one bit that's talking. But for most of us who are in that sympathetic, we need to bring it down first.

Sam Halliwell 55:22

That piece though, where that is the key part of the body mapping, it's also the piece I didn't spend too long on because of the medium we're using, right? For anybody that's that's listening, they can redo the exercise and pause there and go in where they're able to on their own, depending on what is happening for them and what comes up. If it's something that they can deal with and work through, do great. It'd be a great way of healing and clearing it and cleansing it through 100%. And be conscious not to go into something that's going to cause you trauma or big stress. And that's why on this call I didn't spend a long time on that. Whereas on one-to-one, actually, that's the bit where I'll spend a lot of time. But I'm then in an environment where I can, you know, help and make sure that that we're in a safe in a safe space.

Sam Halliwell 56:09

I wanted to mention that because then anybody listening to it, they can then choose based on what they're at right now, how long they can can be in that that place for. And whilst doing it, the only other caveat to mention there, having some discomfort is not a reason to come away from it. There's a big difference between discomfort and trauma. They are not the same thing. Okay. Sometimes when I'm feeling something, something comes up that's an uncomfortable emotion. An example of that at the moment, I'm very re very realistically in present going through some grief at the moment. I've recently lost somebody I care about. That's a very present moment. It's not something from my past, it is I'm responding to this, and it's the type of emotion that hangs around for a while, and etc. etc. I have identified I've injured myself last week, and that that's part of it. Okay. It's uncomfortable when I'm looking into this injury in this part of my body that's not happy right now. It's uncomfortable, and I can work with it. It's not trauma, it's just not feeling great. But being in the not feeling great processes it out. As soon as it hits a trauma and we have a different kind of response, that is when you need to be with somebody else. So I think it's just again worth mentioning that because there's a big difference between the two. And one of them is very good to go in on your own, and one of them you you shouldn't go in on your own.

Regina Sayer 57:22

Okay, this is a practical question because I experienced this. What happens because you say put your hand on that spot. So what happens if you can't reach that spot?

Sam Halliwell 57:31

Yeah, so uh very good question. You can rest your awareness there. That bringing the hand to it actually just helps with the awareness. bringing the hand to it isn't 100% necessary. It just helps our brain go, oh, that's the bit we're concentrating on. Okay, I get you. That's essentially what the hand, bringing the hand part does. If it's a part you can't reach, bringing your awareness there. So it's literally then just picturing that body part, it's feeling into it, it's feeling the breath working through that part, it's feeling the internal parts of that body. You know, you can even get to the point sometimes of feeling the blood flow going around. So it is effectively just bringing that awareness so that it is your focal point. The hand just helps with that because it gives the brain something to do. So, yeah, it's not a problem if you can't.

Regina Sayer 58:15

So, what are some of the other benefits that can happen with this?

Sam Halliwell 58:18

So we get that increased body awareness. You get to notice these patterns that you've not seen before. It brings that compassion for yourself, for yourself psychologically, but also it enables you to stop blaming your body, which again is really common with chronic illness. It's very easy to blame our body and build an unhealthy relationship because of that. So we stop that blame. It reduces overwhelm, softens any flare-ups of our body kicking off. It brings insights into those subconscious patterns as well, realizing where certain types of stress is related to memory. And it also brings a sense of empowerment because you're no longer at war with your body, you're in partnership with it as a it's the longest relationship we have. And so being in that partnership is so, so important. You know, I've worked with clients where they're they had a shoulder ache and they'd were convinced it was just bad posture, but actually then they discovered it was a weight of something from their childhood that was then completely changing how. And that was then changing their posture, which is why the problem looked to be posture related. But actually, it was the weight of what they'd experienced in the past that was causing that. So again, it's the whole cause and effect piece by changing the weight that they were carrying psychologically, it changed how they held their body, and that makes a big difference throughout the whole body. So there's there's lots and lots of benefits in in that way that go beyond discovering in the moment what's going on. It has long-term impact as well. It ripples out.

Regina Sayer 59:44

My last question is it possible that when you do this multiple times and you feel the same body bit all the time, but you keep getting different messages?

Sam Halliwell 59:52

Yes, 100% brilliant question. Again, especially with something like a chronic illness, that's even more prominent that that happens. There'll be the first thing that will be have happened related to it. But then because there's a tension there, because there is a discomfort that lives in our body, because our body remembers what our our mind forgets, right? Because we're holding ourselves in a different way or reacting in a different way because the first thing occurred, some other environmental thing will happen that will also sit on top of it. And then something else can sit on top of it again, and this can build up into lots and lots and lots of different things. And I've had some clients, you know, where we'll have a session where we've previously looked at one body part and the same body part will come back and they'll be like, I thought we dealt with this, Sam. And I'm like, no, we dealt with a layer of it. The fact it's showing up again means there's something else we didn't go through. And that's sometimes because our ego and our our awareness wouldn't allow us to get to that deep level until the first layer went through. Imagine it like an onion. You can't eat the centre of the onion without eating the outer edges of it first, right? You have to go layer by layer. And so sometimes it's dealing with that first layer that opens up the ability to hear and notice what the second layer is saying. And so it's really actually very common that a one particular part will come up time and time again. As is it that something that we don't deal with can then move and show up somewhere else. And again, that's really interesting how that happens because and this is where I say things where the common body part things work are a good reference point, but aren't the absolute. Even though it most commonly might show up in the stomach say, for you it might actually now show up in your neck because you'd ignored the stomach for so long. And so your body is then going to go, okay, I'm gonna try a different part then, see if you pay attention to this. And again, that can then develop with chronic challenges as well. You'll often hear people with chronic illness that it's not just uh isolated to the one part of the body where it properly kicks off, so something like endo, it's a gynaecological condition, usually, but then it can it will affect your whole immune system, which will then bring on your inability to fight off other things, which will cause tension somewhere else. And that's again where this fascia underneath our body creates the tension, it causes this tightness, this stiffness, and it that literally leads to adhesions and pain as well. Because it's all connected where one part tenses up, another part either tenses or releases in relation to it. So again, just like how one body part can mean multiple things, one thing can show up in multiple ways. It's interesting how that happens.

Regina Sayer 1:02:24

Yeah, two things to note there is when you're talking about how the body may feel it in one place, but it's actually coming from another. I get it's all the time when I go to the osteopath or when I have rolfing thing, which is something that works with the deep fascia. I would tell them, oh, I have this pain here, and they would work a completely different part of my body. And it would adjust whatever pain was in there. It's amazing the body, because it's all interconnected. Maybe you can't see that internally and emotion wise but physically when you go to do something like that, massage or osteopath or whatever or even I have done by rolling on my feet.WOW. The whole difference to the rest of the body. It's like your body just feels longer, your back releases because you carry a lot of tensions in your feet, You're always on your feet. So that's amazing to see.

Regina Sayer 1:03:29 Regina Sayer 1:03:29

The other thing that you said when you talk about the different things that come up, which is where I can really see the benefit of somebody keeping a journal about this, because if different things are coming up in different parts of the body, you and especially if you really want to do the work, you know, you're not just sort of going, oh, okay, I'll see what happens. And you write it down, then it'd be really interesting to and I know I'm getting into logic part here. But it's really interesting to go back and see ok yeah I felt this pain or whatever it was, the sensation and this came up, and then the exact same thing came up but in a different part of the body, or something else came up for the same part of the body and how many layers of it that there was. So that's where I see the benefits of journaling, especially.

Sam Halliwell 1:03:59

Absolutely. And also where the the piece where it shows up in different parts of the body in multiple places, that again so brings it back to why somatic work is so useful and so good. So uh I do a particular type of somatic work called uh embodiment. It involves moving in a particular way to different pieces of music. It's not dancing, it looks, it doesn't even look like dancing, you'd look like a weirdo doing it in a club. But it m so it's moving the body to music in a very uh gentle and specific way. And again, that's some of the reasoning behind that because what I don't do when I take someone through a somatic workshop is okay, we're going to move our uh hips to release anger. Like it doesn't work like that because I don't know what's in your body, but different parts of your body, I haven't got a clue. It will be in multiple places. So even though you may be holding it mostly in one part of your body, moving a different part can make a big, big difference because it will still, because of this relationship that every part of us is connected to everywhere else, we don't always have to, and that's again why I say there's no right or wrong, or if you felt it, you felt something in multiple places, just pick one. You're not gonna get it wrong. It's the you're bringing the awareness and the connection. You know, we're not we're not doing a test, we're not, we're not performing an exam here. It's it's just recognizing it's just being present with ourselves and taking that moment to understand what is happening for us in this moment right now.

Regina Sayer 1:05:23

All right. I am gonna say one thing that's specific to me because I actually think it can maybe add to the story here a little bit.

Sam Halliwell 1:05:29

Okay.

Regina Sayer 1:05:30

I'm not gonna ask you what it means, and I'm not gonna go into that depth, but I started feeling at the beginning twitching in my ribs in the back. So I had messages come up and whatever. Um and of course I said, Oh, are you kidding me? But it's gone. I don't have the twitching anymore.

Sam Halliwell 1:05:48

Yes, absolutely. Very common. Because something about bringing that into your awareness has released some of it. Now, depending on what it was that came into your awareness, doesn't mean you've completely released all of it. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. And your reaction to it going, oh, here we go, would suggest possibly not, because that your reaction then means that it's something that is not new to you and that you've probably heard before and so therefore it's showing up again and therefore possibly hasn't released all of it. And it may have done. This may have been just the final piece that cleared it all away, or might not. But either way, it is common that the initial response we notice does ease. Because again, we're then moving into the parasympathetic, which is where we rest, we renew, we regenerate, it's our healing part. So sometimes that ease can come because we've done that. Controversially, it can sometimes increase it. And what that means is then if we've tried to push it away or something. So if something comes up and you're not able to go into it in the moment, and we're talking a short time, like you're not doesn't mean you're gonna be in agony all day. But it could just be that it's just a little bit higher because your awareness was brought to it, right? And that's fine as well, because it's still a ha, okay, um I I noticed that. And you know, you can ch if you're if you're, you know, have to go and do something now, you really just can't be can't be dealing with that. You can shake it off, you can just take a few few deep breaths, bringing your awareness somewhere else into your body that you know you can you can do that. But yes, it is very common that the intensity of it changes and more often than not it will reduce for sure.

Closure and Connecting

Regina Sayer 1:07:19

Interesting. Well, thank you so much for sharing all of that. That was like a wealth of knowledge that I had no clue about.

Sam Halliwell 1:07:24

You're very welcome. I love as you can tell, I'm sure I just love I love all this stuff. It's such a big, big passion of mine how we we all have that ability to heal ourselves. We have this available to us. It's learning it and it's being supported through it, and it's having that yeah, that relationship with our body. It's so, so critical.

Regina Sayer 1:07:46

So if anybody wants to get in touch with you, where can they reach you?

Sam Halliwell 1:07:50

So on my website, theendocoach.co.uk, you can book a uh free call with me and we'll go into whatever's coming up for you at the moment and um have have a chat about that. Uh, I'm also on Instagram, Sam underscore the endocoach. I can also be found on uh Facebook, facebook.com slash Samantha Halliwell Coaching, or you can search the endometriosis coach on Facebook as well, and you'll find me on there.

Regina Sayer 1:08:15

Okay, and the links, of course, will be in the show notes. All right. So do you have any final words you want to say before we close out?

Sam Halliwell 1:08:23

Mainly thank you for this opportunity to come on and and talk to yourself and and everybody listening. And um, yeah, everybody uh keep breathing and you've got this, right? We've we've got this. We really do.

Regina Sayer 1:08:35

Well, again, thank you so much for all of that information. That was quite eye-opening, actually, in some aspects for me. And listeners, I hope that you did get something out of this and that you did follow the practice. And if you have any questions, I'm sure that Sam will be happy to expand on anything that you're not sure about or that I did not cover in my questions. Anyway, I hope that your wrist gets better Sam.

Sam Halliwell 1:09:03

thank you

Regina Sayer 1:09:04

Listeners, I hope that you really take care of yourselves and you really learn to love yourselves if you don't already, and be kind to yourself. If anything, if it's hard to love yourself, try being kind to yourself. And until the next time, have a beautiful day or night or wherever you are in this past world. Bye, everybody.

Sam Halliwell 1:09:23

Bye.