๐๐ฝ Subscribe for thoughtful, bite-sized emails โ from Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist โ on how to take care of your nervous system & understand your brain.
How Brainspotting works to heal the nervous system ๐ฟ
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Lately, my favorite way to take care of my nervous system has been through daily walks in nature. My nervous system enjoys the visual stimulation (soft lighting and vibrant colors), as well as the auditory input (birds chirping, the creek flowing, and a deep sense of quiet). On a psychological level, being in nature helps me slow down - which I welcome, as my mind can spin pretty quickly sometimes. ๐ Sitting next to a creek, my body naturally releases tension, and starts to breathe more deeply. My gaze lands on a spot in the water, where the sunlight makes the creek sparkle in a magical way - and I stare at this spot for several minutes. My brain loses a sense of time, and settles into a state of simply being, feeling, and sensing. The experience is deeply recalibrating & restorative for my nervous system. What is happening in these moments is a spontaneous & natural form of Brainspotting. ๐ง If you havenโt heard of Brainspotting before - in a nutshell, it is a healing modality that works directly with the deep brain & nervous system, by identifying Brainspots (fixed eye positions in your field of vision) that correlate w/ memories, sensations, & emotions. I use this modality in my counseling practice (which you can learn more about here), and Iโve benefitted from it in my personal healing as well. Healing through Brainpotting can look many different ways. It can look like a structured session, facilitated by a practitioner. It can look like sitting in nature & letting your mind wander as you watch the leaves on the stream. It can look like lying down in your bed, listening to music, and staring at the wall - while deeply processing. The point is: healing can happen in a therapy office, and it can also happen in a quiet spot in nature; in the relationships that we create with ourselves & others; and in the way that we take care of ourselves on an ordinary Tuesday. I hope that you are tending to yourself with kindness, gentleness, and care - today & always. ๐ โ P.S. Know someone who needs to hear this? Forward it along. New readers can subscribe โhereโ. P.P.S. If youโre interested in working together, Iโd love to support you. ๐ป For folks who are overwhelmed & burnt out, but too busy for weekly therapy, I offer Nervous System Healing Intensivesโ โ three 90-minute sessions, using brain-body modalities (Brainspotting, IFS, EMDR) that go deeper than talk therapy & help you feel better, sooner.
Intensives are a type of short-term, accelerated therapy โ for folks who prefer a hyper-focused approach to healing; who need longer than 50-min sessions to warm up & process deeply. ๐๐ฝ If you want to get an Intensive on the books, click here to book an intro call. I help highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults heal their nervous systems & connect with their authentic selves. ๐ Need a nervous system reset? โ> Join me for a Calm Place meditation. |
โLiz's Neurodivergent Letters
๐๐ฝ Subscribe for thoughtful, bite-sized emails โ from Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist โ on how to take care of your nervous system & understand your brain.
Iโm three weeks into a memoir writing course, taught by the brilliant Stephanie Foo โ author of What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma. Itโs surreal (and seriously such a gift) to learn about writing from one of my favorite authors. Plus, my nervous system appreciates the care with which sensitive topics are handled in the course. For example: after reviewing excerpts from a number of best-selling memoirs - all of which covered intense topics, like trauma & oppression -...
What does it mean to be human? Years ago, I watched an episode of Black Mirror (a science fiction show) that made me sit with this question in a new way. The episode is called San Junipero. Hereโs the premise: ๐ San Junipero is a town on the beach, where people play, dance, meet with friends & lovers, and live their best lives. The only catch? San Junipero doesnโt actually exist in the physical world. Itโs a simulated, digital reality. The people who hang out in San Junipero are: living...
A couple newsletters ago, I mentioned that I recently moved to Oregon. (You can read that newsletter here if you missed it!) Since then, Iโve been observing & connecting with the nature around me - which is the land of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla; Clackamas; Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; and Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. (Which I learned through this helpful & important website.) A few things catch my attention when I meander through the forest in my backyard. ๐ฆ the...