How to Create a Healthy Space for Noise Overwhelm

by SharonHartnett | Sep 27, 2024 | Craniosacral Therapy, healing, meditation, mindfulness, upledger institute

Are you Feeling the Overwhelm of Loud Noises in Social Situations?

Have you heard of the term “neurodivergent”? For people who feel as if they think and feel differently, I think it’s a good topic to explore for self-understanding. The differences of neurodivergent experiences land anywhere from ADHD, to sensory sensitivities, to autism and other mental health conditions. However, the topic I want to speak about today primarily is the overwhelm of loud noises for some people with neurodivergent thinking. I think it’s important to find a way to acclimate and still join into social interactions. Overwhelm can take us away from people and activities we enjoy. So how do we deal with loud noise when we are sensitive to it?

Each of us is unique in how our brain works. How we learn, how we process, and funtion does’t have to fit into a “typical” model. In the past, and even still now, when a person is different, it can be looked down upon or. seen as problematic. But more often, now adays, there is a fresher acceptance and understanding of people who think out of the box with the concept of neurodiversity. More and more, we want to include, embrace and find the strengths inside each individual. The healthier outlook is to celebrate our differences.

In particular, for neurodivergent people who feel awkward in social situations, they may need a little bit of help to know that their differences and vulnerabilities can also be understood as strengths. Researching this topic can bring relief in knowing that there is a new openness to consideration for diversity. I know, for myself, it took a long time as an adult to feel comfortable when there were a lot of people talking at once in a room. For example, I couldn’t think and the inside of my ears would actually start to hurt when I was in a loud crowded restaurant until I left and went outside. I felt like my ADHD has been healed for the most part, or maybe a better word would be integrated. Yet my brain disagreed. It still does when I am in a noisy area with many people speaking all at once. There have been times when I had felt anxious because I felt like I was the only one experiencing this. Now,understanding that how my brain operations is different yet normal has made me feel more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. So in my later years, I have learned to support myself, and others in helping to cope with loud noise. Especially people with ADHD since I know what it is like to be challenged this way and to move through to the other side.

Some of the things that I have found to be helpful with noise overwhelm are:

1. Wearing noise reduction/cancelling head phones in loud spaces. I can still hear what is going on in my enviroment, but the noise is subdued.

2. Meditation: One helpful meditation in specific is ringing a bell and following the sound with mindful focus. It helps the mind to release tension when other noises come into the space.

3. Craniosacral Therapy has helped my nervous system to feel more balanced and in ease. Especially when I can express my feelings in a safe environment from a mind body perspective. This can also help a person to feel more grounded and embodied. This helps my clients as well!

4. Developing the Witness. This is spending time stepping away from yourself in a neutral intention. Stay curious in your experience. Not being judgmental.

5. Realizing that the noise and ovewhelm is temporary. In most instances, one can leave and move into a more quiet place.

6. Don’t avoid sound because this can increase fear and stress. For example with tinnitus, begin to understand that the sound is unimportant so that. you don’t put your constant energy into negative thinking about the buzzing sounds. This isn’t normally an easy fix, by tinnitus can come and go for many people. Empowering the mind can support adaptability and relief.

7. Check in with an audiologist. Sometimes they can help, and sometimes not. But some centers do have helpful tools.

Having your brain operate differently doesn’t make a person bad or unhealthy. Being sensitive is just a different expression of being human. Seek courageous ways to face your challenges, but also find the right balance of self-care. Overwhelm does not have to be your life. Know that you are not alone, and that our differnces are what make us interesting.

Sharon Hartnett CST-D

703 509-1792

www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

Flourishing in an Imperfect World: Craniosacral therapy

by SharonHartnett | Sep 14, 2024 | Craniosacral Therapy, Healthy Body, mindfulness, upledger institute

Flourishing In This World

Flourishing is what I want for my clients. Not just feeling OK. But living a quality life with all its ups and downs. Nothing in life is Perfect, but we can learn to navigate and pass through life with joy and connection.

While “flourishing” is my hope, and this is my intention with each and every person who comes to my office- I also have to let go of any outcome with my clients. This frees up the session. When a person comes to see me, wanting to feel better, I have to put my ego to the side and trust what their Inner Physician speaks. The blending is a surrender to what is. Accessing the best resources to help a person releive stresses, pain and suffering.

What is the Inner Physician? It’s a cornerstone belief in Dr. John Upledger’s teaching where we learn to trust and support the deepest inner wisdom of our clients. In order to enhance wellbeing, we learn techniques to help a person process and self-discover their best sense of centeredness and Self. This is done by being in a neutral place, and also by facilitating the inner process of the client. At the same time,the Craniosacral Therapist also monitors herself and the relationship with the same care during dialogue.

This is very different than other types of bodywork where there is a “fix it” attitude.With Craniosacral Therapy, we know that we can’t fix anything really. What we can do is support the client’s wish to heal and to grow, while offering gentle nudges and support. You would be amazed at how much change can happen with the gentlest touch with intention with the help of the Inner Wisdom. By melding we are quite often quiet, listening,holding space and in contact. It’s a matter of connecting and faith of the Craniosacral System to show us the best direction within the body.

Flourishing to me, is to learn to live in this world of light and darkeness,and everything in between. To thrive through acceptance, inclusion, and compassion. I feel that we know that we are flourishing when we feel alive,aligned and in appreciation in the whole. Oftent to flourish, means knowing our place in the inter-connection of life. Craniosacral Therapy is one of the modalities that can awaken us to remember this.

Sharon Hartnett CST-D
www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

7703 509-1792

Benefits of the Undefended Heart

by SharonHartnett | Sep 13, 2024 | Craniosacral Therapy, love, mindfulness, Spiritual Healing

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Knowing Love in an Undefended Heart

How many people feel comfortable living deeply embedded in the love of their own hearts? I am not talking about the intense passionate feeling we have for a partner. Instead I am talking about an embodied sense of being True to Yourself. Caring about yourself, and opening up to your Essential Self.

It takes courage to push away those layers of protection surrounding your heart. But aren’t you curious what is underneath everything you have been taught and believed? Peeling away the onion is an honesty and acknowledgment check. But it’s worth your while to self-realize love. Feeling love deep inside spreading through everything you are is the best!

There are many ways to discover the love living inside you. The easiest way is by building your confidence back up. How do you do this? By being real with yourself. This is a two fold process. One is by noticing and writing down the beliefs you hold that make you believe you are “less than” or “bad” . Any negative belief. Question those beliefs and the validity of them. Second is to Choose Love and physically move toward your heart. Is it a smooth ride? or are there obstacles in the way? Bring mindfulness in and question.

You can take this journey yourself, or you can enlist friends or see a therapist. Relationships though are key to opening up the love in your heart. We are meant to work and play through life with others. This include the easy and the hard times.

How an Undefended Heart can Benefit You:

1. You feel better inside your body. Dopamine, oxytocin and seratonin take you into a state of pleasure.

2. You feel more appreciation for life.

3. It’s easier to be clear about your goals and how to accomplish them on a soul level.

4. Life is easier to navigate when other things are difficult when you are centered in your heart.

5. Developing meaningful friendships are easier when you feel kindness and love for yourself. People are happier when they are helping each other with care.

6. Love reduces stress and anxiety. It brings in a sense of calm.

7. Love promotes healing.

Love is the evolutionary tool available to all of humanity. It’s free, and available for each of us. Take the leap… Move towards Love and see what it can bring you the deeper you go!

Sharon Hartnett CST-d

703 509-1792

www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

7 Things to Know about Highly Sensitive People

by SharonHartnett | Sep 8, 2024 | barbara brennan, Craniosacral Therapy, Energy Healing, healing, mind body & spirit, mindfulness, Spiritual Healing

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Recognizing the Gifts of Being with Highly Sensitive People

Understanding Sensitive People takes effort. Yet it’s definitely worth your while. About 20% of people are sensitive. Basically, what this means is that we (I am including myself) react more to life’s stimulation. At times, it’s not as easy for us sensitive people to screen out certain stimuli. Things can become overwhelming for us if we aren’t mindful to our comfort zones.

Anyway, in the recent past, I was talking to my Craniosacral Therapist about my sensitivities in group relationships, and she recommended the book, “The Highly Sensitive Person“, by Elaine N. Aron. As I began to take the test in the beginning of the book, I checked off almost every single characteristic of a Highly Sensensive Person (HSP). Wow, this woman understood my life without even meeting me!

Honestly, I can’t tell you how alone I have felt (on a certain personality level) for a long time being highly sensitive. Most of the world either masks it or is less sensitized. I have processed things and been in the healing and therapist field for close to 30 years. I have worked on boundaries and so many things. Yet, still-when I walk into a room, I feel the mood of the people, and all the nuances in human relationship. I hardly miss a thing, especially emotionally. This even extends to plants, trees, and watching a bird fly. It’s as if I feel ever flap of the wings. My heart resonates. Yet I also feel very vulnerable.

At the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, we learned to develop what Barbara called “HSP” Higher Sense Perception. Same acronym. This is a fine tuning of seeing, feeling, tasting, sensing etc at a very subtle level. This helps people who work with energy or relationships to become astute and skillful in meeting people in connection, the auric field and other dimensions. This has benefited my clients in that I can deeply sense stress, pain, and dysfunction simply by tuning in. When I do this, I can use my sensitivity skills to help ignite the healing response within.

For me, being aligned with my sensitive nature is tremendously helpful in my work. I can sense things and support where others may not. On a fine level, I gather so much information through listening and melding. I know how to meet the “Other” in a gentle manner with touch which can encourage wonderful openings. At the same time, I often have to take some alone time afterwards to settle and digest life experiences. Being senstive doesn’t necessarily make me an introvert, but I do need to rest and integrate often. Self care is crucial.

Aron, writes in her book that our mind/body experiences are different and unique. Some of our positive traits that she mentions are:

1. We are better at spotting errors and avoiding making errors.

2. Highly conscientious.

3. Able to concentrate deeply on things where we are drawn.

4. Especially good at tasks requiring vigilance, accuracy, speed and detection of minor differences

5. Good at being able to process materials at deeper levels.

6. Deeply affected by other people’s moods, which help us to understand and be more present.

7. Able to learn without being aware we have learned.

There is so much great material in this book. What I like best about it is that I don’t feel so alone in that I feel different than so many others. Also, It helped me to refocus on the gifts of this personality I have lived with. I feel so aware of the interconnection of all of life. I feel it deeply. Sometimes, life hurts as the casing around the heart breaks wide open, but I am also able to have such profound life experiences. I have become emotionally stronger in my vulnerablity and can hold that for others in “Presence”

I am sharing today about being sensitive, and I hope this helps someone else recognize that there are many other of us around. We need to learn to accept ourselve and find the seeds of truth and kindness inside to make this life of sensitivy so worthwhile. We do this through self nourishment and awakening to our authentic selves.

Sharon Hartnett CST-D

703 509-1792

www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

Aligning Your Life with the Truth of Your Body

by SharonHartnett | Sep 6, 2024 | Craniosacral Therapy, Healthy Body, mind body & spirit, mindfulness

The Truth of Your Body

Believe in the Truth of Your Body. It’s honest. It’s integrity. It is what is real in the moment. What I mean by this is that the physical is not making up perceptions. It is what it is. An expression of your human physical state of being. It lives and does its’ thing!

The mind is what perceives and creates stories. Your thoughts, experiences and learned beliefs influence the body. But the body is not the thinker. Rather, it is living physical relationships dancing cheek to cheek inside of you on a physiological level.

From one perspective, this includes individual parts. The human body can be seen as cells & their parts, tissues, organs and systems. They are all separate, yet the truth of your body which also exists is experienced as a “Whole” dynamic creative expression. The body exists in partnership through fluids and connective tissue as ONE Living Experience. It shapes based on mind and from Source itself.

When a professional and experienced manual therapist works with you, they are listening to your body primarily and also your story (if this is their practice focus) if they are to be precise and accurate in discovering and supporting the health of any physical tension areas. While a person may come in and say, “this hurts”, the therapist listens verbally but also stays curious primarily by where the body directs us. By placing our hands on the body, we allow the body to lead us to the pattern that is most significant in the encounter. This is where we work rather than on the place that hurts. Generally, the pain spot is what speaks from a mind perspective. It could feel like the weakest link. However, the truth of the body is more accurate in its’ objective communication.

I know that sometimes people do have stories and issues where they need to be heard, and understood. This IS valuable information on a different level. Often this is key in healing too. This can be addressed in Somato Experiencing type of work. It needs to be mirrored and given equal measure. Yet if we truly want to address the physical piece, we need to understand that it’s vital to address the truth of the body to remedy what ails you.

When you trust the signals of the body, it is easy to move and meet the current concern. Feeling the pull towards that area is easy with practice. Dr. Barral says, “The body hugs the lesion”. I find this to be very true in my work as well.

What differentiates a talented manual bodyworker is the ability to listen on different levels. We have to stay open minded and learn our anatomy. If you want better alignment in the body, find a therapist who listens to the truth of your body.

Sharon Hartnett CST-D
703 509-1792
www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

How to Keep Your Eye on the Dream

by SharonHartnett | Sep 2, 2024 | Craniosacral Therapy, dream, meditation, mindfulness

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Dream On

Life is a Dream. In life, we are always in relationship. Whether it is to another person, an animal friend, an object or the empty sky. Reality is the world as it is. It’s whole, the sum parts of all existance. To be in it we must be in the present moment.

The challenge is our brains are most often generating what we think is our experience before we even live it. The truth, how we understand life to be in often a quest. Until we settle down into mindful awareness and curiosity to the experience of the One. It’s not really something the brain can wrap it’s mindset around. It’s a surrender. It’s a giving up of the ego’s need to exist.

We are fortunate to awaken out of the dream. But many of us actually enjoy the dream as well. It’s part of the earth’s gift to human beings. It’s an experience. Either way, becoming aware of illusion, the noticing of the dream state is helpful if you want to navigate life with more ease.

In the dream state, there are many glimpses. Signs so to speak. When these signs come into your life. Listen. Pay attention. For example, recently I had a deep loss. The heart hurt deeply. Inside, I felt broken apart. I still do although I am feeling a bit better every day.

Anyway, just as I was walking toward the physical place of my avoidance of feeling this all, a beautiful butterfly appeared. Black with turquoise wings on top. The colors associated with the horse I lost recently. My heart horse. It just stood in front of me flapping it’s wings until I was ready to leave. At that time, I felt my horse’s life all around me. I woke up to his joy and his freedom. I felt it inside me as well. This happened with the same type of butterfly 4 times with me and those close by.

I know this can sound like a dream. Part of it is the dream in which we all live. But the essence of love and interconnection inside opened and freed me as well with each sign that showed me the way. I am still in the midst of grief. But reality is showing me out the dream by keeping my focus on the signs. Yet, the signs are from reality poking through the dream. So pay attention.

I think, being human is very tough. I suppose that is my belief I came into with this life. At the same time, it is miraculous, so precious yet fragile. It’s eternal spiritually but just a speck of temporary sand in the physical world. This life in these skins in which we live are full of potential. Life is what we make out of it, and also in how we treat others.

Enjoy this dream world. It’s an adventure. But if you want to wake up out of the suffering, it’s essention to set an intention, then pay attention, and open the door by being yourself. Your real self.

Sharon Hartnett CST-D

703 509-1792

www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com