Vessel Healing Arts: Acupuncture and Somatics

11/19/2025

Fawning is a hybrid response, activating the sympathetic (hyperarousal) and parasympathetic (hypoarousal) branches of the autonomic nervous system at the same time.

• The hyperarousal aspect of fawning has us instinctively managing the moods and states of those “in charge.” We lean into the very relationships that are causing us harm, appeasing our perpetrators while taking personal responsibility for all relational difficulties. Fawning can be incredibly active.

• But at the same time, we are detaching from ourselves. The hypoarousal of fawning numbs our connection to self, our broader sense of agency, and often, our ability to feel the effects of the abuse at all.

We are threading a fine needle when we fawn, neither risking greater harm through fight or flight, nor shutting down completely. This highly adaptive response is moving beyond playing dead to playing LIFE. We are playing pretend, and we don’t even know it. We are playing house, playing the game (to survive or escape our situation), playing a part—sometimes as many parts as there are people in our lives.

🌟Click the link in my bio to get a Free PDF on the Fawning Trauma Response and to order FAWNING: Why the need to please makes us lose ourselves – and how to find our way back. AVAILABLE NOW 🤗

11/16/2025

The Moonflower and the Spider. It is truly hard to describe the magic and energy this painting gifts my treatment space. My relationship with Spider and Her weaving began moving through my life and somatic practice a year ago through my work with Spider began to illuminate the wisdom of time, intersections, and the liminality of our life stories that she weaves and holds in her glistening web. A creatrix loving and feeding from the rich silky blood lines she weaves. Her infinite cosmic web, like Indra’s net, with a jewel at each intersection, where every jewel is like a mirror reflecting all the others. The well-being of one affects the whole. This illustrates dependent origination and the idea that no individual exists in isolation. We are all connected. Each encounter significant.
The Moonflower who opens Her velvet petals only on the darkest night at the height of adversity showing us the richness of the black and difficult times.
My heart is deeply touched and the energetics of my practice space our mysteriously enriched by this painting created by the luminous . Thank you, Amanda. You have gifted such stirring meaning. If I have lost my way, I only have to glance up at your painting to be reminded of the great Primordial Feminine moving through us all. 🕷️🕸️🖤

11/05/2025

People who suffer from Complex PTSD often experience a series of events in which the power structure dehumanizes and abuses them. Most often, the system offers no recourse, correction, or apology. Such unresolved trespasses can accumulate and compound over time.

When we become angry instead of numb, it's actually a sign of progress! Numbing/not reacting/shut-down is the "freeze" response. Our limbic system freezes when there is no other viable option. Our early environments taught us there was no way out; shut-down was the safest survival adaptation.

But once we are resourced enough we can leave the freeze response and move into "fight," which is active and powerful. Our anger is likely to increase, which can be disconcerting, especially when we are taught it's bad/wrong or even dangerous to express anger. (This is mainstream culture!)

But anger is our body's natural and normal response to violations or perceived violations. This can seem dangerous, but with a little knowledge and focused attention, we can direct our anger in healthful ways that improve our quality of life.

For instance, whenever I feel rage over the medical abuse I endured, I take one small step toward creating justice. I write a paragraph, look up a potential ally, or add some data to the file.

One small decisive act can bring us out of impotent rage or despair and help us move toward a better future.

10/31/2025

Governing Vessel 20, 10,000 Meetings and Bladder 10, Heavenly Pillar- Heavy Hitting Spiritual Influences. Reinforcing the relationship between the bodily Waters and the Celestial. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share this beautiful image.

10/30/2025

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10/30/2025

Vortexes and the River of Life - How we visualize resonate frequencies and build counter vortexes in the Body!

10/25/2025

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Healing comes from connection. It comes from being deeply seen and felt by another person while we’re in pain. When our distress is met with care rather than judgment, our nervous systems start to settle.

What heals is being with someone who isn’t afraid of our suffering, who stays present without trying to fix or dismiss it. This kind of attunement, repeated over time, helps build the internal safety we may have never had.

We don't need to analyze our thoughts but experience co-regulation, resonance, and trust. That’s what helps our systems begin to integrate what’s been too overwhelming to face alone. Healing is relational.

10/08/2025

A new little pillow friend!

10/07/2025

This principle was already explained in the Huangdi Neijing: “The kidneys generate marrow, and the brain is the sea of marrow.” In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the treatment of conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is based on the symptoms of depletion of the “sea of marrow.”（髓海空虚）

A groundbreaking study from Wuhan University is turning everything we thought we knew about Parkinson’s disease upside down. Researchers now believe the disease may not start in the brain at all, but in the kidneys.
The study found abnormal clusters of alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) proteins, the same ones heavily linked to Parkinson’s, inside the kidneys of affected patients. These proteins are known to trigger neurological damage when they build up in the brain. However, in animal experiments, healthy kidneys successfully cleared these proteins. When kidney function was impaired, the α-Syn proteins began to travel to the brain, setting the stage for Parkinson’s.
Shockingly, even people with chronic kidney disease but no neurological symptoms were found to have α-Syn buildup. This discovery suggests the kidneys might act as an early “reservoir” for toxic proteins, which could later spread through the bloodstream or nerves and affect the brain.
Though early and based on limited data, this research could completely change how we understand and treat Parkinson’s. It raises the possibility that monitoring and protecting kidney health might one day help prevent or delay the onset of this devastating condition.

10/01/2025

A short meditation I made…

The polarity of activity and stillness