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Sundown Healing Arts

Intuitive, compassionate bodywork for trauma

Articles

Topic: Body

Self-Care for Sticky Lungs

Healthy breathing is a relaxed symphony of movement. On inhalation, the diaphragm widens and flattens. Each rib traces an arc up and out. The spine gathers to support the ribs. The lungs, anchored at the top near the collarbones, slide down easily along the chest walls to fill the increased space, pulling in a fresh breath. On… Read More

May 1, 2020 sonia

Topic: Hard Times, Abuse

Agency in a Time of Pandemic

We are individually and collectively navigating a bumpy transition from “life as usual” to “life in a worldwide pandemic.” We are adapting to disorienting change as well as managing our emotional responses to this crisis. As the pandemic moves toward us disarmingly slowly and then shockingly fast in its exponential growth pattern, we each make… Read More

April 1, 2020 sonia

Topic: Wider Narratives

Loosen Inner Deadlock

As we navigate life’s choices, we usually reach a decision by a combination of checking inside ourselves, researching options, asking others for advice, and flipping a coin. Sometimes none of that works and we find ourselves deadlocked, unable to settle on a resolution. An inner deadlock can be an intense battle, with constant internal arguments,… Read More

March 1, 2020 sonia

Topic: Hard Times, Abuse

Mend What You Can Reach

“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” —George Eliot, Middlemarch World news is terrifying these days, from… Read More

February 1, 2020 sonia

Topic: Body

Let Go for More Sound

Small children shriek happily, or ask embarrassing questions in their carrying voices, effortlessly far louder than the adults around them would prefer. Adults plead with them to use their inside voices. Gradually children learn a quieter register. Sound is created by movement. We can be quieter by using less effort to create less motion, or… Read More

January 1, 2020 sonia

Topic: Boundaries, Full Self

In Search of Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is not just about trusting our ability to accomplish tasks. When we lack self-confidence, we doubt that we deserve love, success, comfort, joy, happiness. At our core, we doubt that we deserve to exist. Kind attention When children receive kind, caring, responsive attention, it reinforces that they are intrinsically valuable and worthy of taking… Read More

December 1, 2019 sonia

Topic: Body

Get to Know Your Guts

Our belly could be a source of warmth, inner connection, and flow. Our gut feelings could help guide us on when to move forward and when to back away. All too often, trauma disconnects us from our inner core. Our belly tightens against pain, fear, and misery rather than relaxing into pleasure and comfort. For… Read More

November 1, 2019 sonia

Topic: Find Support

Solid Support for Change

A lot of narratives about healing focus on change. We take on goals to change how we handle the past and the present, change our circumstances, identify what is broken and fix it. Many of us believe that we are fundamentally not good enough, and if we yell at ourselves a lot, we might eventually… Read More

October 1, 2019 sonia

Topic: Body

The Push/Pull of Touch

Infants expect and require abundant joyful, loving touch. They continue to need the physical presence, warmth, heartbeat, and nervous system activity that surrounded them in the womb. When that drive to be held, rocked, soothed and comforted is met with enough touch and care, the child develops secure attachment. Insecure attachment If adults respond intermittently,… Read More

September 1, 2019 sonia

Topic: Wider Narratives

Good Enough for Mistakes

How do you respond when you make a mistake? Do you take it in stride? Crumple in shame? Panic? What we count as a mistake and how we respond depends on our current resources as well as how mistakes were treated as we grew up. Inexperience Children naturally make a lot of mistakes. As we… Read More

August 1, 2019 sonia

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Contact Sonia Connolly, LMT to schedule your appointment or free phone consultation in Portland, Oregon.
sonia@TraumaHealed.com
503-334-6434
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Nathalie Frickey, MD

The unvarying kindness, wisdom, allowance and validation within your words are proving vital in my own journey of healing. I am especially aware of the quality of holding a space in which I can reclaim my own self-worth and human dignity despite what happened. Continue Reading (click twice)

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