Practitioner Spotlight
Alison Shaw and Bodymind Repatterning Shifting Patterns with Somatic Therapies by Wendy Nadherny Fachon Throughout life, everyone develops unconscious patterns of thinking, ways of dealing with emotions and deep beliefs about self and the world, and these patterns determine how one experiences life. They guide self-behavior and even mold body posture. Such bodymind patterns can lead to pain, restriction and illness, and, over Alison Shaw time, they can compromise the functioning of every system in the body, leading to illnesses from indigestion to cancer. They can also interfere with relationships or lead to anxiety and depression. By becoming more aware of this connection between mind and body, it’s possible to resolve these issues by using a set of repatterning strategies. Alison Shaw, RN, HNB-BC, LMT, CBHS, created Bodymind Repatterning as an integrated approach to treatment which draws from the principles of body-centered counseling, somatic and trauma-informed psychotherapies, expressive therapies, energy medicine and Jungian psychology. With more than 30 years of experience in holistic health care, private practice and teaching, Shaw combines these modalities into a customized blend. Her story began with her own healing using body-centered therapies after suffering for eight years from chronic fatigue syndrome. Shaw’s personal success led her to develop her own model—Bodymind Repatterning. Shaw is a former family nurse practitioner, licensed body worker, certified holistic nurse and graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. Shaw explains, “Bodymind Repatterning incorporates the body in order to reach deeper parts of us than can be
reached with talk therapy alone. I often call this process 'multidimensional surfing.' We start with counseling to awaken the client’s conscious understanding of his or her emotional, behavioral and physical patterns. Then we work to unwind those patterns, getting to the root of the issues.” Shaw leads clients through guided body dialogues to come into conversations with the symptoms, while integrating breath work and exploration in posture to address the client’s specific issues. She also incorporates movement and expressive therapies, as well as energy medicine techniques. The nervous system, which connects the mind with the body, is largely responsible for how people respond to perceived adversity. Patterns are based on programming from early trauma and become lodged into the tissues and autonomic nervous system. By working with the body, it is possible to get underneath the symptoms, deeper into the psyche and shift the pattern. Shaw declares, “Somatic therapy is blooming. It’s the missing piece.” Bodymind Repatterning involves working virtually to help people learn how they are living in their bodies and raise their awareness of the patterns that are holding them in a state of dis-ease. Clients learn how to respond to life based on the present rather than the past, and they come into bodymind postures that allow more freedom, safety, aliveness and authenticity. They become free to be who they really are. Individuals interested in exploring Bodymind Repatterning can arrange for a free 30-minute consult. For more information, call or text 781- 646-0686, email Alison@Bodymind Repatterning or visit BodymindRepatterning.com. See ad on page 15 and Resource Guide on page 36.
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May 2022
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