
If you're familiar with somatic psychology or read my post on Somatic Experiencing "The Embodied Experience", you'll know I'm a big fan of SE and similar approaches. In SE, "resources" mean more than what's on this list and mean something different to each individual. This could be things like spending time in nature, a purring cat on your lap, a good hug, quality time with a good friend or significant other, quality time alone, meditation, prayer, drinking your favorite herbal tea, an epsom salt bath, wrapping yourself in your favorite cashmere sweater (thanks Jessica Drummond!), listening to your favorite music, doing something creative or artistic, getting a massage, self massage or Abhyanga, going for a walk....It's your list, but I DO suggest you MAKE IT!!!! Take 3 minutes before your read the rest of this post (time it with your smart phone!). Brainstorm, without editing or censoring, what is on this list for you. What truly restores you and lifts you up? Even if things like "a vacation in Tahiti" are on your list, don't leave them off because they seem unrealistic. Once your three minutes are up, save your list! Some of those things you may be able to do on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, yearly basis, once every 5-10 years...see how often you can sprinkle your resources in. If nothing on your list is a "daily" habit, see if you can brainstorm a little more over the next week to come up with at least one thing and make it a cornerstone habit - something you do every day to take care of you.
- Somatic Experiencing: Find a therapist near you - based on personal experience, and some more in-depth theoretical study, this is one of my favorite approaches for working with individuals with pain (and much more)
- Yoga Nidra Deep Relaxation App - Free app for IOS or Droid with 10 minute length (Psst...I've seen biofeedback measurements drop dramatically while people listen to this!)
- Buddhify Mindfulness Meditation App - short guided meditations for a variety of real-life scenarios
- Insight Timer App - free app with a meditation timer and/or lots of recorded guided meditations and nature sounds/music
- Pain care resources from pain care expert Neil Pearson - check out the Overcoming Pain with Gentle Yoga Level 1 DVD and Breathing Techniques for People in Pain Audio CD
- “Overcome Pain with Gentle Yoga” DVD Levels 2 & 3 with Shelly Prosko and Neil Pearson
Pelvic-Health Specific Resources
- Your Pace Yoga - Dustienne Miller's short yoga practices for relieving pelvic pain and optimizing bladder control
- Creating Pelvic Floor Health with PhysioYoga - Shelly Prosko's brand new on-demand videos for relaxing or engaging the pelvic floor
- Yoga and pelvic pain discussion with Shelly Prosko on the Pelvic Health Podcast - including her famous toilet meditation
- The Pelvic Floor Piston: Foundation for Fitness DVD - Julie Wiebe's progressive program, great for developing a strong and integrated central stability system (aka core) without creating rigidity in the pelvic floor muscles
More Tools & Resources
- Selected equipment, tools, and books I often recommend to patients, specific to their home program