FAQs Archive - SmartBody SmartMind

Q: Can I do SBSM while on medications like antidepressants, benzos, SSRI’s, medications to support sleep, and others?

Since we are not doctors, psychiatrists, or medical professionals, we cannot advise you on whether or not to take medications. However, we can tell you what we have seen anecdotally with our clients. Many of us on Team Lyon have worked with clients who were taking some form of psychoactive medication, with varying results. One thing that is common for most though, is that eventually they hit a ceiling with the somatic work, due to the suppressive effects of many of these medications.

Q: How does this work, work? Is it about doing the lessons over and over again?

This work can be best compared to learning a second language, or a musical instrument. You have to practice and repeat a LOT at first. You have to develop your vocabulary and learn conjugations, or practice your scales and develop your technique. Ultimately though, this work is not about doing the lessons at all. Ultimately, it is about becoming so versed in the theory and practices that you don't need to listen to the audio or watch the video - it's all internalized and there, ready to be used spontaneously as needed. You become fluent in your second language and can write poetry. You become skilled enough on your instrument to improvise with a jazz band. When you find yourself spontaneously and naturally orienting throughout the day, aware of the ground under you and what's around you, and how you feel internally in relationship to that all the time, it's just part of your way of being, then you've become fluent with orienting. It's like that.

Q: I have early/developmental trauma. What are the best neurosensory exercises for building capacity, internal safety, and promoting Parasympathetic downregulation and soothing?

Bearing in mind that everyone is unique, and that some exercises that are soothing for most people may be stimulating for others, these are the exercises that we feel best support building capacity, supporting safety, and the function of parasympathetic downregulation. LAB 1 > LESSON 1: Researching Your Resources LAB 3 > LESSON 2: Basic Joints LAB 4 > LESSON 2: Dropping In LAB 4 > LESSON 3: Kidney/Adrenal Awareness LAB 5 > LESSON 4: Dropping Your Adrenals LAB 6 > LESSON 2: Layers LAB 6 > LESSON 3: Containment LAB 7 > LESSON 1: Tickling the Vagus with VOO (VUU)] LAB 7 > LESSON 3: Gentle Head "Rolling" LAB 7 > LESSON 4: Gut-Brain Awareness & Intentions EXTRA RESOURCES: Watering the Brainstem

Q: How do we work with fear and anxiety? What about if it's in the middle of the night?

Anxiety is just another word for fear, which is the energy behind the flight side of the Sympathetic survival response. When working with this energy just staying present and feeling it may be ok if you are able to do that while not fearing the sensations of fear . This can be difficult to do without shutting down or getting overstimulated though, so being proactive and mobilizing the body in some way is usually recommended. This is often the most effective at actually transforming the energy and renegotiating the trauma. Even if you are tired and its the middle of the night, which is often when fear and panic surface for many, this can still be a good practice sometimes, if you're not sleeping anyway. You could try just sitting up and expressing a bit, or you could get up and mobilize in other ways. I talk about this in this Q&A Call at 37:56. Have a listen (password is 'REWIRE'). You could also try some of the containment practices from Lab 6 and see how that kind of intervention feels. If you are a new member and we haven't gotten to Lab 6 yet, there is an example of one containment practice on YT here - https://youtu.be/0ICsbXUCKmM?si=UekVzT-w8aPd42Sw .

Q: How do we work with grief?

The best thing we can do with grief is invite it in and essentially, get out of the way. Grief is like a wave that moves through the body, and most people have a habit of constricting around it, so they associate grief with tightness in the chest, throat, eyes, forehead, but that tightness is actually the body trying to manage the grief, not the grief itself. When the system is open, grief is actually a powerful, expansive experience - it flows through like a wave and out the eyes as tears, so if we are having trouble letting grief move, we often want to focus on softening the throat, mouth, eyes, and forehead - this is what I mean by getting out of the way. Staying connected to the physicality of grief is very important - the wave moving through the body, the sobs that may want to happen and how the diaphragm is involved with that, the wetness of tears on the face, the sounds that may want to emerge. Staying connected to somatic experience of grief, and NOT the image or story of what the grief is about, is very important in letting it move through . Otherwise we can get caught in a loop where we start to feel sad, and then go into the mind and think about it, and feel more sad, and think about it more, etc... which never lets us get to that primal, powerful expression of grief.

Q: I studied exercise physiology, applied human nutrition, and biomedical and health sciences

Between 1993 and 1999, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Health Science from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. In 2000, I also obtained certificates in fitness and nutrition from Simon Fraser University. Between 2000-2002, I did a small stint in academia at the University of Wollongong (New South Wales, Australia) pursuing my Masters in Research within the biomedical and health sciences. I was awarded my Masters in 2008. If you're ambitious, you can download my entire dissertation here.

Can I do SBSM while on medications like antidepressants, benzos, SSRI’s, medications to support sleep, and others?

Can I do SBSM while on medications like antidepressants, benzos, SSRI’s, medications to support sleep, and others? Seth - Team Lyon2025-02-06T12:06:24-08:00

My kids activate me or are traumatized themselves which stirs up my own trauma, which makes healing much more difficult. How can I calm myself down and not be so triggered by them, and how can I help them?

My kids activate me or are traumatized themselves which stirs up my own trauma, which makes healing much more difficult. How can I calm myself down and not be so triggered by them, and how can I help them?Seth - Team Lyon2024-04-11T08:54:37-07:00

14 – What to do if my comment didn’t get a reply from Team Lyon?

14 – What to do if my comment didn’t get a reply from Team Lyon?Crystal McLeod2024-12-21T12:06:00-08:00

How to find safety when the entire world feels unsafe? How do we feel safe in the face of existential threat.

How to find safety when the entire world feels unsafe? How do we feel safe in the face of existential threat.Irene Lyon2024-02-07T17:35:27-08:00

How does this work, work? Is it about doing the lessons over and over again?

How does this work, work? Is it about doing the lessons over and over again?Irene Lyon2023-02-13T19:59:28-08:00

I have early/developmental trauma. What are the best neurosensory exercises for building capacity, internal safety, and promoting Parasympathetic downregulation and soothing?

I have early/developmental trauma. What are the best neurosensory exercises for building capacity, internal safety, and promoting Parasympathetic downregulation and soothing?Irene Lyon2023-02-18T14:02:38-08:00

Can I do SBSM while on medications like antidepressants, benzos, SSRI’s, medications to support sleep, and others?

My kids activate me or are traumatized themselves which stirs up my own trauma, which makes healing much more difficult. How can I calm myself down and not be so triggered by them, and how can I help them?

14 – What to do if my comment didn’t get a reply from Team Lyon?

How to find safety when the entire world feels unsafe? How do we feel safe in the face of existential threat.

How does this work, work? Is it about doing the lessons over and over again?

I have early/developmental trauma. What are the best neurosensory exercises for building capacity, internal safety, and promoting Parasympathetic downregulation and soothing?

How do we work with fear and anxiety? What about if it’s in the middle of the night?

How do we work with grief?

02. Can this work heal autoimmune disorders, neurological conditions, and other severe health issues?

I studied exercise physiology, applied human nutrition, and biomedical and health sciences