Beyond Surviving with Rachel Grant

I'm super excited for this special episode brought to you in participation with Podcasthon. This is the worlds' largest podcast charity initiative, bringing together podcasters globally to raise awareness for important causes! And today, I have the great pleasure of introducing you to Matt Pappas and Athena Peterson of CPTSD Foundation. CPTSD Foundation is all about bridging the healing gap in tre...

Hey listeners, it has been a great joy to connect with you for 11 seasons of Beyond Surviving. Life is calling me to invest time and energy into other programs and ways of providing resources. It is with deep love and gratitude that I am signing off and hanging up my podcaster hat! Please come join us in the Facebook group for further conversation, connection, and resources: https://www.facebook.c...

When we are going through something hurtful, distressing, disappointing, we exacerbate the pain by falling into the trap of believing that the distress will continue indefinitely and that this one experience will have a detrimental impact on our lives. But studies have shown that we are actually poor at predicting how present events will affect our future emotional states and tend to overestimate...

Tapping into gratitude is a great way to boost your serotonin and oxytocin levels, which is calming, grounding, and enlivening! It is also a way to expand your connection with others and even bring love in for your not so favorite people (Jedi level!). #beyondsurviving #gratitude #meditation #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #mindfulness #meditation #incestsurvivor #heal...

Today's practice is all about bringing self-compassion, love, and gratitude to areas in the body that are experienced as unsafe, painful, distressed, or upsetting. When we tap into self-compassion, it can help us to relax, feel more safe, and improve our relationship with our body. A huge bonus of this practice is that it helps kick self-criticism in the butt! #beyondsurviving #selfcompassion #saf...

In this focused meditation, we are going to tap into the power of mantra and focus in order to counter stress and divert the mind from repetitive negative thoughts (ruminations). Added bonus, this mindfulness practice can also help improve concentration and improve well-being overall. #beyondsurviving #stoprumintation #breakfreeofspiraling #grounded #focusedmeditation #sexualabusesurvivor #nervous...

Are you able to notice a thought, but not connect into the sensations in your body? Maybe you’re often overwhelmed with somatic sensations, but can’t seem to identify or track the origin? Do you struggle to connect to or name your feelings? Yeah – that’s pretty common for survivors of abuse! The good news is … practices like this one can absolutely help you connect your head, heart, and body so yo...

Do you ever get so absorbed in anxious or negative thoughts that you feel like you’re on a runaway train that you can’t get off? In today’s practice, we explore cognitive diffusion, which allows us to observe our thoughts and allow them to flow through and exit the mind so that we don’t fuse to the thought, which is what can lead to rumination, anxiety, dysregulation and suffering. #beyondsurvivin...

Cultivating moment to moment awareness of the body, reducing autonomic arousal (freeze, flight, fight), and improving proprioceptive awareness (which is our sense of balance) is the name of the game in this training. It’s all about breaking things down into micro movements. Clear some space (or better yet get outside!) and get ready! #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #...

In today's practice, we explore a gentle pose that promotes a sense of safety and protection. Enjoy exploring your body as a safe haven! #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #forwardbend #safety #safehaven #relaxation #selfresourcing #movement #comfortableinyourbody #selfconnection #incestsurvivor #healingsexualtrauma #foryou #viral #coachrachelsays #coachi...

In today's practice, we explore a yoga pose that helps to bring in a sense of strength and grounding to the body. #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #easypose #grounding #mountainpose #relaxation #selfresourcing #interoception #movement #propioception #safe #comfortableinyourbody #selfconnection #incestsurvivor #healingsexualtrauma #foryou #viral #coachra...

In today's practice, we explore one of the easiest poses we can drop into for a moment of grounding and regulation. By adding in a little movement, we increase interoception and balance and soothing. #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #easypose #grounding #relaxation #selfresourcing #interoception #movement #propioception #safe #comfortableinyourbody #sel...

In today's practice, we explore how to use a little bit of movement along with responding to some prompts in order to locate, feel, and develop internal safety and connection with the body. #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #grounding #relaxation #selfresourcing #interoception #movement #propioception #safe #comfortableinyourbody #selfconnection #incests...

As we continue our journey in exploring ways to increase nervous system regulation, we now turn our attention to movement based practices. Today, I’ll share with you the seven key was movement-based practices change the brain and help us develop both interoception (our ability to “feel inside” ourselves) and proprioception (our ability to sense body position, movement, and balance). I’ll also give...

All systems go! How are you doing when it comes to being aware on these three levels: body, feelings, and thoughts? It’s alright if you’re a work in progress when it comes to this. It’s very common for survivors of abuse to not be integrated and to only notice body sensations, feelings, and thoughts once they become overwhelming. In today’s practice, we get to explore how to increase our awareness...

Autogenic training is a relaxation technique that uses the mindfulness and selected sensations to relax the body. The term autogenic means “coming from within.” We explore how to improve self-regulation and access deep relaxation in this exercise. #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #grounding #relaxation #selfresourcing #autogenictraining #autonomicn...

Want a simple relaxation technique that will help you release tension from various regions of the body on command? I've got you! #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #grounding #relaxation #countto10 #selfresourcing #incestsurvivor #healingsexualtrauma #foryou #viral #coachrachelsays #coaching #toolsthatwork #healing #ptsd #conditionedrelaxation #painmanage...

"Muscle tension is commonly associated with stress, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms as part of a process that helps the body prepare for potentially dangerous situations." This is why many survivors of trauma find that they are in constant states of tension and sometimes even feel like that don't even know what this whole "relaxed" state of being is. It feels like unfamiliar territory. This p...

This body based practice is all about scanning the body and noticing the sensations you experience head to toe and importantly tuning in to the areas of your body that hold a feeling of strength. Being aware of this and knowing where strength sits in your body is extremely helpful as it becomes a way to ground and support yourself when you're feeling anxious or activated. Try it out! #beyondsurviv...

Do you find yourself feeling wobbly all the time? Bumping into things? Dropping things? Feeling just generally off balance? If so, then these proprioceptive exercises are just the thing you need to help you improve your sense of balance and become aware of your body’s position relative to the environment. In fact, when “grounded” feels like a wiggly concept, focusing instead on feeling “centered”...

In this video, we are going to further build our capacity for interoception by focusing in on the heart. Using our heartbeat, pulse, and breathing, we can develop a deeper sense of self, self-awareness, and even ground ourselves to boot! #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #interoception #heartconnection #breathwork #internalawareness #incestsurvivor #healingsexualtrauma...

In this video, we get to explore how to use touch (external sensation) of the belly to increase our internal awareness (interoception). I also touch on why even physically touching our belly can be challenging for survivors of trauma. Ultimately, we get to further uplevel our emotional awareness by using the power of the belly and diaphragmatic breathing! #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #ner...

In this video, I take you step by step through a playful sensory sensitization exercise! This is another great way to use our external world to increase our internal awareness. It's also important in getting us thinking about the ways we have become desensitized as a result of trauma and what "waking up the senses" really means. I also share about how a client of mine recently used interoception t...

In today's practice, we explore how incorporating a pose, intentional relaxation, and some tiny movement can help us create a new emotional experience around a negative event. We will particularly focus on relaxing the psoas muscles, which tense when an upsetting event occurs. So get comfy - this is a good one! #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulation #bodyawareness #groundin...

Using the sensory data from our external world is a great way to increase internal awareness. And as we know, internal awareness is critical when it comes to decreasing activation and nervous system regulation. I take you step by step through an easy and repeatable exercise that will help you use your senses to boost your interoception. #beyondsurviving #sexualabusesurvivor #nervoussystemregulatio...