PRESS
Expert Tips For Keeping Calm During Toddler Temper Tantrums
BY BABA
Wondering about the secrets to keeping calm during toddler tantrums? Jennifer Mann and Karden Rabin, co-authors of The Secret Language of the Body share their expert tips on how to manage and stop toddler temper tantrums.
12 experts on their secret to festive survival
By Liz Conor
The Secret Language of the Body
To create better mental health we need to reconnect our mind and body.
BY Jennifer Mann
Yoga and mindfulness are powerful tools, but a deeper understanding of the nervous system is essential for holistic health. In The Secret Language of the Body, the connection between emotional health and physical symptoms is explored, emphasising that listening to the body is key to healing. Practical strategies like vagus nerve stimulation, somatosensory practices, and social connection can help regulate the nervous system, reduce stress, and foster balance. Techniques such as tapping, vocalisations, and mindful movement reconnect the mind and body, creating a sense of safety and calm. As the book highlights, “Healing begins with self-awareness.” By embracing the body’s wisdom, you can move beyond survival mode and unlock profound transformation.
Can Trauma Manifest as Physical Pain?
Here’s What Experts Say
Five self-care practices to embrace this autumn
BY Karden Rabin
As autumn unfolds, the changing light, cooler temperatures, and shorter days can have a profound impact on our nervous system and overall well-being. These seasonal shifts can affect energy, mood, and even how we experience stress. But the season doesn’t have to set you back. In fact, it can be a time for recalibration and deep nourishment.
5 ways to escape “survival mode” and reduce stress at work
By Key Takeaways
The body-centred therapy practice transforming how we heal trauma
With the rise of wellness options, somatic therapy is gaining significant traction as people seek to understand how trauma affects the body and how to heal it. Once considered fringe, somatic therapy is now widely embraced, with influences from works like The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk and Dr. Gabor Maté’s research. In their book, The Secret Language of the Body, authors Karden Rabin and Jennifer Mann explain that the therapy’s rise is due to a mix of clinical tools, knowledge, and the internet, making it more accessible and appealing to many.
How to banish back-to-work anxiety, according to the experts
The importance of balancing work and relaxation, especially after returning from a break. It suggests that while time off improves productivity, the transition back to work can cause stress. Jennifer Mann and Karden Rabin share techniques to ease this anxiety, including vagus nerve exercises, prioritizing morning routines, and scheduling self-care activities. They advocate for implementing the “three Ds” (delete, defer, delegate) to reduce workload pressure. Additionally, setting technology boundaries and adopting a “five percent slower” pace can help maintain focus and calm during the workday.
Chronic Anxiety Is Not an Illness—It’s a Coping Mechanism
BY JENNIFER MANN & KARDEN RABIN
“Anxiety is a message coming from the body, spoken in a language you are about to learn.” Two nervous system practitioners share how we can adapt ourselves out of anxiety.
When fawning goes too far
BY JENNIFER MANN
People-pleasing is often seen as a root cause of anxiety, a behavioural pattern where one seeks validation and approval from others at the expense of their own needs and well-being. However, an emerging perspective and our clinical experience working with thousands of clients from all over the world suggest that anxiety itself may be the catalyst that triggers people-pleasing behaviours. To understand this relationship, we will delve into the connections and root causes of anxiety and people-pleasing, explore the physiological and psychological responses rooted in the nervous system, and provide actionable tools.
Why habit stacking can make healthy changes stick
BY LIZ CONNOR
Habit stacking is a case of layering a new habit on top of an existing one.
When you make a concerted effort to habit stack, you’re essentially cheating the system – that’s why it gets called a ‘hack’. As Jennifer Mann, co-author of The Secret Language of the Body, says: “piggybacking a fresh, hard-to-set habit onto a well-established pathway that’s already second nature.”
Strategies To Help Manage Stress and Anxiety as a Parent
BY TODDLE ABOUT
Parenting is a journey filled with immense joy, love, and incredible experiences. However, it also comes with its share of stress and anxiety. Balancing work, household responsibilities, relationships and raising children can feel very overwhelming. Learning how to support your body as it responds to these stressors can provide valuable insights and tools to navigate life as a parent in a more effective and helpful way.
How I Healed My Chronic Fatigue Through The Mind-Body Connection
BY JENNIFER MANN
Jennifer Mann’s journey through chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) reveals the power of the mind-body connection in healing. After years of relentless stress and physical challenges, Jennifer discovered the Lightning Process and somatic therapies, which transformed her life. She learned to rewire her nervous system, addressing deeply rooted traumas and stress. This holistic approach not only alleviated her CFS symptoms but also inspired her to help others achieve similar recoveries.
Experts warn more people are living in 'functional freeze mode' with signs that are hard to spot
BY OLIVIA BURKE
According to nervous system practitioner and author of The Secret Language of the Body Jennifer Mann, you can melt yourself out of this mindset if you put the work in, but the first step is understanding it.
I tried grounding therapy for two weeks - and it worked wonders for my stress and productivity levels
BY LIZ CONNOR
“There are thousands of nerve endings under the soles of our feet that constantly send feedback messages to our brain,” explains Jennifer Mann, co-author of The Secret Language of the Body.
“When we’re doing a grounding practice like walking barefoot outside, there’s a heightened sensory experience going on: different parts of the ground might feel squishy, or warm, or dewy.”
Five senses meditation can totally shift your mood in just a few minutes
BY KARDEN RABIN
Karden Rabin, co-author of new book The Secret Language of the Body, offers a new way to calm your anxious mind.
I spent £20,000 on my chronic illness
– then I finally found a cure
BY
“When I look back at what happened, I feel sad for anyone who is dealing with chronic fatigue, who has to go through the conventional medical system,” she says. “There is another solution. And now I want the whole world to know.”
Where Stress Lives in the Body
BY JESSICA HARRIS
In the midst of a stressful episode we may notice that our chest tightens and our head pounds as blood flow momentarily increases, but there may be more inconspicuous symptoms we tend to overlook. Jennifer Mann, co-author of new book The Secret Language of the Body is quick to point out that our reaction to stress can be both physical and mental. “Stress tends to accumulate in several key areas of the body,” she begins. “These include the neck, back and shoulders, where muscle tightness from poor posture and emotional stress lead to pain and headaches. Other common areas include the jaw (due to teeth clenching) and the hip muscles, which often present symptoms together. Then the stomach and digestive system, which are sensitive to stress hormones and can show as symptoms like stomach aches, indigestion, bloating and IBS. Another area is the head, where tension headaches and migraines often occur due to muscle tension and cognitive strain resulting in difficulty concentrating, brain fog, blurred vision and vertigo. Finally, the chest and heart area are most commonly affected with symptoms of anxiety, palpitations, shallow breath and chest pain.”
You’re not lazy, you’re in functional freeze mode – here’s what you need to know
BY LIZ CONNOR
“When we consciously walk barefoot on natural surfaces like grass or sand, our brain is stimulated by the sensory receptors in thousands of nerve endings in our feet,” notes Mann. “The survival state causes us to feel disconnected from our body as a way of self-protection, so anything we can do to anchor our brain back to the here and now can help reduce feelings of numbness and derealisation.”
The Secret Language of the Body: Regulate Your Nervous System, Heal Your Body, Free Your Mind
BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers can learn “the secret language of the body” to heal depression, insomnia, and other ailments, according to this insightful debut guide. Functional movement therapist Mann and somatic experiencing practitioner Rabin describe the nervous system as a “foreign country” that responds to daily stressors (paying bills, sending an difficult email) with stress-inducing survival responses.