I just keep walking away… ‍‍‍

And this one feels hard to write.

This month I was scheduled to go to my Advanced Somatic Experiencing Training (SE Advanced 2) in Halifax.

The hotel was booked.
The flight. The train.
The registration.
All set to go.

The final culmination of three years of time and investment, relationship building with beautiful colleagues.

Somatic work has been a pillar in my life for at least 7 years of a 14 year plus healing journey.

I began my SE training already having read and studied the topic intensively for years. Having worked with SE practitioners.

I believed Somatic Experiencing to be the “missing piece” in my life and in the world of personal development.

Through my sanctification process I left behind everything else. The Lord opened my eyes a few months after my salvation in the middle of the night to the spiritual dangers of what I was practicing with the I Ching, Human Design and Gene Keys, Spiritual Kinesiology. I also...

What is Self-Sabotage? 

Self-sabotage is a common phrase used in modern psychology and healing communities. It can be described as feeling a deep desire to do things that you know will be good, healthy and beneficial for you and for your life - but at the same time, and often unwillingly taking actions or inaction that prevents you from what is good, healthy and beneficial in your life. And may actually harm you.

An example - You know that it will be beneficial to your health to lose weight, but feel addicted to foods that cause health issues and weight gain. The food comforts you and you eat it even though in the long run it harms you, your goals, and your self-esteem and brings you shame. 
 

Self-Sabotage & The Human Condition
This is a very human issue. All humans have an area of life where this pattern of sabotage seems to eat away at us. Whether it is breaking patterns of addiction, creating new healthy habits, cultivating discipline, overcoming...

Description:
For the believer - trauma recovery is a mind-renewal process that involves being sanctified by God's Word and His Truth just as much as it involves learning/re-learning life skills, stress management skills and stabilizing your nervous system! In this episode I am diving into the spiritual component of the trauma recovery journey by looking at: 

• How God's Word Makes the Crooked Places Straight in Your Heart
• The Corruption of the Human Heart  (How man can never fully grasp the heart of man - we need God for that)
• Double-Mindedness and Personality Instability (How God's Word gives us security and stability)
• Seeking Healing from the World First Rather than seeking the Lord first

My hope is that this episode stirs your faith to walk in Victory as a child of God - knowing first that you belong to the Lord as you recover from the pain of trauma. 

Email me: [email protected] 

Apply for the Faithful Institute: www.shylacash.com/faithful 

Sign...

That Distinct Feeling of being Under the Shadow of His Wings…

I shared with someone yesterday about this very distinct feeling that is old and yet new to me at the same time.

It is the feeling of being under submission to God, and sealed by Him. It is a sense of his protection and covering. The felt-sense of a shield around me. 

As a child I felt this distinctly… a sense that there was something different about me. A vulnerability in my chest. That feeling was wrapped up in the extreme trauma that was my household filled with chaos, abuse and dysfunction.  And it was made complicated by the fact that I wanted to be like everyone else. I wanted to be normal. I didn’t like the feeling. I wanted to thrash out of it when I was around other people. 

Since my salvation last year that vulnerability in my chest has returned. The sense of being different. But what I have realized is that this is the soft, fleshy heart the Lord...

The Somatic & Spiritual Side of Anger 
 

Anger is such an important part of health!

Yes - health.

Without the full spectrum of full human emotions - we are not physically healthy. Our Creator designed our emotional and physical experience to be connected to one another.

So - what happens when we repress? What happens when we grow up in homes and environments where the family pushes back or stifles our valid and honest emotional expression?

Emotional Dysregulation, Chronic Illness, High-Functioning Depression & Anxiety Symptoms, and Dysfunctional relationships,  Toxic Shame to name just a few.

What can also happen is a confusing relationship with God where we feel afraid to express ourselves to Him - to wrestle with Him, to pour out our hearts before him.

We can more easily get into abusive relationship dynamics and unhealthy spiritual communities because we are less likely to speak up, express needs, set boundaries and advocate for what is right.

When I work with...

Winter is Coming!

I live in Canada - that means winter is COMING! Freezing cold days, less time outside and more hours of darkness mean that there are some things that I do to keep my health and nervous system functioning optimally in the winter season.

This winter I am extra mindful as I have a weight loss goal to focus on and maintain.  If my nervous system spends too much time in the freeze response I will lose any and all progress as I go back to maintenance mode! PLUS  we will be doing some travelling this winter - flying, long drives and being out of the environment that is set up for my success. 

So I want to be intentional (NOT perfectionistic) about keeping myself in my window of tolerance or as close to it as humanly possible. Remember that in the window of tolerance EVERYTHING in the  body functions optimally, not just mood. That means digestion, cellular health, hormone health, thyroid health, brain health etc.

While my nervous system has...

PRAYERS FOR YOUR TRAUMA HEALING JOURNEY -PART 1

One prayer I often pray is: “Father - make the crooked places straight in my heart”

I get this prayer from the metaphor often found in Scripture of “preparing the way of the Lord”

In the Old Covenant before Jesus came, Prophets would proclaim His coming and they would declare that One was coming who would make things right with humanity. Who would “level the playing field” against sin, corruption and evil.

One who would heal and restore and repair. One who would light the way both in the world and in our hearts.

I love this metaphor because it is so profoundly true in the context of trauma.

Sin & Trauma creates so much confusion, dysregulation and disruption in our hearts and minds.

As a result, we can see things from distorted lenses.

What is safe seems unsafe & what is unsafe can seem safe.
We can be reactive or easily shut-down as a result of our nervous system’s sensitivity.
...

Click here to listen to the episode on iTunes 

Description 

Everyone say it with me: Co-Regulation leads to self-regulation!

This is a key concept for understanding trauma healing at the nervous system level because it teaches us how we can access neuroplasticity with support from other people who have regulated nervous systems.

In this episode, I talk about

• What is nervous system regulation exactly? 
• How does co-regulation lead to self-regulation 
• The Role of Co-Regulation in Neurodevelopment from the womb onward 
• Bottom Up Brain Development (Dr Bruce Perry’s neurosequential development theory)
• Dysregulation, trauma and the healing impact of Co-Regulation
• The Fruit of the Spirit:How the Gospel makes us naturally more regulated and co-regulated
  
  

Scriptures mentioned in the episode: 

• Galatians 5:13-26 
• Matthew 19:13-15 
• 1 Corinthians 13
• 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8 
  
  

  Instagram: www.shylacash.com/growhealchange

  Email me: ...

I’m 33!

Yesterday (Tuesday, Sep 26, 2023) was my birthday.

I became a Christian last year - it’s my first full year as a born-again believer. 

Though I grew up in church I don’t feel that I had a saving faith as my heart did not fully grasp the truth of the gospel.

I had a general revelation of God and His Word but looking back I really don’t feel that I was saved.

The reason for that is because my true salvation last year felt so radical and life-altering that it pierced my heart and changed me forever.

Before I was saved I wandered and looked for truth in mystical traditions and spiritual systems like Chinese I Ching, Human Design, Gene Keys, Spiritual Kinesiology and basically whatever else appealed to me. I was sincere in my pursuit but sincerely deceived.

Until God led me to the truth of the Gospel.

As a result, this year has been kind of wild.

I have made serious changes in every area of my life in response to the Gospel being brought to me by the...

This week is the second instalment of the Theology of Trauma Series - We are talking about the Gospel. 

Specifically we are looking at:
What is the Gospel?
How Do we live out our trauma healing journey with the Gospel in mind?
How is the Believer's trauma healing journey is different from the secular healing journey. 
Common Grace Vs Saving Grace 
A note on religious trauma 

Links
Instagram: www.instagram.com/growhealchange

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/growhealchange/ 
 

Jumpstart Program: www.shylacash.com/jumpstart 
 

Waitlist for The Faithful Trauma Recovery Institute: www.shylacash.com/faithfulwaitlist