Sometimes you can understand exactly why you feel the way you do and still find that your body has not gotten the message.

You may be bracing, overwhelmed, shutting down, pushing through, or feeling like your nervous system is always preparing for the next thing.

Your body is not a problem to be fixed. It may be offering information about stress, demand, sensory input, relationships, past experiences, and what your system has been carrying.

In these sessions, we bring curiosity and education to what you are noticing so you can develop more understanding, awareness, and choice in everyday life.

This work may be a fit if you:

  • Carry prolonged stress, overwhelm, or responsibility.
  • Are parenting, caregiving, or holding a lot for other people.
  • Feel constantly on, braced, disconnected, shut down, or close to capacity.
  • Are neurodivergent, highly sensitive, autistic, ADHD, or AuDHD.
  • Are supporting a neurodivergent child or navigating complex family needs.
  • Understand your patterns intellectually but still feel that your body responds before you have time to think.
  • Want support that includes your body without asking you to perform, disclose, or push through.

You do not have to arrive calm, prepared, or put together. You can begin exactly as you are.

What a session may look like

Sessions begin with what is happening in your life, body, and capacity that day. From there, we may explore any of the following — always at a pace that feels workable for you:

  • Body awareness and sensation
  • Nervous-system education
  • Patterns of bracing, shutdown, overactivation, or disconnection
  • Gentle somatic movement
  • Clinical Somatic Exercises
  • Breath, orienting, or qigong
  • Boundaries, capacity, connection, transitions, and daily demands
  • Sensory needs and accessible ways to participate
  • Practical supports for daily life

Everything is adapted to your needs, preferences, sensory experience, and capacity that day.

What you may be working toward

This work is not about controlling every response or becoming calm all the time. Over time, you may begin to:

  • Notice needs and limits earlier
  • Understand responses with less shame
  • Recognize patterns before they become overwhelming
  • Explore supportive pacing and boundaries
  • Find movement that feels nourishing rather than demanding
  • Recover with less self-criticism
  • Connect insight with embodied experience
  • Have more choice in moments that once felt automatic

Change may be subtle. It may look like pausing before agreeing to something, noticing that you need less sensory input, adapting a movement, asking for more time, or realizing that you do not have to override yourself.

Nervous-system education

Understanding how your nervous system responds to stress, demand, and sensory input — and what that information might mean for you.

Somatic movement and body awareness

Gentle, exploratory movement and sensory-motor awareness. No performance, no right way to do it.

Clinical Somatic Exercises

Slow, specific movement sequences designed to release chronic muscle tension held in the nervous system.

Breath, orienting, and qigong

Breath awareness, orienting to the present environment, and qigong as accessible, low-demand ways to support your system.

Trauma-informed pacing and resourcing

Working within your window of capacity, with attention to choice, consent, and what feels workable.

Practical reflection and everyday integration

Connecting what you notice in sessions to how you move through daily life — transitions, demands, relationships, and rest.

Approaches I may draw from

Sessions are not based on one fixed protocol. I draw from a range of approaches and adapt what I offer to what is most relevant for you that day.

If you would like to learn more about some of the specific practices, you are welcome to explore: What is qigong?  |  What are Clinical Somatic Exercises?  |  Understanding nervous-system responses?

You are always welcome to ask questions about any approach before or during a session.

Training and scope

My professional foundation is a two-year, 500-hour ISMETA-approved training in somatic movement education and therapy through Brain Body Being/HomeBody.

I have also completed trauma-informed somatic training through Mindful Somatic Wellness and The Embody Lab's 60-hour Somatic EMDR Therapy Certificate.

I am currently completing Beginning Level Somatic Experiencing® training through Somatic Experiencing® International and have begun Beginner II.

My Somatic EMDR education informs my trauma-informed understanding and body-based support. I do not provide EMDR psychotherapy or present myself as an EMDR therapist.

My Somatic Experiencing® training is currently in progress. These sessions are not presented as Somatic Experiencing® practitioner sessions, and I do not present myself as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner while completing this training.

What this support is and is not

This support is

  • Collaborative somatic movement support
  • Nervous-system education
  • Body-based exploration
  • Trauma-informed and consent-based facilitation
  • Neurodivergent-informed adaptation
  • Practical reflection and everyday-life integration

This support is not

  • A fixed protocol
  • A performance or fitness class
  • A requirement to disclose everything
  • A replacement for emergency care, medical care, or psychotherapy
  • EMDR psychotherapy
  • Somatic Experiencing® practitioner sessions

Session details and investment

  • FormatVirtual video session
  • Length60 minutes
  • Virtual availabilityAcross Canada
  • In-person availabilityOkotoks, Alberta
  • Introductory rate$125 CAD
  • Standard rate$150 CAD

Interested in an in-person session in Okotoks? Please contact Lauren to discuss availability.

Ready to begin? You can book directly or start with a free discovery call — no commitment required.

What happens after you book?

  1. Choose a session time or book a free discovery call. You will receive a confirmation with everything you need to prepare.
  2. Receive the information needed to prepare. There is nothing you need to do or know in advance.
  3. Begin with a conversation about what is present for you. We start where you are, not where you think you should be.
  4. Decide together what feels relevant to explore. The session follows your lead.

You remain free to pause, adapt, or decline at any point.

Questions you might have

No. Many people arrive with a general sense that something feels off, or simply with curiosity. We begin with what is present for you that day and let the session unfold from there. You do not need a clear goal or the right words.
No. Movement is one option among many. Sessions may focus on body awareness, nervous-system education, breath, conversation, or simply noticing what is present. You can decline any activity at any time.
No experience is needed. Everything is introduced gently and adapted to what feels accessible for you. You do not need to know anything about qigong, somatic movement, or nervous-system work before we begin.
That is completely okay. Sessions can include more silence, shorter check-ins, or other ways of communicating. There is no requirement to speak at length or to explain yourself fully. We can adapt to what works for you.
No. You are never required to disclose your history or explain what you have been through. We work with what is present in your body and nervous system now. Disclosure is always your choice.
Yes. Sessions can be done entirely seated, lying down, or in whatever position feels comfortable and accessible for you. There is no requirement to stand, move through a range of motion, or participate in any particular way.
No. I have completed Somatic EMDR Therapy Certificate training through The Embody Lab, which informs my trauma-informed understanding and body-based approach. I do not provide EMDR psychotherapy and I do not present myself as an EMDR therapist.
No. I am currently completing Beginning Level Somatic Experiencing® training. My training informs my understanding of nervous-system responses, but these sessions are not presented as Somatic Experiencing® practitioner sessions, and I do not present myself as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner while completing this training.
No. A discovery call is available if you would like to ask questions, share a little about what is bringing you here, or get a sense of how I work before committing to a session. It is entirely optional. You are also welcome to book a 1:1 session directly if you feel ready.
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Ready to explore support?

You do not need the right words or a clear goal to begin.

A free discovery call is a quiet conversation where you can ask questions, share what is bringing you here, and see whether working together feels like a fit.

There is no pressure to book afterward.

Berkana Somatic Wellness

berkanasomaticwellness@gmail.com

CONTACT

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