We often treat December as a performance. More socialising. More spending. More doing. More ‘getting it right’. But nature, meanwhile, is whispering something very different: Winter is telling us to slow down… rest… turn inward … connect.

“Drop into your body. Lose your mind. Come to your senses.” That’s the rallying cry I often share with therapists and clients alike. But why does it matter so deeply? The key is understanding what the polyvagal theorists and trauma specialists call 'dorsal shutdown'.

As therapists, we're trained to listen deeply — not just to our clients’ words, but to the non-verbal signals of stuckness, overwhelm, or emotional pain that those words alone can’t reach. So, what happens when talking isn’t enough? What if we had a way to integrate the wisdom of the body into our work — without stepping outside the boundaries of clinical integrity?