The alternative.

Reflecting on this month's series of posts addressing the intersection of consciousness, psi & psychic abilities, ESP, neurodivergence, trauma, nervous & sensory systems (yep it was lot ...scroll back through my feed), I've been considering what an alternative support, health & education service would look like.

The alternative to the mind/logic dominant, top-down, medicalised, pathologising, dehumanising, paradigm we have been operating & living within.

From my lived personal & professional experience, the alternative would include:

Earlier appreciation & understanding sensory (&extra sensory) processing & perception differences

Acceptance, validation, role modelling & mentorship around how to live well regardless of bodymind human diversity &difference 

To be neither labelled superhuman & gifted nor medicalised & pathologised 

To be taught from preschool through to university:

physical, sensory, social, energetic & psychic boundaries (& have them respected)

how our nervous systems work & how to support regulation

how to safely release survival energies & stress

how to ground - energetic & psychic hygiene

how I can contribute to society & where our skills would be valued

conflict management & resolution skills

To receive a holistic education that integrates mind, body, energy, & spirit—encompassing a variety of worldviews and accommodating different ways of knowing—from externally regulated, trained teachers who have both academically studied this modalities & possess lived experience mastery.

Rehumanising spaces across society - making places humane, hospitable, humanitarian, low-arousal, sensory-friendly

Integrating relational & regulatory principles into workplaces, along with the values of connection, belonging, creativity, flexible working arrangements, role carving, & strengths-based recruitment.

This would be a start.
​
#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise

The intersection of #neurodivergence #nervoussystem #regulation, and #psychic abilities is complex from my lived experience.

As someone who is multiple neurodivergent, I experience hyperempathy and mirror-touch synesthesia—terms that the current systems and services are able to recognise.

 But for me, these experiences are also part of my psychic abilities, such as clairsentience (feeling others' emotions) and clairtangency (feeling energies).

Living in our society as multiple neurodivergent has made nervous system regulation challenging. My body, mind, and energy haven’t always worked in harmony, and I’ve struggled with dysregulation and trauma, which has been a constant undercurrent due to sensory, social, and information-processing differences.

Because of these challenges, I’ve had to rely on my extrasensory perception and psychic abilities—they weren’t “gifts” but rather survival mechanisms. They were how I could gather information, assess situations, and respond. 

These abilities are just one part of my overall bodymind experience, alongside embodied knowledge (feelings, sensations, emotions), logical/rational thinking, and ways of knowing through the nervous system (interoception and neuroception), as well as consciousness and awareness.

From my perspective, no single way of knowing is superior to another. 

The key is to support the vast diversity of human bodyminds and ensure they are seen, heard, and valued.

To do that, we need to open our minds (hearts & empathy), think holistically, and embrace a range of worldviews and ways of receiving and giving information—because, at the end of the day, that’s what communication is.
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We need to depathologise and rehumanise.

Do I think I'm special, gifted or 'superhuman' in experiencing clairvoyance, claircognisance, clairsentience & clairtangency? NO!

Do I think that I have clear & direct access to these (very human) psychic abilities because I'm multiple neurodivergent? YES!

Do I think they are a pathology? NO!

Do I think that humans have a diverse range of bodymind experiences, abilities, skilled, senses across neurotype & life circumstances? YES!

Do I think they need 'treatment' or 'curing'? NO!

Do I think that trauma can 'activate' people's psychic abilities? YES!

Do I think they are a medical or psychiatric 'problem'? NO!

I could go on ...

Yes, psychic emergence can cause a huge amount of distress & destabilisation but these abilities are not inherently a problem or pathology.

It's societal attitudes & a lack of support that is the problem.

And the spiritual 'industry' - that's a BIG problem (for another post!) But unfortunately that's the only place people can go outside of religion and psychiatry at the moment - also the problem.

So, what to do?

Depathologise and rehumanise. Educate the person about what is happening. Help them make sense of the experiences & find meaning. Deescalate & normalise. Support regulation & embodied, felt-sense safety. Resolve trauma & educate about the nervous system. Ground & stabilise. Teach the person boundaries in relation to these abilities. Support mastery.

Bridge, anchor & root these abilities & skills into the mundane.

Encourage people & workplaces to integrate these abilities into their daily lives in practical, innovative ways - to support societal change & systems evolution.

Education, health, mental health, spiritual & community care services - DO ALL OF THIS 👆

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise

Creating space between the stimulus & our response.

This was the overarching aim for the Becoming Nervous System, Trauma & Neurodivergent Informed training I delivered at Chalice Well Trust in Glastonbury.

In the space between stimulus & response, according to Victor Frankl, is our GROWTH & FREEDOM.

In the space there is a CHOICE ...

to react or to respond
to repeat or to repair
to be unconscious or conscious

to be extractive & dominating or reciprocal & relational
to move from I to we
to consider logic AND emotions & sensations

to choose who we want to be as a collective
to be humane & humanitarian & value diversity
to tend to our survival responses & regulation

Becoming a Nervous System, Trauma & Neurodivergent Informed organisation means ...

CHOOSING - to become educated about:
bodymind & it's diversity
the nervous system & how bodies respond to stressors
how to create space between stimulus & response

ENGAGING - individually & organisationally:
in space creating practices, resourcing & engaging in change-agency & evolution

EMBODYING - individually & as leaders:
regulation, co regulation & conscious, holistic, responsive relating.

#educateevolveembody #embodiededucation

​Delivering a three day training earlier this month at Chalice Well in Glastonbury to support the staff & trustees to become nervous system & trauma informed through a neurodiversity affirming lens, was one of the greatest honours of my life.

I've never felt more welcomed, heard & respected as a facilitator & have never had a more conscious, reflective & heart-led group of training participants.

A beautiful community which I hope to be a more active part of going forward.

Grateful.

#educateevolveembody #embodiededucation #embodimentspirituality #inandthrough #fleshyknowing #glastonbury #chalicewell #conscious #community #consciousliving #nervoussysteminformed #traumainformed #neurodiversityaffirming

Sandra Bargman words ...

Ever since I discovered her, I have been quite taken with Kay’s experience & teachings of #embodimentspirituality

In particular, her understanding of the relationship of the nervous system & the healing of trauma to our experiencing ourselves as divinity DIVINITY that is our BIRTHRIGHT #tangibledivinity

In these challenging times of spiritual disconnect, collapse culture, & climate crisis and the growing mental health issues as a result, I feel there is no more important work than what Kay is teaching, modelling & embodying. This conversation is a masterclass for the times in which we live

Is there anything better on Valentines Day than Making Love with the Divine?

In this episode, Kay shares her journey from her religious upbringing into seminary, discovering shamanistic & energy work, getting booted from Anglican seminary training, to stepping fully into embodied spirituality. We discuss

What is metacognition?

We re-visit the understanding of the word shamanism as a living dynamic

We talk about her powerful book, Making Love with the Divine @girlgodbooks

Kay expands on her understanding of the Nervous System (& the healing of trauma) as our divine sacred centre.

Using her religious vernacular, this becomes her re-telling of Eve & the Genesis story through her own lived experience

Kay weaves together the parasympathetic (feminine energy) with the sympathetic response (masculine)

Kay shares the liberation of her lineage story of her paternal Grandmother, a creative, religious & eccentric force in Kay’s young life through the Theatre of Church

Witnessing funerals & grief was a powerful lesson in her early years

She details her spiritual journey: the foundational role her grandmother played > moving into theological academia > teaching theology > Anglican Ordination training while at the same time training in shamanism > leaving her religious training > her deconstruction of the control of theology over her and stepping fully into her experience of Embodiment Spirituality

“We are searching for an alternative world within this one”. Spiritual/Sexual abuse in the church & other spiritual communities & the need for safeguarding

Listen here on Spotify but it is available on all your favourite platforms​

Happy New Year 🎊

Here are extracts from my latest @uniofaberdeen Practical Theology Hub blog - The Divine Nervous System - published today & setting the scene for 2025 perfectly.

Categorised as body theology & feminism 👌

Full blog https://practicaltheologyhub.com/?p=1576 - please share.

#educateevolveembody #embodiededucation #embodimentspirituality #inandthrough #fleshyknowing #divinenervoussystem #spiritualneedsarehumanneeds

​It was a Tower moment for me personally (if you're not familiar with Tarot check out the meaning of that card). The whole of The Church of England (& I'd argue Theology) currently faces a collective Tower moment - as the institution (& discipline) hits crisis & unravels as it is held accountable & (finally) critically appraised.

Extract from the second of two featured submissions I have in the powerful @girlgodbooks anthology Wounded Feminine : Grieving with Goddess superbly coedited by @cladorartandwords Trista Hendren and Pat Daly

Available from @girlgodbooks website or online stores

#educateevolveembody #embodimentspirituality
#fleshyknowing #inandthrough #tangibledivinity #embodiededucation