Return to Yourself

When self-care feels like one more thing to fail at

When your system is already stretched paper-thin

When even the smallest pressure can tip you into

emotional flatness - or rage

It's not time for more effort

- it's time for intelligent self-care

For Parents, Allied Health and Healers

PURCHASE NOW

"It’s hard to even want to take a shower because I’m so done, a bubble bath becomes more pressure and failure. It feels impossible to do more sometimes, so even fitting in this course felt like a stretch that was impossible on some days... but even that was OK." - Janette

"I had thought I would never experience joy again, and now I can and do. And share more jokes and have a good laugh." - Trish

Finding Yourself Again

Sometimes we turn around and five years, ten years, twenty years.. have gone by and we've forgotten who are and who we used to be. Life used to be about our wants, and our needs.

While we can't turn back the clock, we can go in and find that inner sanctum, that place that nobody else gets to own. Our own private place.

And yes, it's not that easy. We can't just 'be calm' and 'will' ouselves into a good place - when we've been so long in self-denial, self-abandonment.

When we've been in chronic states of survival, keeping the peace, keeping the show on the road - the body gets lost. It forgets the map to the safety of deep rest.

It forgets that being in a survival state is not productive. That being in a state of deep relaxation and peace, is actually more productive. The body stays up - because it's forgotten to come down.

Coming Down From The Tree

Like a kitten stuck up a tree your nervous system can get so high, it doesn't know how to get down. It gets to used to running around in a panic trying to keep you, and other people, safe - that it forgets the pathways to peace

Inversely, rest and reset can become the enemy of progress

Who we are, what we think, love and feel - ceases to matter - even to ourselves. And while we might keep up with relationships, pilates classes, or our studies, we've forgotten how to have a true relationship with the most important person - ourselves

Quite suddenly, we can find we are further and further down the road. We haven't thought to stop, and take stock: to re-negotiate with our old self - all the changes that have taken place

If we don't take time to unpack and unlearn - this can lead to all sorts of mental and health problems in the long term

The time is now

Repair, Renew, Re-Imagine

Over four weeks - with Holly Bridges - learn how to find a place of deep rest in the body. Understand the practice and gentle body-mind enquiry of A.R.T. and how it can positively influence sleep and stress.

Understand the integrated ways we can support the body, to realistically let go of the stranglehold the vagal system has on your life.

Find a new normal

Learn to find room for the body to safely, intelligently and realistically - at your own pace - and in your own good time, find some inner space - for you.

This is not forced practice. We are learning intelligent self-care.

What you'll get:

Each week there is a focus, a practice, and a (recorded) live class.
There are gentle audios, light things to read and instructions for an A.R.T. exercise, to practice at home.
Live demonstrations with a participant volunteer, for you to better understand the nuance and subtlety of the work.

Learn that a sense of quiet is a physiological state

Learn how to rediscover yourself

Week 1. Stabilise Your System

Focus: Mapping where we are

Creating a baseline
Where am I now?
Dynamics that demand self-erasure
The cost of always being available
Giving from a place of deficit
What's been gained?
Clearing a space
A.R.T. home practice
Workbook diary
Live class (recorded)

Week 2. Repairing Care Patterns

Focus: Building relationship with the body

Listening to the body
Noticing patterns of brace, collapse and genuine release
Respecting when the body says no
The difference between 'holding it together' to 'being in relationship' with the nervous system
Holding space without self-bullying
What works for me?
A.R.T. home practice
Workbook diary
Live class (recorded)

Week 3. Who Am I Now?

Focus: Underneath The Burnout

Rebuilding capacity
Recognising subtle strengths
Finding your boundary - where you start and others begin
Finding the quiet peace that resides in you
Subtle shifts
A steady rise in capacity
A.R.T. home practice
Workbook diary
Live class (recorded)

Week 4. Real Life Sustainment

Focus: Making it workable in real life

Mapping progress
Building a sustainable way
Regular repair and maintenance
Managing expectations
Where do I fit in my life?
Looking forward
Keeping things real
A.R.T. home practice
Workbook diary
Live class (recorded)

4 Weeks of Intelligent Regeneration

7 x Live Call Recordings

4 x Workbooks / Personal Diary

Audio/ Visual/ Written Materials

Intelligent information

Insightful observation

Integrated movement

While personal narrative is important, the main focus is on development of the A.R.T. practice: what the body can allow - when we give it the right conditions?

Let Holly hold space and mindfully teach you the A.R.T. exercises and help you to renegotiate your relationship to your body.

$140 USD Full Price

Purchase here

(please message us if you need an invoice: support @zebr.co)

Based on Anxiety Reframe Technique® theory and practice.

Testimonial: 1

"I recently participated in Holly Bridges' online carers' workshop, Return to Yourself. Holly created a safe, reverent sense of belonging amongst the participants, no small thing over the internet. Even with kind neighbours and townsfolk, as a carer at home, I struggle with a sense of isolation. It was a great blessing to have the company of these people, with the wealth of experience now shared, and to hear their comments and questions. Their insights and queries were thoughtful, deeply felt and often profound. Holly responded with thoughtfulness, gentleness and grace. There were also moments of a good laugh.

Return to Yourself was also an opportunity to refresh my memory and update my knowledge on aspects of the theoretical basis of her work and its application regarding my family, to ask more thoughtful questions I don't have the presence of mind to ask after a therapy session.

I return to my notes for much needed consolation, refreshment, realigment and peace. Holly's work will help me to return to the deep peace I was able to find during her workshop (a minor miracle for me); to care for myself more effectively and profoundly, continuing the work started with Return to Yourself, in moving towards wholeness and fruitfulness. Return to Yourself also helps me to re-engage with my children, to discard what has become superfluous or otherwise unhelpful, and to be more present, patient, engaged and reverent with them.

I had thought I would never experience joy again, and now I can and do. And share more jokes and have a good laugh." - Trish

Testimonial: 2

"Holly offers a unique and special take on taking care of ourselves as carers. As a health professional also living in the complexity of the sandwich generation, caring for both aging parents and kids, this short course with Holly was a generous moment for myself.

I’ve heard that I need to do more self care, over and over. I've said it over and over. I should give myself a bubble bath every so often! I should... But frankly, when it’s hard to even want to take a shower because I’m so done, a bubble bath becomes more pressure and failure. It feels impossible to do more sometimes, so even fitting in this course felt like a stretch that was impossible on some days... but even that was OK.

Holly holds a space to take a breath for a moment, to the extent that I can, and not have to fill it with a new technique or routine... though that was there and made available. Having to hold this caring load together for so long, I could feel the fear that letting go for even a bit will actually lead to unravelling. By helping me to make sense of this, in my nervous system, Holly gave me permission to feel the real weight of caring for others, and find a place of breath and softening.

Holly took me on a more gentle and deeper journey into what it truly could mean to look after me when I have so little left. Beyond the bubbles and unattainable self care trappings, Holly invited me to look into what I truly needed, from a nervous system level, that I could begin to offer myself, in the small moments, that could start to turn around my weariness from the inside out. I am noticing I am being so much more gentle with me. I noticed how much I had stopped being that... And that is helping me be more gentle with those I love and care for. Truly a gift to me."

- Janette

Please Note:

These group sessions are structured as tutorials and focus on learning, skills, and guided practice. They are not designed to address personal therapeutic or emotional issues in depth. If any individual concerns arise that fall outside the scope of the group format, participants are encouraged to seek support from their own practitioner, or they may book private sessions with Holly separately, for a separate fee.

See Full Disclaimer here.

FAQ's

Can I use A.R.T. professionally from this course?

This short course offers personal learning only and does not qualify participants to use A.R.T. professionally