Listening to our inner wisdom:
Who are the workshops for?
The Listening to Our Inner Wisdom online workshops are suitable for people with and without health conditions. They can help in managing symptoms of health conditions, encouraging us to live authentically (in alignment with our true selves), navigating the challenging times in life, savouring the wonderful times and being able to thrive too. Ultimately they aim to connect people to their whole selves in a way that builds compassion, trust and safety and encourage living in alignment with the true self/authentic self.
There are many potential benefits of attending. The overall aims of all of the workshops in the Listening to Our Inner Wisdom series is to empower people through listening to their body & inner wisdom to make choices that nurture their health & wellbeing and that are aligned with living authentically. We connect to the body (I include the mind when I say body, really bodymind) in a way that builds compassion, trust & safety and helps us to befriend our body. Completing different workshops has different potential benefits, some of them are: improved sleep; increased trust in the self; decreased pain, fatigue, anxiety; increased awareness & understanding of the body’s messages; more compassionate communication with the self & others, better stress management; being able to see more of the available choices & possibilities and take wise action; being able to set and hold compassionate boundaries; being able to live more authentically.
Part one of the Listening to Our Inner Wisdom series is the 4 week Nervous System Regulation workshop series. As well as helping us to navigate challenges and thrive understanding nervous system regulation and our own nervous system can help in managing & changing things like persistent pain, fibromyalgia, long covid, ME/CFS, FND, anxiety & chronic stress.
How do I know if they might be helpful for me?
There are some questions that can help guide if the workshops might be for you (if you answer yes to one or more the workshops may be helpful for you):
- Would you like to know what nervous system regulation means & how this can help you navigate challenges in life & thrive?
- Would you like to understand your own nervous system better?
- Would you like to befriend your body?
- Would you like to understand the messages of your body more?
- Would you like to improve pain or fatigue management?
- Do you relate to yourself with self-criticism, frustration, impatience, or anger?
- Would you like to increase self-compassion?
- Would you like to increase self-awareness?
- Would you like to increase trust in yourself?
- Would you like to sleep better?
- Would you like to decrease stress?
- Would you like to be able to see more choices & possibilities & know which are aligned with you?
- Would you like to set compassionate boundaries?
- Would you like to live more in alignment with your true self (living authentically)
- Would you like a tool box of practices that help you to navigate the challenges in life & thrive and that support healing
- Would you like to be part of a compassionate community?
Listening to Our Inner Wisdom is a collection of different workshop series and you can choose which you would like to do. They aim to help people compassionately connect to their body and inner wisdom & empower them through choices and exploration, discovering more of what is supportive of their wellbeing & living authentically.
Each workshop is a combination of theory, discussion/reflections and experiential practices. The experiential practices are a mix of breath practices, meditations, gentle yoga/gentle movement practices, embodiment/somatic practices, compassion, and reflections. For each of the 3 main parts there is a mini-workbook which supports learning & integration. If people attend all three of the main parts they will collate the whole Listening to Our Inner Wisdom workbook.
The different workshop series that are part of the Listening to Our Inner Wisdom collection are listed below.
- Part 1: Nervous System Regulation (4 part series - starting 7th Sept 2024)
- Part 2: Setting Compassionate Boundaries & Letting Go of What Does Not Serve (4 part series)
- Part 3: Integration & New Growth
- Connecting to Our Compassionate Self (2 part series)
- Embodied Rest (2 part series - running again in Winter 2024)
To do part 2 or 3 it is usually essential to have done part 1 (the nervous system regulation series), doing part 2 is not essential for part 3. If you don’t feel that you would like to do part 1, or you missed it, and would like to do part 2 or 3 please get in touch to discuss if this is possible (this will be decided on a individual basis, generally part 1 is needed as a foundation to build upon). People can do either or both of the 2 part workshop series without doing any of the 3 main parts if the wish to.
Each workshop in the three main parts (listed above) is 2.5 hours (with a short break) and each of the 2 part workshops are 2 hours each (with a short break).
The workshops combine knowledge and skills from Ann’s extensive training, knowledge & skills, including from: compassion & compassionate mind training (part of compassion focused therapy), trauma-informed yoga, embodiment/somatics, NLP, coaching, acceptance and commitment therapy and studying trauma. Ann is offering these workshops in her capacity as an integrative somatic practitioner rather than as a physiotherapist. Like all Ann offers these workshops rest on the firm foundation of compassion and they are trauma-informed.
- A free 15 minute call prior to booking (an opportunity for you to ask questions and find our more about the workshops, and for us to meet before the first workshop)
- An email summary each week to support your learning. This includes resources for you to practice between sessions (resources include video and audio recordings of practices used in each session and a mini workbook for each main workshop series - part 1, 2 & 3)
- A safe small group environment where everyone is learning & practicing together
- A WhatsApp group for group sharing & support between workshop sessions
- A compassionate community - those who wish to join will meet online once a quarter to connect & practice together (starting in 2025). Meetings will be donation based, free if needed (to join people need to have attended at least one of the main parts, or have completed my 8 week Creating A Healing Path workshop series)
- An additional bonus for anyone who attends 2 or more of the main parts will be offered a free somatic coaching call to help deepening of learning & integration (worth £80)
The workshops are taught by Ann Parkinson who is a fatigue & pain specialist physiotherapist, and integrative somatic practitioner, with many years of clinical experience. She also has lived experience of pain, fatigue & anxiety (the latter two due to ME/CFS & PoTS). Ann specialised in neurology and persistent pain within physiotherapy and now specialises in fatigue & persistent pain. She also has many years of somatic, embodiment & coaching experience and has often worked with people with chronic stress, anxiety & trauma. Ann is a trained life coach, NLP Practitioner, trauma-informed yoga teacher, and she has done many trainings in compassion focused therapy, training in acceptance & commitment therapy, many different somatic/embodiment trainings, a variety of trainings and extensive study of trauma. Ann is also committed to her own personal practices & doing her own inner work. You can find out more about Ann, including some of the courses she has completed, by clicking the button below.
'Learn to Become Compassionately Present In Your Body'
Would you like to attend?
Part 1 of the Listening to Our Inner Wisdom workshops (nervous system regulation) will be starting on the 7th September with week 2 on the 14th Sept, week 3 on the 12th 0ct and week 4 on the 2nd November. Each workshop will run from 9.45-12.15 with a short break. The cost is £180 when booked at the early bird rate (available until the end of July) and £220 at the full rate (each main part will also be charged at this).
The two week workshop series will be £25 a workshop or £45 if both workshops in the series are booked together.
If finances restrict you from doing the workshops please get in touch to discuss this, there will payment plan options for people who need it (payments need to be completed before the workshops start) and there will be 1 reduced cost place per workshop series (please only ask for the reduced cost place if it is needed so that it is available for those who need it). There is also an option to make a payment that is more than the cost of your place to help fund places for those that can’t afford the full cost.
If you would like you would like to attend please get in touch to ask any questions you may have and to book your free pre-booking call (there is no obligation to book after this). To be added to the interested list please email info@unityphysio.co.uk or call Ann on 07871240188.
Some of the other services offered
Physiotherapy for Persistent Pain
Physiotherapy for ME/CFS & Long Covid
Wellness Coaching
Wellness Workshops