“We all have a home in a ventral vagal state of safety and connection.” Deb Dana

Coming Home is a weekend workshop at The Pathways Studio in Salford. You’ll be led by an experienced psychotherapist through structures to map your own autonomic nervous system and learn to recognise states of protection and connection. We’ll adventure together through your inner landscape, find the ways to navigate and the paths that lead you home.

This time we have a new co-facilitator joining the team! The workshop will be led by Daniel Morrison (www,qchanges.co.uk) and Rose C Jiggens (https://trueselfsystems.com/).

What is the autonomic nervous system?

We all have an autonomic nervous system. It operates mostly below the level of conscious awareness, constantly asking the question, am I safe? If there are cues of safety, we feel secure and connected, sure of ourselves, calm and grounded, able to make decisions and manage our lives. If there are cues of danger, the nervous system takes us into a state of protection. This might be a high energy place of anxiety, sympathetic arousal, overthinking and urgency where we feel the need to move. It might be a dark, frozen place of stillness, immobility and silence, a dorsal vagal state of shutdown.

Why learn about it?

This system is always working in service of our survival. We can’t stop it, and don’t want to, but we can learn to become active operators. We can learn to track our state, notice where our biology has taken us, and regulate our system. We can understand why we react or overreact to some situations. We can find ways to navigate the system which throws us into panic or makes us lose our words at the worst moments. We can learn why some situations touch and awaken old pain, and how to manage the cues of safety and danger that our system is searching for.

What will we do?

Over two days we’ll work together as a small group. You’ll be led through a series of structures designed to help you map your own system and discover your own cues of safety and danger, and how to regulate your system. There will be taught sections, lots of space for discussion and feedback as a group and in pairs, and a workbook to accompany the course. You’ll fill this in over the weekend to create a personal user manual for your autonomic nervous system, a record of the tools you’ve learned that support you.

At the end of the course you’ll have a clear understanding of how your biology affects your mood, emotions and ability to function and connect. You’ll have a tool kit of strategies to regulate and shape your system, and you’ll know the way home to a ventral vagal state of calm and contented safety.

When is it?

The course is on 21st and 22nd September at The Pathways Studio in Manchester. The cost is just £200 for the full weekend, with a limited number of discounted Early Bird tickets at £180 available before the end of July. We'll gather at 9.30am and finish at 5pm both days, giving us plenty of time for generous breaks and leisurely lunches.

Where is it?

Near to MediaCityUK, Manchester city centre, The Lowry Theatre and Langworthy Metrolink Station, The Pathways Studio has the benefit of free parking and is just a short distance from the M602 Motorway. It also has excellent public transport links being on major bus and Metrolink routes. It is 1.3 miles away from Salford Crescent rail station. There is the main group room and a smaller room for bags, where hot and cold drinks will be provided. The small kitchen has a fridge, kettle and microwave. Please bring your own food, which can be stored and warmed. Some shops are within walking distance of the venue.

The venue is all on the ground floor with level access throughout. All doorways allow a wheelchair to pass through and there is an accessible toilet with grab rails and a panic button and an accessible wet room with grab rails. All toilets are gender neutral.

We'll have a quiet space in a corner of the room with sensory / stim toys as well as access to outside space. You're encouraged to do what you need to do to be comfortable in the space, including taking time out, moving as you need to, using chairs or sitting on the floor during structures.

My work is trauma informed and welcoming of neurodiversity. Please get in touch to talk about any accessibility issues, including reduced price places. BIPOC, those with disabilities and other marginalised groups will be prioritised for concession places. The space is Queer centric and trans led but open to everyone. Feel free to get in touch with any questions.