Phase 1: Awareness
Learning to Listen
This phase is where we begin identifying what’s actually happening inside your body, not just the symptoms, but the patterns driving them.
Most people have spent years responding to pain, stress, and fatigue without ever understanding what’s causing them. Running so hard for so long that stress has become just normal. The foggy mornings became just how they wake up. The 3am wake-ups became just their sleep pattern now. The crashing afternoons became normal. But it's not normal. It's a nervous system that's been in protection mode for a long time and forgot how to come down.
You’ll learn how to recognize how your nervous system responds to stress, where your body holds tension, and what triggers shifts in your energy, mood, and physical symptoms.
Awareness helps you connect patterns before your body has to escalate them, this phase teaches you how to hear your body before it has to shout. At the same time, we’re observing how your body responds to sessions and daily practices, so we can begin tailoring your care more precisely.
"You can't change patterns you're not aware of. Slowing down and noticing IS the work."
How to Use This Phase
You are not trying to fix anything yet.
You are learning how to recognize patterns.
Throughout this phase, you will focus on three things:
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Your nervous system response (how your body reacts to stress)
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Where you feel stress in your body
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What triggers those patterns
This is how we begin connecting symptoms to root causes.
At the bottom of this page there are suggested practices and meditation to work with during this phase. There is also a video with more information of how awareness can effect us.
Let's get started....
Two Things To Understand In This Phase
01
Your physical symptoms have an emotional root
The body stores unprocessed emotions: grief, fear, anger, chronic worry. It gets stored as physical tension, pain, and illness. Healing one requires addressing the other. They are not separate. Your body is sending you messages though these symptoms.
This doesn't mean it's "in your head." Your pain is real, and it has a story.
Awareness is the first step. Everything else in this program builds from here.
02
What’s Happening in This Phase
Most people ignore or override these signals. In this phase, we begin using them as data.
As you increase awareness, we begin identifying:
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What keeps your system in stress mode
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What allows it to settle
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How your symptoms are connected
This is the foundation for everything that follows. You’re not doing this alone.
As you move through this phase:
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We track how your body responds
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We identify patterns in your nervouse system
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We adjust your sessions based on what your body is showing us
This allows your care to become more targeted and effective from the very beginning.
3 States of the Nervous System
People don’t talk about it a lot so it could be good information but it could but overwhelming as well.
Your nervous system is always in one of three states. And everything you feel your energy, your mood, your pain level, how sharp or foggy your thinking is, how reactive you are, it all depends on which one you're in.
Safe & Connected
Present, clear, like yourself. Able to think, rest, and connect.
On Edge
Reactive, restless, can't switch off. Body is bracing for something.
Collapsed
Exhausted, numb, checked out.
Everything feels like too much.
Most people who walk through our door have been cycling between On Edge and Collapsed for so long they forgot what Safe and Connected feels like.
Nervous System Awareness
How Your Body Response to Stress / Pattern of Response
When stress happens, your body automatically shifts into a survival pattern. It's helpful to know which nervous system response you default to most.
Start noticing which one shows up most:
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Fight → tension, irritation, control (wanting to be prepared or know all details)
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Flight → anxiety, restlessness, overthinking, staying busy, avoidance
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Freeze → stuck, numb, brain fog, indecision
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Fawn → people-pleasing, over-giving, lack of boundaries and self care
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Flop → exhaustion, shutdown, excess sleeping, give up
👉 There is nothing wrong with these responses. They are your body trying to protect you. Awareness is the first step to working with them.
Your Practice,
Start Noticing
This week, begin checking in with your body a few times a day. You are not analyzing or fixing, just observing.
Your daily check-in, pause for 30 - 60 secs, and notice:
When your body feels tense vs. relaxed
When your energy drops or improves
What causes pain to increase or decrease
How your body responds to people & environments
When you feel clear vs. when brain fog appears
Which patterns keep showing up
The goal of this phase is not progress, it's presence.
Noticing is the work, and it is enough.
Where You Carry Stress
Where Your Body Stores Stress / Pattern of Storage
Your body stores patterns in specific areas.
For years, Amber thought she carried her stress in her shoulders, and she did somewhat, but recently she found out her main stress is carried in her mind. She has to work with anxiety and automatic thoughts that come up when she is stressed.
Abbie carries her stress in her gut / stomach. When she gets stressed her stomach gets upset, she can't eat or she will get nauseous.
Start noticing where tension shows up first:
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Head / jaw - headaches or clenching your jaw
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Neck / shoulders - tension, pain
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Chest / breathing - tightness in chest, shallow breathing
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Gut / stomach - irritation in stomach or gut
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Back / hips / pelvis - sore, pain, achey
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Mind / overthinking or analyzing
You don’t need to analyze it. Just notice where your body speaks the loudest.
Then Ask Yourself
Which stress response is showing up?
(fight / flight / freeze / fawn / flop)
Where do I feel it in my body?
Which state am I in right now? (Safe & Connected / On Edge / Collapsed)
Which state shows up most for you, and when?
Think about the past few weeks.
You don't need to do anything with what you notice. Just notice it.
Daily 5
Practice these through every phase
1
Drink ⅓–½ your body weight in oz of electrolyte water daily.
Start every morning with your Hawaiian Sea Salts.
Hydration & Sea Salts
2
Apply your personalized doTERRA oils as instructed in your session notes. Multiple times daily for best results.
Custom Essential Oils
3
A few minutes barefoot on the earth. Reduces cortisol, lowers inflammation, and regulates your nervous system.
Grounding in Nature
4
Check-in with your body. Notice where you hold tension and what your body is trying to tell you.
Body Scan
5
Daily bowel movements are essential for energy, clarity & results. See your phase guide if you need support.
Healthy Elimination
Gentle Detox Support, What To Expect
As your body integrates these shifts, you may notice detox symptoms. These are normal signs that your body is actively clearing and recalibrating, some people experience temporary detox symptoms.
Dehydration is one of the biggest contributing factors, so keep up with your water and electrolytes. If symptoms feel intense or continue, slow down, increase your intake, and reach out to us.
Supporting Videos
Suggested Meditations