The Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing: 25 Home Practices and Tools for Peak Holistic Health and Wellness Volume 5

By Laura Di Franco

Pain relief secrets doctors don't share. What if there's something you haven't learned yet that could change everything?

I'm guessing you'd want to know what that is. This book gives y

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brave Healer Productions
• Release date: Dec 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781954047396

Laura Di Franco

Laura Di Franco, CEO of Brave Healer Productions, specializes in publishing and business strategy for holistic health and wellness professionals. She has a 30-year background in holistic physical therapy and 14 years training in the martial arts, and her company has published over 50 Amazon bestselling books. She's a spoken-word poet, lover of dark chocolate, and has a contagious passion for helping you share brave words build your business. BraveHealer.com

Book preview

Introduction

When are you doing the next book, Laura?

My friend Lilia nudged me after the best-selling launch of The Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing Volume 1, and a huge lightbulb went off. This isn’t just a one-off. I’m meant to continue this journey and help my healer friends get the word out about their powerful magic!

Good thing I listen to that inner wisdom. I wrote about my goddess voice in Dianna Leeder’s book, Find Your Voice, Save Your Life: Powerful Healers, Spiritual Stories. If you’ve read that one, you know her (my goddess voice) name is Sierra. What a cool thing to have a goddess voice. Do you know what’s even cooler? Understanding the difference between the intuitive wisdom and warrior voices, and the self-sabotaging inner critic ones. That discernment is a game-changer.

You have no idea what you’re doing. They will find out. Gotta love that imposter voice. Even after fifteen bestsellers that have changed multiple lives and supported hundreds of healthcare businesses in ways none of us imagined, the voice tries to creep in.

You’re an awesome person. You do right by people. You got this!

I reached out to my friend Donnie when the heavy energy of the imposter syndrome voice landed in my heart and squeezed a little. I’ve learned that one of the most powerful tools I have is to not only play in the sandbox with awesome people but actually reach out in the moment I need to. The right people hold me accountable to my vision and redirect me immediately. They remind me who I am. And they do that with love.

My theory is that the most creative people on the planet have the worst inner critic noise. The warrior healers are the ones with the deepest wounds, biggest gut-wrenching fears, and biggest challenges. Quieting the noise in our heads is a daily activity. Trauma has battered us and shaped us. We’re connected at a deep level and challenged at the same depth. It’s a yin yang and a catch 22. We have huge gifts to give the world, yet the regular obstacles and challenges are more than average. It’s like the Universe is always playing the game of let-me-test-you-with-this. Most of us pass those tests with flying colors when we remember to use our tools. Oh, the magical mind-body-soul tools! And, of course, we remember that everything happens for us, not to us.

I wrote a poem about the survival part. I dedicate this poem to all of the healers I roll with who’ve written for our books and read, supported, and helped us launch others. May you always realize the wounds as your greatest gift and the joy as your birthright. I see you. And now the world does, too.

What You Survived

Do you sometimes wonder

if what you survived

is a test?

Like, what doesn’t kill me

makes me stronger

kind of F’d up lesson-test

to see just what you’re made of?

And you do survive it

looking back with a combo side-eye, eye roll

I’m not sure if that was a cosmic joke

or I should be stoked

kind of look.

And you move on

move forward

take the next steps

think positively in the right, best direction

resting in the closure

proud of the soul you’ve become as a result…

…only to wake another day

to a slap in the face

standing there stunned

looking up like,

WTF, I thought I’d been tested enough,

thought I’d been there done that,

thought you’d wrung out

every last drop of my capacity

to cope on that last round.

And your mind catches fire again

when you realize

it’s never the final round

until you’re dead.

But for a moment you stop

and think about the score

and smile.

You’re standing in the ring.

You’re telling the story.

The opponent may look a little bigger this time

but the reality is

you’ve won every round.

EVERY SINGLE ROUND.

You lived to tell the tale

to help someone else

to take the experience

and teach

and speak

and love

and be…

…exactly who you are

as a result of your ability

to stand back up

after being knocked to the ground,

and ground yourself in the deep exhale of purpose.

Yes!

You did that!

Congratulations, you survived.

And you will again.

And if you’re wondering,

you’re not alone.

Everyone is in that ring,

even if you can’t see it.

Everyone is struggling to stand back up again.

And there’s no rule we can’t offer a hand.

Let’s go warrior.

You got this next round,

no matter what’s thrown your way.

Training is never easy

but it’s what gives you the power

to do this life with grace and ease

and a touch of badassery.

"And in this corner, ladies and gentlemen,

we have reigning world champion

of the realities of life, never give up until you die,

throw a bucket on the fire of your mind

and choose a better fight, survivor. . .

. . .(Fill in your name).

That last stanza is meant to be read in one of those awesome boxing ring announcer’s voices. Go ahead, try it real quick.

The authors in this book are survivors, warriors, gods and goddesses, world-changers, and experts in their fields. They’re not only sharing their vulnerable stories with you; they’re going to guide you through one of the powerful tools, practices, or strategies in their holistic toolkit.

So Laura, you want us to teach a tool in this book?

One of our contributing authors was used to sharing her stories in prior compilations, but not her tools.

Yes, I said. I want to empower our readers to connect with their inner wisdom and healer and have a practical experience with one of your master tools, right here in the book.

Awesome, on it!

I wrote for four compilation books before publishing the first Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing. I enjoyed sharing my stories in those books. But I knew I wanted to create something different when the idea for my own book collaboration came. That morning of March 20, 2020, about a week after COVID shut my physical therapy practice down, I woke from a dream about doing the project. I walked from my bed to the kitchen, opened up my MacBook, found my Facebook group for the Intuitive Writing and Speaking for Healers class, and typed:

"Hey everyone, the world needs to know how to heal at home right now. So who would like to write a chapter and teach a tool in The Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing?"

In 48 hours, I had 24 yeses, and five weeks later, that first book was published on Amazon. I’m pretty sure I gave that author cast one week to turn in their chapter. The book would reach number one international bestseller status in multiple categories and remain on that bestseller list for many months. This community and world-changing empire was just beginning.

Here we (and you) are in Volume 5, and I could not be more excited and honored to introduce you to this group of author experts. This is a diverse, experienced, wise, and aware group of men and women who have a deep desire to help the world heal.

I can not think of a better time for this book (and all of them in our series). So, amazing reader, get ready for the badassery that is a Brave Healer Productions collaborative book. Take a deep breath. Feel the energy infused into the words, pages, stories, and guidance here. You now have the ultimate toolkit for healing in your hands!

With Warrior Love,

Laura

Chapter 1

Bodyfulness

A Foundation for Authentic Healing

Laura Di Franco, MPT, Publisher

My Story

Don’t patronize me. You know what I’ve been through in the last couple of months. I really wasn’t expecting that kind of attitude from you, Laura.

Mild nausea crept in, and I reached my hand up, palming the center of my chest. OMG, this is it. This is my ‘bad girl’ trigger.

I felt myself backing down and felt the apology in my throat before the words tried to form in my mind. The don’t-make-anyone-mad reaction was old and conditioned. Getting quiet, shutting my mouth, and running away is a decades-long survival tactic. The difference this time was I noticed it before it could take full hold of me and ruin my evening or my week.

Listen, you’ve had the deadline since we started this project. You signed up for a deadline-driven project. Everyone has shit going on. Everyone I know has crazy things going on right now. People have died. I need the chapter by Sunday.

I’ve always had a very low tolerance for excuses. My friend Kristi H. Sullivan, Human Design expert and author of one of our books, Stop Overworking and Start Overflowing, would probably be reminding me about the alien amount of willpower I have right about now. What is it again, my open spleen channel? I don’t know. Whatever it is, I’m wired to organize, get things done, and make sure everyone else is getting things done. I’m a Generator, according to Human Design. I call myself an alien.

Maybe I should cut some people some slack. Not everyone gets stuff done like I do.

I spent a moment analyzing my own voice that was second-guessing my response. Who is that talking? Is that Sierra, my goddess voice, or Martha, my inner critic voice? Maybe it’s my little girl again, always staying a little too quiet when she’s threatened.

I want so badly for people to jump onto the journey of not only finding their voice and using it but healing through the process of discerning between the survival-fear voice and the purpose-driven fear voice. This is a ninja mindset move, this discernment. It can be the difference between being triggered by something for just a few seconds versus hours or days.

People don’t like being held accountable.

I pulled my iPhone up to my ear with my left hand, trying to listen to the wise words from my mentor, Honorée, on the voice text. Two leashes were wrapped around that same wrist while I bent over to grab Reina’s poop with the poop bag inside-out in my right hand. I could win a gold medal if there was a multitasking sport in the Olympics.

As I listened to her coach me through the possible responses I could have chosen during my triggering conversation, I realized it wasn’t about apologizing for who I was. Whatever my colleague was thinking about me was their business. I could state some facts, give them a choice, and then decide on how to proceed. This, for sure, was not about me being a bad girl.

Was it a woman? Honorée wanted to know to try to help me sort out the trigger.

It’s always men. Authority figures. Father. Ex. I typed back while the pooches tugged at my forearm, moving on to the next bush.

Interesting. I’m going to think about it a little bit. Let’s talk Monday.

Okay, thank you. I’m going to go clean some more.

I saw the thumbs up appear in the upper corner of the text.

After my therapeutic dog walk, an activity I chose after vacuuming the entire first floor of the house as a first resort, I still felt a heavy, anxious heart, familiar nausea, and a choky feeling in my throat. I know how to listen to my body. I taught myself not to add meaning to the sensations. I practiced in that moment. My GPS was sending directions. I’d heard these before. It was time to respond differently than in the past.

Unhooking the dogs and following them into the kitchen, I sighed. Noticing the bigger sigh did not provide the relief I craved from the pressure around my heart, I started to do some of the box breathing I learned from another one of our authors: In for four. Hold for four. Out for four. Hold for four.

Nope, nothing yet. I repeated the cycle noticing mild relief.

I looked around the quiet house for something else to do. Everything was clean.

I’ll be back, don’t worry. Both the dogs looked up at me from the other side of the dog gate with a steady, wide wag, ears folded down as I clicked the gate shut and walked down the hall to the bedroom.

Just lie down and feel this. That was Sierra; she’s the intuitive one. I rested my head on the softer of my two pillows, scrunched it under the nape of my neck a bit more for some postural support, and splayed my arms and legs out over the down comforter. Just breathe for a moment. Clear your mind. You get to choose your thoughts; I reminded myself. That was me talking to me. Not Sierra. Not my inner critic. Just wise Laura. Like I said earlier, we creative healers have a lot of voices in our heads. Discernment is the game-changing practice.

The ache in my chest stayed a while. My Facebook posting wasn’t working very well. Those distraction methods work sometimes. Not today. My reach outs worked to ease the pang. Those in my inner circle know me well enough, and I trust them to tell me the truth. Reaching out isn’t something I did in the past. Today it helped a lot.

Go take a bath. Remember, you can clear your energy that way. Grab the Himalayan salts and the lavender oil. Sierra again. And it was one of the things on our list from our money mindset class with Honorée. If you’re in overwhelm, go take out the trash, clean something, light something on fire, and take a bath. I wrote down the list that day with gusto.

I slid off the bed, pulled the black Nike tank up and over my head, tossed it in the laundry bin, and headed for the bathtub. I still have two hours to myself, score! I hope nobody comes to the door.

I was already feeling better. I plucked the lavender oil out of the medicine cabinet and tipped the bottle over the steaming water. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Plenty lavender-y. Sitting down, I felt the short sting of the hot water on my back and butt and slid down slowly, watching the water line come up over my belly, then my breasts—another big sigh. Clear your mind. Wise Laura again. I let my arms float by my sides and focused on the feeling of suspension for a few minutes. Baths are not my thing. I’ve been scared of the water since my parents took my sister and me to Hawaii when I was five and floated us out over the reef on boogie boards. I was convinced the sharks were underneath. If I indulge in water nowadays, it’s always very short-lived. I take the fastest shower known to human.

Today I sank in, soaked, and floated. I placed my right hand over my chest, backing it up with my left palm. I pretended my chest was clay and let my hands meld with my chest. Closing my eyes and softening the muscles of my face, head, neck, shoulders, torso, and legs, I held on for at least five minutes, allowing all the feelings to surface, and gently unwinding the pain. For all my John F. Barnes Myofascial colleagues, there’s nothing like a self-sternal release for a little heart relief, huh?

Okay, you’re good.

Sierra?

You know when something clicks, and you just know you’re good? Like you’ve had enough? Bath time was over, and so was my achy heart. Relief.

What someone says to me or about me is none of my business. I don’t have to apologize, explain, or back down. I can sit in the middle of the sensations and facts (the now) and not add meaning to the feelings. I can trust my awareness, presence, and that practice to guide me. I know when I’m present. If I’m not, I can apologize and regroup. This was not one of those days.

If you still want me in this book, I’ll try to have it to you by Sunday.

Okay, thanks, take it easy. Bye.

I felt my body soften toward the end of the conversation and still had to deal with the trigger afterward. I broke out my tools: Breathwork, reach out to a trusted friend, take a walk, clean, take a bath, self-myofascial-release. Afterward, I understood something more about myself. I knew I’d practiced awareness during the conversation, even though I felt triggered. I knew I was a good person. I knew my friend’s overwhelm was being projected out and onto me, and excuses were the defense. I knew I was okay.

Awareness is everything.

With awareness, we get a choice. And when what we choose in those moments is aligned with our purpose and mission in the world, what feels awful can become awe-filled.

Are you taking the time to notice? Are you feeling everything? Are you choosing what serves your own health, wealth, joy, and ease?

One of my favorite ways to drop back down into my body and feel is the self-sternal release. This is a myofascial release technique I learned from John F. Barnes during my decades as a holistic physical therapist. It’s my go-to when the tightness of a trigger is landing in my chest or when I’ve been sitting at my computer writing too long, and my neck is beginning to ache. I love to combine body awareness tools like this with therapeutic writing. That combination is something I call the Brave Healing method.

The Tool

The Brave Healing method is a combination of body awareness and journaling. Giving yourself a few minutes to clear your mind, listen to the sensations, and then journal about what you’re feeling is a powerful self-healing tool.

In past books, I’ve guided readers through a body awareness meditation followed by a journaling exercise. This time I’ll guide you into your body using a self-myofascial technique, followed by journaling. The technique will up your embodiment game and help to release physical tightness and restrictions in your head, neck, and chest.

What you need: A quiet, comfortable place to sit or lie down and ten uninterrupted minutes. A notebook and pen nearby.

General guidelines to follow for the self-myofascial release portion of the exercise:

Be gentle and never force your body

Breathe and focus on the sensations

Relax and soften; if something hurts, back off five percent and gently hold

Before you begin: What is fascia?

Fascia (pronounced fasha) is the connective tissue that makes up and surrounds everything in your body. It’s a head-to-toe, three-dimensional crystalline matrix that carries information and energy. Fascia can become restricted due to many factors, including injury, inflammation, surgery, and poor posture. Restrictions act like a straight jacket in your body’s system, putting pressure and tension on sensitive structures, including nerves, organs, blood vessels, muscles, and bones. Myofascial release is a hands-on technique that is a combination of pressure and stretch that positively affects the physiology of the fascia so that it regains its healthy function. It can be performed by a skilled practitioner or on yourself with your own hands. Please read more about fascia and the research about it at www.MyofascialRelease.com

The Sternal Release

The sternum is the bone in the front of the chest, also called the breast bone. Releasing this area of the body will help ease tightness, restrictions, and pain in the chest, neck, head, face, and shoulders. It’s also great for when you feel that pang of tightness that accompanies doubt, fear, or shame.

Remember that everything we experience in life is always a combination of mind, emotions, and body; mental, emotional, and physical. It’s the integration of all of these that produce effective, lasting healing and relief. If a human has been through a trauma, that insult is always physical and mental-emotional, no matter the nature of the trauma. It’s the energy of the insult that creates a physiological change in your body’s tissues. And that energy can be shifted and released.

Take a few deep breaths and honor yourself and everything you’ve been through. It’s a wonderful thing that you’re taking a few moments to treat yourself.

Begin by finding a comfortable place to sit with your feet flat on the floor. You’ll need about ten minutes to complete this technique, five for the hands-on portion and five for the journaling portion. If you have more time, spend more time on each portion.

Place one hand, palm-side toward you, centered over your sternum so that the thumb and index finger are just touching your collar bones and the rest of the hand and palm are resting gently on your skin. If there’s a shirt in the way, pull it down so that your hand is on your skin. Place the other hand over the first one. Gently press your hands into your chest with five grams of pressure (the weight of a nickel) and begin to relax and soften the rest of your body. You can slowly increase that pressure as it feels good to do so, but if you’re straining or stressing or notice any other parts of your body starting to tighten, back off a little. You’re trying too hard.

As you breathe a little more deeply, relax your body a little more with each exhale. Clear your mind and notice the sensations.

Hold the pressure with your hands and gently begin to pull in a downward direction, being careful not to slide on the skin. There will be a place where the tissue stops your hands from moving. This is the fascial barrier and the place to hold the pressure gently.

Your hands maintain the inward and downward pressure at the fascial barrier as you breathe and relax. Hold this for three to five minutes, or until you begin to feel the signs of a release. Signs that the tissue is releasing might include warmth, tingling, and a sensation of elongation under your hands. Maintain your pressure while this is happening, and gently take up any slack in the tissue as you go.

Allow your head and neck to move and stretch in whatever way feels the best while maintaining the inward and downward pressure with your hands. Spontaneous movement of the head, neck or other body parts is called unwinding and is a natural, normal part of a release. If you feel like moving, move. Let it go. If you don’t feel any movement, so be it; just relax, breathe, and continue to take up the tissue slack as it softens. If it’s been five minutes, but you feel things continuing to release, stay with it. You can slowly stop whenever you want to, making sure to ease your pressure gradually.

When you are finished, gently remove the pressure of your hands and resume a comfortable position, taking a moment to notice any additional sensations.

Now it’s time to grab your notebook