Ok community it is spring break for schools here in the Bay Area and I am on vacation. Today's song is kicking it off. And as you will see from the daily dose I am breaking form everything including Skool! I hope you all will keep it going in my absence. I might pop on if I want the key is I don't feel compelled. I can say nothing would make me happier than to check in during my trip to NYC to see my son Gus than to log on and see a sound track of the day from one or many of you all! What is your go to vacation song?

Spring break starts today. And I’m doing something that feels both simple and radical—I’m stepping away. Heading to New York to be with my family. Closing the laptop. Letting the rhythm of this work pause so a different rhythm can take its place. If you are going to still be plugged in keep it going! Drop a daily dose even a small word of wisdom. Share the soundtrack of the day. Nothing would make me happier to have Hope reimagined keep going while I am not driving! I’ll be mostly offline from this space for a week. I may pop in. But I won’t feel compelled or required. And I wanted to name that openly—because how we step away matters just as much as how we show up. We talk a lot in this community about regulation—about rhythm, safety, and building capacity. But here’s what’s easy to forget: rest is not the absence of the work. Rest is part of the work. The nervous system doesn’t build resilience through constant effort. It builds resilience through the cycle of effort and recovery, activation and restoration, engagement and release. Radical rest is the practice of choosing to stop before you’re forced to. It’s trusting that what you’ve been building will hold while you step away—and that you’ll return with more capacity, not less. Within the Neuro-Somatic Integration™ Framework, this is the completion and rest phase of the rhythm of excitement—the part of the cycle that allows integration, recovery, and the quiet gathering of energy for what comes next. Without it, the cycle can’t renew. We get stuck in the awakening or the sustaining, running on momentum rather than capacity. And there’s something else happening here that’s worth naming: reconnection. Stepping away from work to be with people we love isn’t just rest—it’s co-regulation in its most natural form. New routines. Different rhythms. The presence of someone whose nervous system is home to ours. That’s not a vacation from the work of regulation. That is the work. So this week, I’m practicing what we preach. I’m composting the urgency. I’m letting the rhythm slow. And I’m trusting that this community—and the energy you each bring to it—will hold the space beautifully while I’m away.

Loving the mix of styles, the messages and these women bring fun and healing. This is new music to me and I loved dancing to it after my morning meditation. What do you think of this song? Want more Rising Appalachia? Got music that you recently discovered? Share it!

Happy Monday, Rooted community. 🌿 Here’s something the wellness world doesn’t say often enough: you are not failing at self-regulation if you need other people to feel okay. That’s not weakness. That’s biology. We live in a culture that prizes self-sufficiency. Meditate alone. Journal alone. Breathe through it alone. And while solo regulation practices are genuinely valuable, they tell only half the story. The other half? Your nervous system was built for connection. From the very beginning of your life, regulation happened between you and another person—a caregiver who matched your rhythm, met your gaze, settled your breath. That is not a phase you outgrow. It is a biological capacity you carry for life. Self-Regulation vs. Co-Regulation—What’s the Difference? Self-regulation is your capacity to return to a settled state from within—through breath, movement, grounding, or intention. It’s a skill. It’s trainable. And it matters. Co-regulation is what happens when your nervous system comes into rhythm with another’s—a calm friend, a quiet walk with someone you trust, a hand on your back, even the steady presence of a dog or a tree. Your body borrows stability from something outside itself. Neither is superior. Both are necessary. The goal isn’t to need people less—it’s to be in honest relationship with what actually helps you regulate. Why This Matters Right Now Many of us were taught—explicitly or implicitly—that needing others to feel okay is a problem to fix. That message lives in the nervous system. It shows up as the refusal to call a friend when we’re overwhelmed. As the quiet shame of crying in front of someone. As the belief that we should be further along in our healing by now. But research consistently shows that regulation is relational first, individual second. Safety doesn’t just happen inside us—it happens between us. 🌱 Weekday Micro-Practice Today, notice a moment when you feel activated, anxious, or flat. Then ask: - Is there a person, animal, or natural environment that tends to settle me? - Can I seek that out—even briefly—before trying to regulate on my own? - What does it feel like in my body when I let someone else’s calm land on me?

Happy weekend, Rooted community. 🌿 This came up in a team conversation last week and it landed for all of us—so we wanted to bring it here. There’s a real difference between self-care and self-indulgence—and there’s room for both in a well-regulated life. But it matters that we don’t confuse them. Self-care (and co-care) are the practices that build resilience. They help us sustain. They regulate our nervous system and expand our capacity over time. They often require intention and sometimes even discipline—going to bed on time, moving your body, having a hard conversation, spending time in nature, breathing with someone who holds space for you. Self-care is proactive. It’s what fills the cup so you can keep showing up—for yourself and for others. Self-indulgence is different. It’s the second glass of wine with friends. It’s the donut. It’s the Netflix binge. And here’s the thing—it’s not bad. We’re human. Pleasure is part of being alive. But self-indulgence comes at a cost. It feels good in the moment, and the return is short-lived. The key is knowing you’re choosing it. In fact, yesterday, after some good self-care (support group and 6-mile hike) I dropped on the couch and binged The Pit and I am glad I did it! When we choose to indulge intentionally—when we slow down, savor it, and enjoy it fully without telling ourselves a story that it’s “self-care”—something important happens: shame is far less likely to show up afterward. Shame thrives in the gap between what we tell ourselves and what we actually did. When we call indulgence “self-care,” we set ourselves up for that gap. But when we name it honestly—“I’m choosing this because it’s going to feel good right now, and I’m going to enjoy every bit of it”—we stay in relationship with ourselves. That’s regulation. That’s choice. 🌱 Weekend Micro-Practice Before you do the next thing that “feels good,” pause and ask yourself: - Is this building something in me—or giving me a break from something? - Am I choosing this with my eyes open? - Can I savor this fully, without needing to justify it later?