Lighthouse Wellbeing

03/12/2025

I’ve treated many people with plantar fascia with KORE therapy

Those first few steps in a morning are so painful, I’ve had this too and KORE helped and I have t experienced it for a few years.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRwaOH_CC2_/?igsh=MXFjejByY3E1NmlnMA==

03/12/2025

We worry about our horses. We worry about them spending too much time inside, developing vices, getting stiff, getting bored.

But we rarely stop to notice that we have become "life sour."

Look at the human habitat:

We sleep in a brick box.
We commute in a metal box.
We sit for 8 hours staring at a glowing light box.

We are the ones living in captivity. We are the ones who are domesticated, clipped, and rugged by society. We are fed a diet of artificial urgency, blue light, and processed stress... 📱

And we wonder why we feel anxious.
We wonder why we feel "nappy" on a Monday morning.

Then... we drive to the yard in our metal boxes 🚗

It is often the only time in 24 hours that we touch something real. Mud. Cold water. Rough hair. The smell of earth and hay....unless you work here.

We tell ourselves we go there to exercise the horse. But if we are honest about it. They are the ones exercising us.

They are re-wilding us, one grooming session at a time. They are the anchor that pulls us out of our heads and back into our bodies. They remind our nervous systems that we are not designed for spreadsheets—we are designed for connection.

When you feel that desperate, magnetic pull to go to the yard, even when it’s freezing, even when you are exhausted... That isn’t just a "hobby." That is your survival instinct fighting for air.

You aren’t just "checking on the horse." You are escaping the human zoo for an hour to remember what it feels like to be a living thing.

So if you just stood in the field today and breathed them in? You didn’t waste time. You just came up for air. 🫁🐴

28/11/2025

This is NOT anthropomorphism - it’s mammalian neuroscience. To be clear.

Most horse people have heard the term trigger stacking, but few truly understand what’s happening inside the horse’s body when it occurs. And fewer realise that humans experience the exact same nervous-system process.

This is not “treating horses like humans.” This is a biological truth.
Horses and humans share the same basic mammalian nervous system:

• sympathetic (fight/flight)
• parasympathetic (rest/digest)
• vagus nerve
• thresholds
• stress hormones
• startle responses

So comparing the experience is not only valid but it helps people understand, relate, and develop compassion.

So let us look at YOU the human reading this:

Think of a day like this:

• didn’t sleep well
• you’re running late
• the kids are shouting
• you stub your toe
• your phone keeps pinging
• someone snaps at you
• you’re worried about money
• the traffic is heavy
• you spill your coffee

You hold it together… until someone asks something tiny of you:

“Can you just... ?”

And suddenly you:

• snap
• cry
• shut down
• withdraw
• feel overwhelmed
• can’t cope
• overreact to something small

People think it was “the last thing.” But you know it wasn’t.
It was everything before it that pushed you past threshold.

This is trigger stacking.

And your reaction was NOT a meltdown, or disobedience, or manipulation. It was your nervous system saying:

“I cannot take one more demand.” and guess what friends? Horses are no different. Not because they are human like but because we share the same biological wiring. Isn't that just fascinating to comprehend?

Now, lets translate that from a horse's perspective...

A horse’s day might look like:

• didn’t sleep lying down
• herd tension
• flies irritating
• heat or humidity
• slight hoof discomfort
• a loud noise earlier
• a new horse on the farm
• a human arriving stressed
• pressure from the halter
• the saddle pinching
• uncertainty about what’s coming next

None of these alone may cause a big reaction. But inside the body, each one is adding sympathetic charge and slowly building on top of eachother stacking and stacking...

• small adrenaline spikes
• cortisol accumulation
• reduction in vagal tone
• increased muscle tension
• faster startle reflex
• sensory overload
• hypervigilance

Just like a human, the horse’s system is slowly filling the bucket.
Then the final moment happens when it all becomes too much:

• “Walk on.”
• “Just stand still.”
• “One more try.”
• someone closes a gate too loudly
• a bird takes off
• a leaf rustles
• your energy spikes

And the horse:

• spooks
• bolts
• balks
• bucks
• freezes
• shuts down
• refuses

People say, UGH “That came out of nowhere.” But it didn’t. It really did not. It came from every single moment that added to the stack.... Just like you.

This is NOT humanising horses. It is recognising shared mammalian reality.

When horses (and humans) experience multiple stressors, the same biological cascade happens:

• sympathetic activation rises
• cortisol stays elevated
• heart-rate variability decreases
• prefrontal cortex (thinking brain) goes offline
• limbic system (survival brain) takes over
• proprioception changes
• muscles brace
• breath shortens
• tolerance shrinks

This is why neither horse nor human can “think clearly” once the stack is high.

Neither is “naughty.”
Neither is “difficult.”
Neither is “dramatic.”

Both are overwhelmed. Let us please see it for what it is, in eachother and in horses.

And this is not anthropomorphising. Anthropomorphism is actually giving horses human thoughts, motives, or stories. This is different.

This is comparing shared physiology:

✓ We both have amygdalas
✓ We both have vagus nerves
✓ We both produce cortisol + adrenaline
✓ We both have startle reflexes
✓ We both have thresholds
✓ We both get overwhelmed
✓ We both shut down when we exceed capacity

This isn’t “treating horses like humans.” It’s understanding horses better by recognising what is universal to all mammals. You have lived through trigger stacking. You know what it feels like.

So when you see a horse “explode,” or “go blank,” or “overreact,” or “say no” - instead of judging, you understand.

You feel compassion. You soften. You respond differently.

This is why relating horse and human nervous systems is not anthropomorphism - it’s empathy rooted in biology.

How do we support our horses through trigger stacking?
Preventing the stack means supporting the nervous system:

Environmental

• herd stability
• forage
• movement
• predictable routine

Physical

• pain checks
• saddle fit
• hoof care
• vet care
• bodywork

Relational

• clear, consistent boundaries
• choice
• slowing down
• not pushing past threshold

Co-regulation

• you regulate first
• stable breath
• soft intention
• calm posture
• reading early signs

You are either lowering the stack… or unintentionally adding to it.

Horses don’t “react out of nowhere.” They react when their system can no longer cope, the same way you do.

When you realise this, everything shifts:

• behaviour becomes communication
• resistance becomes protection
• “naughty” becomes overwhelmed
• training becomes partnership
• pressure becomes patience
• correction becomes compassion

And the horse softens - not because they’re forced to… but because they finally feel safe. Just like you do when someone holds space for you, stays regulated when you can’t, listens without judgment, and meets you with gentleness instead of pressure.

We are not so different when it comes to how we feel things in our bodies. Meet the horse the way you would want to be met. ❤️

24/11/2025

Great info about how essential oils can support the chakras

Always dilute with a carrier oil

22/11/2025

The benefits to animals and equines 💛

The benefits of Animal Reiki are similar to human Reiki where it supports Physical, Mental/Emotional, and spiritual well being of the animals. Whether you’re supporting a family pet, a shelter animal, or an animal in your care professionally, Reiki meets them exactly where they are.

How do you use Reiki to support the animals in your life?

21/11/2025

In KORE we do a stomach massage (ammo fu) to awaken and balance tge organs and digestive system which has many benefits edits

The gut as we know is so important and plays a huge role in how we behave and think. Coaching people using mBIT is amazing and gets great results as we align the three brains.

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The Gut-Brain Axis - A Body Artisan Experience

I love beginning a massage session at the belly. There is something sacred about placing your hands at the body’s center, where instinct, emotion, and physiology braid themselves together. Long before the mind understands, the gut already knows. It whispers the truth of what a person has been holding, repressing, fearing, or enduring. And when we touch it with reverence, the whole system begins to rearrange itself.

Inside the abdomen lives the enteric nervous system, the body’s second brain, a vast constellation of more than one hundred million neurons. It thinks. It remembers. It reacts. It reaches upward through the vagus nerve, sending nearly all of its messages to the brain rather than the other way around. This is why the gut tightens before tears rise, why nausea precedes grief, and why exhaustion settles low before the mind can admit defeat. The belly feels everything first.

And when the gut is dysregulated, the effects ripple outward. Its chemistry shifts, its rhythms falter, and its messages to the brain become distorted or distressed. Sleep becomes restless because the gut houses most of the body’s serotonin, the foundation of melatonin. Without proper gut function, the body cannot create the very hormone that invites deep rest. So abdominal work is crucial to our clients' health and wellness. It is the quiet tending of the body’s inner clock, where sleep, emotion, intuition, and physiology intersect.

This is why I begin here. Slowly. Warmly. Listening with my hands.

I blend peppermint to awaken what has gone still, orange to soften the protective walls around the solar plexus, and chamomile to soothe the autonomic tides. With each gentle stroke, mechanoreceptors and interoceptors respond beneath my fingertips. These tiny sensory beings send signals of safety along the vagus nerve, telling the brain, “You may rest. You may soften. You may trust.”

After the visceral work, I drape a warm, moist heat pack across the abdomen, allowing the tissues to drink it in. Moist heat opens the vessels, softens the fascia, and invites movement where stagnation lived. Then I place a five-pound circular weight over the warmth. The body sighs under its gravity. Deep mechanoreceptors respond to slow, steady pressure, especially those attuned to sustained contact. They tell the nervous system, “You are contained. You are held. You are safe.”

This simple combination anchors the work. It keeps the tissues open. It prolongs the shift from sympathetic protection into parasympathetic surrender. It lets the gut and brain continue their conversation long after my hands have moved on.

And then, to close the loop, I cradle the occiput with craniosacral stillness, supporting the place where the vagus nerve leaves the skull. One hand listens to the origins of the nervous system, and the other remembers the depths of the gut. Between them, the entire axis hums back into coherence.

For new bodyworkers, this is the invitation. Healing is not about force. It is about listening. It is about creating an experience where the gut, brain, fascia, and breath all agree on one thing: the body is safe enough to let go.

The abdomen is the beginning of that agreement. It is the doorway where physiology and emotion meet. It is the place where people finally come home to themselves.

20/11/2025

ISSUES that KORE therapy helps with

NECK PAIN
MIGRAINES
MENSTRUAL ISSUES
SHOULDER PAIN
HIP PAIN
JOINT PAIN
BACK PAIN
HORMONAL ISSUES
FOOTBALL INJURIES
HORSE RIDING INJURIES
PLANTA FASCIA
KNEE PAIN
DIGESTIVE ISSUES
Gym injuries

I have treated Chronic issues when other therapist have been unable to help and resolved acute issues

Appointments available in November/December

Message to book

20/11/2025

This was a gorgeous way to spend an evening and unexpected as my client cancelled so I had some free time.

Lots of learning and a beautiful meditation that really supports healing and growth ❤️

🔥💫Fire teaches us transformation.

Releasing what no longer serves is not destruction — it’s alchemy.

Archangel Zadkiel’s flame helps burn away energetic blockages, igniting courage, clarity, and renewal. 🔥

Join the next Online Sacred White Rose Healing & Development Circle on Tuesday 18th November for our next Four Aspects session with Archangel Zadkiel and the Aspect of Fire

DM to find out more or click the link in the bio 💫🙏

19/11/2025

The vagus nerve

Really interesting read and KORE and Reiki can have play a huge part in supporting the vagus nerve

The vagus nerve is one of the most extraordinary structures in the human body. It is the bridge that spans the divide between the brain and the heart, the lungs and the diaphragm, the organs and the emotional self. It is the primary pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system, which means it governs our ability to rest, digest, restore, and feel safe. When the vagus nerve softens, the entire body follows; when it tightens, the whole system braces.

This nerve originates at the brainstem, emerges through the jugular foramen, and descends through the throat, passing through the vocal cords, the pharynx, the carotid sheath, the heart, the lungs, the diaphragm, and deep into the gut, where it wraps around the stomach, liver, pancreas, and intestines. It is a living story cord, carrying messages in both directions. Eighty percent of its fibers run from the body to the brain, which means emotional regulation is influenced far more by sensation than by thought. The vagus nerve speaks the language of feeling long before it speaks the language of logic.

This is why bodywork can profoundly shift a client’s emotional landscape. When we touch the fascia, guide the breath, soften tension in the diaphragm, or release constriction in the jaw, the vagus nerve listens. It perceives these changes as signals of safety, and the entire system recalibrates. Heart rate slows, breath deepens, digestion resumes, muscles release and the emotional body begins to thaw.

One of the simplest and most effective tools for vagal activation is humming. Because the vagus nerve innervates the larynx and pharynx, vibration created by humming stimulates its sensory branches. This mechanical resonance enhances vagal tone, which in turn improves heart rate variability, stress recovery, and emotional stability. Clients often report feeling warm, heavy, or deeply settled within moments. The hum is a conversation between sound and the nervous system, a way of telling the body, “You are safe now.”

The diaphragm is another essential gateway. As the primary muscle of respiration, it is both mechanically and emotionally tied to vagal function. When the diaphragm is tight, breath becomes shallow, the vagus nerve stiffens, and the system moves toward fight or flight. When we release the diaphragm manually or guide clients into slow belly breathing, the vagus nerve is stretched and soothed, promoting a shift from sympathetic activation to parasympathetic rest. This is why diaphragmatic work can bring tears, warmth, memories, and spontaneous emotional release. The diaphragm is the emotional hinge between the upper and lower body.

Cranial work also influences vagal health. At the base of the skull, the vagus nerve emerges adjacent to the occipital condyles and upper cervical fascia. Gentle decompression at the cranial base can reduce irritation, improve vagal tone, and soothe the entire central nervous system. Even a light touch can shift someone from a guarded state into a deep exhale that feels like relief.

And then there is the belly. The deepest branches of the vagus nerve wrap the visceral fascia of the digestive system. When we perform gentle abdominal massage, organ-specific work, or slow fascial holds, we support motility, reduce sympathetic nervous system firing, and help the body process emotions. The gut is sometimes referred to as the “second brain,” but in reality, it serves as an emotional archive. Fear, grief, shame, and instinct live here. When the visceral layer softens, the stories held there soften with it.

My Parasympathetic Reset, which many lovingly refer to as the Sleep Therapy Massage, weaves all of these techniques together. It uses sound, fascia, cranial stillness, diaphragmatic release, and visceral unwinding to restore balance to the vagus nerve. Clients often drift into a dreamlike state because the nervous system finally feels safe enough to let go. Muscles melt. The breath widens. The heart quiets. The mind stops bracing. This is not simply relaxation. It is neurological reorganization. It is the body stepping out of defense and back into belonging.

For bodyworkers, this is some of the most meaningful work we can offer. Touch becomes communication, stillness becomes medicine, and breath becomes transformation. By supporting the vagus nerve, we not only ease pain and tension but also help clients return to themselves, regulate their emotions, and feel at home in their bodies again.

16/11/2025

Oh so many reasons to have a Reiki session

It really is a gorgeous treatment where you can allow yourself to switch off from the world and go onwards connecting to your heart and soul ( some people fall asleep and that’s ok)

Have you had Reiki?

Such a gorgeous treatment that can be done face to face in person or distantly.

What does that mean?

Reiki can be sent anywhere in the world, so if you are not local to me or would rather stay at home then this is for you. It’s also great for the rare occasion when you think you have to cancel your appointment if you had a cold or feeling unwell. This means I can still send reiki to you at a time when you probably would benefit from a treatment.

Reiki can be great as a stand alone treatment, as a one off and re book as snd when you need a little bit of me time or to support you in your journey.

It’s also great to have as a package. By this I mean buy three or six sessions to go that little bit deeper in your healing journey, great for those life events that knock us of track: relationship breakdown, divorce, bereavement etc and also to support you to work through past issues that keep showing up for you.

DM for more info and to book x

To book DM as limited availability in November and December

Gift vouchers available

Thank you, Peggy Gaines, , for all you do for our Reiki community!