JBOT - Jo Southall

10/02/2026

Over the next 7 days, we will be sharing one simple exercise each day to support nervous system regulation. These exercises are easy to try and don’t take too much time.

There’s no right or wrong way to do them - notice what feels good for you and leave anything that doesn’t (keeping a journal or using the comment section to share your experience might be helpful).

Before you get started, please pop over and read more about polyvagal theory here - https://jboccupationaltherapy.co.uk/understanding-pain-through-the-nervous-system-a-polyvagal-perspective/


Today we start with just one exercise.

Day one Exercise – Neuroception and Safety cues

Today’s exercise is about helping the nervous system recognise safety.

According to Polyvagal Theory, neuroception is a process of the nervous system, where the environment is scanned for cues regarding safety or threat. This often happens beneath the level of consciousness. When safety has been detected, the ventral vagal system activates, supporting calm, connection, and regulation.

By slowly looking around the room and naming what you can see, hear, and feel, you are:

- Orienting to the present moment

- Sending clear safety signals to your brain

- Gently reducing stress-based activation

Take your time. Let your eyes move slowly. There is nothing to fix, just notice.

Mariana, OT student

02/02/2026

Understanding Pain Through the Nervous System: A Polyvagal Perspective

The Polyvagal Theory, developed by Stephen Porges, explains how the autonomic nervous system influences our feelings of safety and emotional connections. It identifies three states: safety, high alert, and shutdown. For those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, understanding these states can help manage pain and stress through various therapeutic approaches....

The Polyvagal Theory, developed by Stephen Porges, explains how the autonomic nervous system influences our feelings of safety and emotional connections. It identifies three states: safety, high alert, and shutdown. For those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, understanding these states can help manage pa...

30/01/2026

Travelling with a Hypermobility Syndrome

Travel and days out are meant to be enjoyable — a break from routine, a chance to explore, connect, and rest. But for people living with a hypermobility syndrome, travel can feel overwhelming before it’s even begun. Pain, fatigue, joint instability, and unpredictable symptoms can turn what should be a positive experience into a source of anxiety. The goal of travel planning isn’t to “push through” symptoms — it’s to…...

Travel with a long term pain condition can be exhausting. Yaz, OT student, explores some strategies for making travel easier and provides resources to help you prepare.

27/01/2026

Little update time. As some of you know I recently started using Heidi Health (AI medical scribe). I know AI is controversial for a lot of reasons, and I agree with a LOT of the criticisms particularly the ecological impact and theft from human artists. But, this has allowed me to do something pretty amazing. This is my second week working basically full time.

One of the biggest bottle necks in my service has always been paperwork. It takes a lot of time and effort to accurately document appointments. Not to mention all the reports, letters and emails.

Heidi has allowed me to cut my average documentation time for a 1hr Freestyle Appointment from 45 minutes to 10. It's also helping me with student placement documentation and creating summaries of planning meetings.

The reason I'm sharing this is because I've now got it set up for another cool feature. If you can't complete your initial paperwork independently, we can now do it together.. I'll ask you questions interview style, and Heidi can capture it using my regular paperwork as a template. I'll check it with you for accuracy afterwards. So, if you have previously not booked in because my paperwork was daunting, you do now have another option. I'll be pricing this at my standard overtime rate, starting at £30 per 30 mins which is cheaper than the appointment rate but still helps me cover my costs.

If you'd like to know more about Heidi, you can find info on their website. If you'd like to book in with me, please drop me an email to get started hello@jboccupationaltherapy.co.uk

https://scribe.heidihealth.com/register?via=35097c

From AI medical scribe to AI care partner: Heidi transcribes consults, generates structured notes, streamlines clinical workflows, and returns time to patient care.

24/01/2026

Calling all healthcare professionals and students!

It's exciting CPD time. The Hypermobility Syndromes Association have pulled together a superstar panel of experts (including yours truly) to educate on Craniocervical Instability in hypermobile patients. Rheumatology, neurosurgery, physio, OT and orthotics input plus a panel discussion. It'll be a really good opportunity to upskill and get your questions answered! Please spread the word far and wide. If you can't attend live, then a recorded version of all talks will be available later on!

This event is NOT open to patients. Plenty of other events are though so please check out the HMSA website for details.

FREE 2-part PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION event for all clinicians wanting a better understanding of treatment options for hypermobile patients with leading experts in the field: Physios (Ann McCarthy, Anna Higo), Neurosurgeon (Prof Joshi George), Rheumatologist (Dr Philip Bull); OT (Jo Southall).

23/01/2026

January often brings a lot of 'new year, new me' vibes. But change for disabled and chronically ill folks isn't always a smooth process. If you're looking to make some changes to your fitness, health, work or life in general then pacing is essential.

Pacing isn't about doing less, it's about doing things efficiently and working within your energy boundaries. Pushing hard can be effective short term, but the crash afterwards is not worth it. Paced life is sustainable.

If you'd like to learn more about how to pace yourself, please consider a Pacing Masterclass with me. It's 30 minutes of theory and some tips on how to get started.

Available world wide via Teams for £30, you even get handouts. Evening and weekend slots available too. No cancelation fees because I know how life goes sometimes!

Pacing is an important management strategy for a wide range of long-term conditions. In this pacing masterclass you'll learn the theory, tips, hints & more

22/01/2026

Feature on BBC Look East about Army medics joining the Ambulance service as fast responders. Great.. but the chap they followed around was officially a "Dog Trainer".

If I have an emergency and the first responder is a specialist dog trainer and he doesn't immediately provide me a German Shepherd to snuggle, I will be furious. Push a dose of Snuggles ASAP.

18/01/2026

I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to smart monitoring. I think its especially great for those of us with poor proprioception and interoception. I recently found out that "Storm alerts" on adventure watches are a thing. One of my main symptom triggers for pain, brain fog and migraines, is sudden change in barometric pressure. Up until this morning I was relying on a phone app to alert me to changes and trends based on the nearest weather station. Now I have a Suunto core watch to try out.

I can't help but feel I am not the target audience of this product (at least not any more). So to drift away from hardcore-outdoor-spec-ops style and towards my personal preference for 'timetravelling hobbit academia' I have turned it into a pocket watch. 😅

Some of the higher end Garmin watches also offer this feature but since my existing Garmin watch is working just fine I've opted to go this route. Next time I need to replace both, we'll see what's on the market!

Why does this matter at all? Well knowing *why* you're feeling rubbish can help you select the most appropriate coping strategies to manage the symptoms. As an example, low air pressure pain flares tend to respond really well to high pressure coping strategies like compression clothing, weighted blankets or Epsom salt baths.

If you *know* you're heading for a migraine because of pressure change you can take your abortive meds sooner, pre-load on salt, sugar and caffeine and make sure you're somewhere safe when you crash out.

If you're struggling to work out what your triggers are and how to manage them. Please do consider an appointment with me. I would love to help you work it out!
Email hello@jboccupationaltherapy.co.uk for details.

10/01/2026

The Living well series starts tonight for all HMSA members! I absolutely love delivering these sessions with the amazing Online Psychotherapist.

If you're a member, make sure you sign up. You can watch the recording and interact online if the time slots don't work for you!

If you aren't a member yet? Visit The Hypermobility Syndromes Association website to find out more!

NB: Registration *IS OPEN* IN MEMBERS ONLY Area. We are so pleased to announce that Jo and Kim will be running their ‘Living Well’ Series again in 2026 - which is FREE and for MEMBERS ONLY. Register now - sessions start on Saturday January 10th (7-8.30pm) and run for 5 weeks.

09/01/2026

January and February have a LOT of really exciting events coming up. This one run by the HMSA is for healthcare professionals, please feel free to share it far and wide! Cranio-cervical instability can be severely disabling, hard to treat and complicated to understand. If you'd like to hear from some real experts in the field... plus me, please sing up!

FREE 2-part PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION event for all clinicians wanting a better understanding of treatment options for hypermobile patients with leading experts in the field: Physios (Ann McCarthy, Anna Higo), Neurosurgeon (Prof Joshi George), Rheumatologist (Dr Philip Bull); OT (Jo Southall).

02/01/2026

Happy new year all! Well done for making it through 2025 at least mostly intact!

We've got some exciting new developments for this year. I will also be getting stuck in with my MSc Dissertation from March onwards, so get booked in for anything you need before then! I'll be winding things down a bit to focus on research.

For now, this exciting development comes from my current OT student, Yaz. Take a look at the message from her below!

Hi everyone
I’m Yaz Harrison, an MSc Occupational Therapy student at Keele University (very close to graduating), currently on my fourth and final placement with the lovely Jo Southall.
I’m also an ADHDer (inattentive type), and I live in a neurodiverse household with my husband, who has suspected ADHD (hyperactive type). Navigating life, relationships, routines, and a home with ADHD isn’t something I study from a distance — it’s my day-to-day reality.

I’m starting to explore an idea for a future service, and I’d really value honest feedback from people with lived experience of ADHD.

My passion is supporting other ADHDers to navigate life and live well, using a combination of my occupational therapy skillset and the real, practical experience of living with ADHD. I understand the challenges ADHD can create — the executive functioning difficulties, the mental fatigue, the task paralysis — but I also believe deeply in finding strategies that work with your ADHD brain, not against it, so life feels more do-able.
One idea I’m considering is creating a webinar (with practical handouts) focused on keeping your home functional and safe in a way that supports your ADHD brain.

Because let’s be honest — some days we’re “on it” and the house is ticking along… and other days life happens, our brains are overloaded, and suddenly everything feels chaotic and survival mode kicks in.
From my own experience, when my home becomes out of alignment — laundry piling up, dishes spilling out of the sink, clutter building on every surface, bins overflowing, unopened post everywhere — my ADHD makes it really hard to know where to start, how to plan, and how to follow things through. That often leads to task paralysis, avoidance, and complete mental exhaustion just thinking about it. Then my mood drops, and the cycle continues.

This is something my husband and I actively work on, because we genuinely feel most calm, happy, and regulated when our space feels functional and organised for us. As an OT student and an ADHDer, I truly recognise how much our environment impacts our mental health — especially when executive functioning is already stretched.

The aim of this potential webinar wouldn’t be “perfect homes” or unrealistic routines, but practical, compassionate strategies you can return to when things go off track — so you know how to gently reset, rebuild skills, and get out of that cycle when ADHD noise takes over.

So I’d love to ask:
• Is this something you’d personally find helpful?
• Is it something you’d consider paying for?
• What are the biggest challenges you face at home because of ADHD?
Your lived experiences would really help shape whether — and how — I move forward with this idea 💛

In the mean time, while I'm here with Jo, we're offering Freestyle Appointments with the focus on maintaining/improving home life and self-care. These 30 minute appointments would be half price (£25 for 30 minutes). If you're an existing client you can book directly via the Bookings link below. If you haven't worked with Jo before, please email hello@jboccupationaltherapy.co.uk to get the paperwork started! JBOT@jboccupationaltherapycouk.onmicrosoft.com/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://outlook.office.com/book/JBOT@jboccupationaltherapycouk.onmicrosoft.com/

Thank you

20/11/2025

Not long to go! Looking forward to a productive evenings discussion!

As 2025 races on we're approaching the first of Jo Southall's winter 'Ask the OT' sessions. This month she'll be joined by Joy Mason, of Mast Cell Action. Please note that here in the UK, our clocks went back since last month's event. This session will begin at 7:00 GMT/UST on Thursday the 21st of November. Register here: https://www.hypermobility.org/event-details/ask-the-experts-with-jo-southall-and-mast-cell-action-20th-nov for live/replay link.