Body Mind Connect

05/04/2026

🎓 UCC student graduation...A kind of pivotal moment that is everything & nothing & has stirred up my own curiosity about life & who we are within it..(buckle up, we're going deep!).

If the 15 year old & 23 year old me could see me now...
From struggling to sit in English class in secondary school, to dropping out of college at 18, to collapsing in a heap of shame on the toilet floor in UCD because I couldn't speak in class, to falling apart in one of my own lectures on Polyvagal theory a few years ago.. the idea of me being part of faculty on stage in UCC with fellow academics was simply a stretch so far beyond my lived experience that I found myself on this day in UCC giggling at the ridiculousness of it all..

Its the great cosmic joke..where moments like this are everything & nothing all at once...a moment that I felt really proud of, not only for the students but for the previous me's who had to go through the torment to get here and yet, it was just a moment in time, it means nothing and doesnt define me or my life in any way!! There is 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞🕊

Which brings me on to the notion that ..𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞...maybe the struggles we go through contain the seed of our potential, which without the struggles, would we do or be what we are doing or being right now??

AND

This idea that we are striving for self actualization, like its some kind of end point, is a dangerous and false narrative that can hem us in to one narrow view of who we are in life. I wonder if its more a case of continually arriving, so much so that the moment we attain our aspirations & goals is the exact moment the goalposts shift again towards another new arriving..therefore we have the capacity, ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟɪꜱᴇ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴀʟʟʏ ꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟɪꜱɪɴɢ??

AND then I read this quote yesterday which sums the whole thing up...

"𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞, 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕤 𝕦𝕤"

We just need to get out of the way🤸‍♀️

Thoughts on a postcard or in the comments..lets play!

01/04/2026

A little bit of info about our retreat & the workshops on offer.

We are really looking forward to connect with you in these deeply beautiful & shared experiences.

We have a few spaces still available. Payment plans options available, please get in touch to discuss.

Eloise 🙏❤️✨️

27/03/2026

You are way more than you think!

We often think our identity comes from what happened to us..our history..our timeline..our story.

This is the 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 self - the facts of our life: past, present, future.

But transpersonal psychology invites a deeper question..it’s not just what happened to us, it’s how we experienced those happenings.

This is the 𝐏𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 self- the meaning we make, the way we and were shaped by the events in our lives.

And over time, those lived meanings shape different parts of us - subpersonalities that become active modes of being that live inside us and still show up today...the inner critic, the inner child, the judge, the high achiever, the rebel, etc.

AND there’s yet another layer.

The “I” - the observing self -the part of us that can notice our thoughts, our reactions, our patterns across time. This "I" is not defined by any past events, is neither the roles nor the stories but the one who is aware of them.

So we have 2 ways of experiencing the same SELF:
• The SELF in the experience that changes depending on the context & feels different across situations &
• The SELF that notices the experience.

Psychosynthesis reminds us that we are shaped by our experiences but we are not limited to them. We are not fixed..we are fluid & move in & out of different roles and ways of experiencing the same moments.

Our SELF is not "Who I am"...its "the journey I am"..the Self is unfolding through time & continuously being shaped, re-shaped, interpreted & re-expressed.

Understanding SELF in this way matters because it loosens the grip of the past..we begin to see that our life is not just a story we’re trapped inside,
but something we are actively living, sensing, and shaping.

And in that space of awareness, something shifts-
We are no longer only what happened to us, we can see our difficult experiences without being consumed or defined by them.

So rather than ask "Who am I?", we ask "who I am NOW?" With that question, we can respond rather than react to our circumstances.

This is 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦.

We dive deep into this at our Homecoming retreat.

Link in bio

🙏❤️💫

25/03/2026

Homecoming retreat is back - 17-19th April 2026 🙏❤️✨️

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWTJTo_DA36/?igsh=NDVuamU4bTlkbGl4

12/09/2025

💫ɢʀᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢꜱ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ! ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ꜱᴏ exᴄɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ꜱᴇʀᴠɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴏᴜʟꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ & ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏs.

ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴇᴘʟʏ ɪᴍᴍᴇʀꜱɪᴠᴇ ɪɴɴᴇʀ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏꜱ ᴛᴏ ɴᴏᴜʀɪꜱʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴅʏ, ᴍɪɴᴅ & ꜱᴏᴜʟ.

ᴀʟʟᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʜᴇʟᴅ ɪɴ ꜱᴏᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅꜱ ᴡʜɪʟꜱᴛ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ɢᴜɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴇᴘʟʏ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ɪɴɴᴇʀ ᴛᴇʀʀᴀɪɴ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇᴀʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜɪꜱᴘᴇʀꜱ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴏᴜʟꜱ ᴄᴀʟʟɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴇʀɢʏ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴜʟʟ ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀ'ꜱ ᴍᴏᴏɴ.

ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʙɪɢ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ.

ᴍᴜᴄʜ ʟᴏᴠᴇ,
ᴇʟᴏɪꜱᴇ & ᴛʏʀᴇʟʟ 🙏 ❤️ 🕉 ✨️

☝️ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙʀɪɴɢ:
ʙʟᴀɴᴋᴇᴛꜱ/ᴘɪʟʟᴏᴡꜱ/ᴇʏᴇ ᴍᴀꜱᴋꜱ & ʏᴏᴜ, ᴇxᴀᴄᴛʟʏ ᴀꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ

ʟɪɴᴋ ᴛᴏ ʙᴏᴏᴋ 👇or DM your queries 💫

https://bookwhen.com/eloisedevaney

29/08/2024

Only 3 weeks to go 🔥

27/08/2024

27/07/2024

💫 Give your Soul the gift of Homecoming..a deeply immersive 3 day container where you will be exquisitely held & supported to come HOME to your SELF…to reconnect with the lost, forgotten or ignored parts within you that contain the seed of your potential 🌱

The mantra we live by is “𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖”🕊️

🔥This retreat has the potential to transform, expand & accelerate your life in ways you can’t imagine🔥

🎯Beyond the psychotherapeutic sessions, you will experience the blissful breath…a divine soundscape journey..ethically & soulfully crafted fuel for your body…beautiful yoga practices including Hatha yoga & yoga Nidra…we will connect together in conscious community in the coolest place on the planet, in the wilds of Donegal ⭐️

🙏 To find out all the details or to book your place, comment ‘Homecoming’ to receive info straight to your inbox.

We can’t wait to welcome you 🫶

Eloise, Claire & Tyrell
🙏❤️💫

27/07/2024

💥Pain isn’t just physical💥

When we take a biopsychosocial approach to understanding pain, we come to realise it’s a complex experience influenced by our biology, psychology & social environments..this is a holistic & systemic approach to working with pain where context matters & everything is grist for the mill when supporting individuals to manage pain.

In terms of recovery & healing, the 2 foundational components to working with pain are Nervous System Regulation & Beliefs/Mindset 🧠🫀🫁👀

Let’s break down the types of pain first and the crucial role of our nervous system in healing. 💡

Types of Pain:

🚑 Acute Pain: Short-term and usually linked to injury or surgery. It signals the body to take protective action.

💥 Chronic Pain: Lasts for months or years, often persisting beyond the initial injury. It can significantly affect quality of life.

🧠 Neuroplastic pain: pain not caused by an injury or pain that stays long after an injury is healed. This type of pain happens when the brain misinterprets safe messages from the body as if they were dangerous..like a false alarm, the brain is misreading signals..this type of pain is very common in chronic pain.

👤 Nociceptive pain: caused by damage to body tissue, often caused by external injury, like dental procedure, sports injury or burning your hand on a hot surface. Pain is sharp, aching or throbbing.

🧬Neuropathic Pain: Caused by nerve damage, leading to sensations like burning or shooting pain.

🤷‍♀️Regardless of the type of pain experienced, nervous system regulation is essential:

Our nervous system is like the body’s control center, managing how we respond to pain.

👉A dysregulated nervous system can amplify pain signals. Techniques like deep breathing and mindfulness help calm these reactions 🌬️

👉 Promotes Healing: A balanced nervous system supports the body’s natural healing processes, reducing inflammation and stress hormones 🌱

👉 Enhances Coping: When our nervous system is regulated, we can better manage pain, our perspective is clearer, improved thinking & decision making skills & capacity to accept support from others 👥

What are your pain points when it comes to pain? 👇

🙏❤️

25/07/2024

🌟DIMS & SIMS 🌟

🚨 We can think of Neuroception as a high tech surveillance system that is constantly on the look out & responding to cues of safety and cues of danger (see pt 3 pain series-the cues can come from inside me, outside me or between us).

⚖️ The more cues of danger it receives, the more dysregulated we become and this becomes a breeding ground for ill health, pain, disease, anxiety, depression etc.

🥴 A dysregulated Nervous System not only amplifies pain but has the potential to misread signals causing a misfiring where the sensation of pain is caused by the brain rather than the supposed site of pain, known as Neuroplastic pain (more on that later). This is very common with chronic pain & FND.

📚🤓With Nervous System awareness we can actively support Neuroception by consciously helping the high tech surveillance system to accurately interpret signals & by inputting more cues of safety than danger so that the alarm can be silenced.

🛑DIMS & ✅ SIMS are a really simple way to support our Nervous System. What are they?

🔴 DIMS (Danger In Me Signals):

Examples:
🚫 Physical: An injury, chronic illness, or tension, braced muscles.

💼 Emotional: Stress at work, financial worries, or relationship issues.

💭 Cognitive: Negative thoughts, fears about health, or past trauma.

Effect: These signals make our brain perceive more danger, heightening pain and discomfort & increasing Nervous System dysregulation

✅ SIMS (Safety In Me Signals):

Examples:
🌳 Physical: movement, good nutrition, release tension and adequate rest,

❤️ Emotional: Support from friends and family, engaging in hobbies, or practicing gratitude.

🧘 Cognitive: healing/helpful thoughts, radical acceptance of what is, and relaxation techniques.

Effect: These signals make our brain feel safe, reducing pain perception and promoting recovery.

By recognizing and balancing our DIMS and SIMS, we regulate our Nervous System & reduce the risk of developing pain/disease/ill health.

Remember, we have the power to actively invite more SIMS to create a sense of safety to help the Nervous System switch off the alarm to enable healing, health & recovery to occur🌈✨

23/07/2024

👀👂Neuroception is how the Nervous System listens & detects whether we are safe or in danger. It does this in 3 ways:

• Exteroception - what is going on outside me in the environment

• Interoception- what is going on inside me internally

• & between us- what is going on relationally between me & my environment.

Through neuroception the Nervous System is constantly scanning for signs of danger & it is doing this below our levels of conscious awareness, so we are not always consciously aware of what the nervous system is picking up in the background of our lives & sometimes what it is picking up as danger isn’t dangerous at all, it’s simply a false alarm) 🚨

‼️ What’s also crucial to remember is that the Nervous System doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event or a thought that I am thinking and it doesn’t care about past or future, everything is now. It’s a very primitive system & only considers ‘danger or safe’….context doesn’t matter when it comes to Neuroception & the Nervous System

💡Why does this matter?

Whether I AM being chased down the street by a scary dog or THINKING about being chased down the street by a scary dog or WORRYING that I might be chased down the street by a scary dog…the Nervous System is detecting all 3 in the same way…the Nervous System is neurocepting this as a danger/threat to your safety & activates the alarm, sending you into a fight/flight/freeze response.

Remember, in fight/flight/freeze, the body is in protection mode & cannot heal or recover.

❓When it comes to pain, FND & health challenges, think about how you might be encouraging a neuroception of danger by the thoughts that you think, what you feel, worry about & how you relate to and experience the world around you?

When we bring PERCEPTION to NEUROCEPTION, we actively support the Nervous System to switch off the alarm by sending signals of safety to the bodymind.

👉Reframe thoughts to healing supportive thoughts
👉Practice acceptance vs resistance of pain/symptoms
👉Talk to yourself with kindness, care & compassion

Stay tuned for more on building cues of safety & reducing cues of danger so that you can help your body to heal & recover 🫀🧠🫁

20/07/2024