Healing Hearts Family Counseling- Lake Country

11/30/2025

11/29/2025

You Don’t Need to Do Everything.

If today feels heavy, you’re not alone.

After a full holiday, your mind and body may be asking for something different than more activity or more “doing.”

You don’t have to make everything magical.
You don’t have to rush back into productivity.
You don’t have to squeeze in one more sale, chore, or errand.

Your nervous system needs the opposite:

✨ Slowness
✨ Simplicity
✨ Space to breathe

Give yourself permission to rest — especially today.
Sometimes the most healing thing you can do is pause.

11/27/2025

Today we’re taking a moment to pause and notice the quieter blessings around us — connection, rest, and the people who make life meaningful.

Wishing our Delafield community a peaceful and heartfelt Thanksgiving. 🤎🧡

11/26/2025

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.🦃

11/26/2025

TUESDAY REFLECTION 🌄

One thing I’m reminded of so often is this:
Behavior is rarely the actual problem.
It’s the signal.

Much like these mountains —
we only see the surface.
What’s underneath is often hidden, quiet, and rarely obvious.

Behind an outburst may be a nervous system that’s overwhelmed.
Behind a shutdown may be a brain trying to protect itself.
Behind a “stubborn” moment may be sensory overload, exhaustion,
or simply a system that’s reached its limit.

When we look beyond the symptoms—
into the sensory system, the brain’s stress patterns,
and the unseen load someone is carrying—
the whole story begins to make more sense.

Compassion expands.
Understanding grows.
Connection comes more naturally.

If today felt heavy or confusing,
it may help to look beneath the surface.
There is almost always a reason someone is struggling. 💛

11/25/2025

A reminder for our Delafield community:

Your nervous system was never designed to regulate on its own.
As the week begins and demands increase, even brief moments of safe connection can shift your entire physiological state.

A long, intentional hug.
A grounding hand on the shoulder.
Or simply being in the presence of someone who feels steady and safe.

These moments reduce cortisol, increase oxytocin, and help the brain transition out of fight-or-flight.

If your Monday feels overloaded, step into one small moment of connection.
Your nervous system will respond immediately.

— Healing Hearts Delafield

11/24/2025

Sometimes, healing doesn’t just come from words — it comes from a wagging tail, a soft nuzzle, and an open heart. 🐶

At Healing Hearts, our trained K9 Counselors like Ace bring extra comfort and support in therapy. They help reduce stress, ease emotional tension, and make therapy feel more like a connection.

Would you like to invite a therapy dog into your session? DM us or head to https://healingheartscares.com/ to learn more.

11/23/2025

The Beauty of Stillness After Motion

After a week of movement — flights, new environments, learning, and long days — I’m reminded of how grounding stillness can be.

Sunday invites us back into ourselves.
Even in a busy city, there are moments when everything quiets for just a breath — the same way the lakes and wooded trails around Delafield have a way of settling us when we take a moment to notice.

Whether your day is full or slow,
find one small moment to simply breathe.
There’s often more clarity in that pause than we expect.

What kind of stillness does your Sunday hold?

11/22/2025

While I’ve been in Salt Lake City this week, I’ve watched the weather shift in the most breathtaking ways. One day it was raining and nearly 10 degrees warmer than Wisconsin. The next day, dark clouds hovered over the mountains… and when they finally lifted, the peaks were glowing with fresh snow while the valley below remained clear.
The contrast was stunning.

It reminded me of the moments back home that take my breath away —
when the snow becomes heavy on the trees, weighing down each branch until it sparkles.
The quiet mornings around Delafield — the woods, the lake, the stillness — make those moments even more magical.

As we prepare for our seasonal change in Wisconsin:
✨ What shifts in the seasons do you notice?
✨ What makes you stop and breathe?

Learning to notice these small transitions — clouds lifting, branches glowing, the first hint of winter air — can bring grounding, gratitude, and a sense of wonder.

What seasonal contrast are you noticing today?

11/19/2025

✨ Strengthen Your Mind with Neurofeedback ✨

At Healing Hearts, neurofeedback uses gentle EEG sensors to read your brainwaves and guide your central nervous system toward healthier, more regulated patterns.

It’s safe, calming, and designed to help your brain learn better ways to respond to stress, emotions, and everyday challenges. 💛

If you’re looking for support with emotional regulation, anxiety, or simply wanting to feel more balanced, neurofeedback may be the next step in your healing journey.

💛 Learn more at https://healingheartscares.com/
📍 Serving individuals and families with heart-centered care

11/18/2025

Why “Stuck” Doesn’t Mean “Broken”

A lot of people come to us feeling frustrated.
They’ve tried therapy, breathing exercises, medication, supplements, yoga, grounding… and they’re still “stuck.”

The issue usually isn’t motivation.
And it’s not a personality flaw.
Most of the time, it’s this:

They’ve only received a piecemeal version of care.

Many places call their work “integrated,”
but it’s really separate techniques stitched together—
talk therapy over here, breathing over there, a little sensory work somewhere else.

Nothing is coordinated.
Nothing is layered.
Nothing is sequenced in the way the nervous system actually needs.

True integration means:
• the diaphragm changes how the nervous system receives input
• sensory work changes how the brain processes information
• cognitive work changes how the system organizes itself
• emotional work lands more effectively once the body is regulated

Each piece activates the next.
Each system supports the others.

That’s why people finally make progress when we put all of this together—
in the right order, at the right time, for the right nervous system.

If you’ve been feeling stuck for a long time, you may not be broken.
You may just need someone who understands how the whole system fits together.

You’re important in this world.
And you don’t have to figure this out alone.
We’d love to help.

📍 Healing Hearts Family Counseling Center
Sun Prairie: 608-834-1122
Delafield: 262-649-2171
www.healingheartscares.com

11/17/2025

From Utah back to Wisconsin

While I’m in Utah this week continuing my own brain recovery work at Cognitive FX, I’ve learned something that I think will be incredibly helpful for many of our Delafield families — and honestly, it explains so much.

Many people talk about “breathwork,” but few people talk about the diaphragm itself… especially how a brain injury, trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, long-term inflammation, vision or vestibular issues, or even digestive dysfunction can cause the diaphragm to get stuck in a restricted position.

When the diaphragm gets stuck, breathing becomes something you have to remember to do correctly — it’s no longer automatic.

Breathwork teaches you to control your breath.
Diaphragm work teaches your body to breathe without you.
They are not the same.

And here’s the key point:
Forcing breathwork doesn’t fix this.
Breathwork teaches you how to consciously control your breath, but it does nothing to restore the automatic breathing pattern your nervous system relies on.
For that, the diaphragm itself has to release and move again.

This really matters, because diaphragm restriction shows up in so many conditions we see every week in our Delafield clinic:

Conditions where diaphragm restriction is extremely common:

• brain injury & concussion
• trauma (developmental or acute)
• chronic stress
• anxiety & panic
• ADHD
• depression
• long COVID
• chronic pain
• pelvic floor dysfunction
• sleep disorders

These aren’t caused by the diaphragm — but a restricted diaphragm adds a layer of difficulty people rarely identify.

When the diaphragm is restricted, people may experience:

• heightened anxiety or a constant sense of danger
• trouble accessing calm, even when “nothing is wrong”
• digestive issues (bloating, constipation, reflux)
• pelvic floor symptoms
• shallow breathing or chest tightness
• headaches or facial pressure
• waking up wired or struggling to fall asleep
• difficulty focusing or feeling “foggy”
• feeling emotionally reactive or “on edge”
• chronic fatigue, neck tension, or upper-body tightness

Most people never connect these dots — but the diaphragm is one of the body’s most important stabilizers for both physical and emotional regulation.

What helps open the diaphragm and restore automatic breathing:

✔ walking (especially first thing in the morning)
✔ nasal breathing during movement
✔ gentle rotation (like walking or hiking with arm swing)
✔ hydration throughout the day
✔ fascial release around the ribs, abdomen, and upper back
✔ humming or extended exhale sounds (vagus nerve stimulation)
✔ improving ribcage mobility
✔ lymphatic activation
✔ lowering inflammation
✔ addressing visual/vestibular issues that keep the brain in “fight or flight”
✔ restoring natural breathing patterns — not forced breathwork

When the diaphragm finally starts moving again, everything changes — your emotions, clarity, digestion, sleep, and overall sense of safety.

Have you noticed any of these symptoms?
Do any of these conditions feel familiar?
What’s one small thing you can do today to give your diaphragm a little room to breathe — and your nervous system a break?

If you’re in the Lake Country area and these symptoms resonate, you’re not imagining it — your diaphragm may be playing a role.