Healer 2 Healer Workshop Outline

Location: St. Paul

Facilitator: Brian Meyer

Theme: The Healing Arts as a Healing Journey

Core Intention

This workshop is designed as an experiential space for:

  • Practitioners and caregivers who hold space for others

Purpose: To restore, regulate, and reconnect through embodied practices, community resonance, and nervous system-informed healing.

Foundational Philosophy

The Healing Arts as Permaculture

  • Healing is regenerative, not extractive

  • We "share surplus" through the cultivation of internal and communal resources

  • Community engagement is essential to sustainable healing

Core Principles

  • How we heal is through connection and community

  • We support inner relationships within ourselves and with the planet

  • Healing moves from invisible → embodied → relational → collective

Inner Reality & Creation

  • We create our reality from the inside out

  • Intention shapes internal structure (neural, emotional, energetic)

  • Sustained focus builds momentum

Reflection Questions:

  • What is calling me?

  • What brings me joy?

  • What is the highest and best expression of my life?

Nervous System Foundations (Porges + Carter Integration)

Polyvagal Theory (Stephen Porges, PhD)

The nervous system constantly scans for safety (neuroception):

Green Zone – Ventral Vagal (Social Engagement)

  • Connection, safety, presence

  • Optimal regulation and healing capacity

Yellow Zone – Mobilization (Sympathetic Activation)

  • Mild stress, activation, readiness

Red Zone – Hyperarousal

  • Fight / Flight

  • Hypervigilance, intrusive imagery, intensity

Blue Zone – Hypoarousal (Dorsal Vagal Shutdown)

  • Freeze, collapse, numbness

  • Reduced sensation and cognitive processing

Oxytocin & Social Bonding (Sue Carter, PhD)

  • Oxytocin is a key regulator of safety and connection

  • Known as the “tend-and-befriend” hormone

  • Reduces pain and inflammation

  • Supports healing through social connection and trust

In Practice:

  • Eye contact

  • Safe touch (optional, consent-based)

  • Group coherence and shared rhythm

The Role of the Field

  • Healing is not individual—it occurs within a shared field

  • Mirror neurons support co-regulation

  • Group dynamics influence nervous system states

Field Dynamics in Somatic Healing:

  • Collective regulation

  • Energetic resonance

  • Interpersonal neurobiology

Somatic & Psychosomatic Interventions

Participants will explore:

  • Breathwork

  • Sounding / vocalization

  • Micro-movements

Goal: To modulate within the window of tolerance and gently move between states safely.

Sensation Awareness

Understanding first-order sensations:

  • Anxiety → jittery, restless

  • Anger → heat, intensity

Inquiry:

  • What does this feel like in my body?

  • Can I stay with the sensation without the story?

Regulation & Agency

  • Baseline awareness allows modulation

Questions for self-guidance:

  • Do I need to increase energy?

  • Do I need to discharge or decrease stored energy?

Embodiment & Integration

  • Healing requires moving out of the mind and into the body

  • The body is the gateway for transformation

Practices emphasize:

  • Awareness

  • Presence

  • Sensory engagement

Cosmology & Meaning-Making

  • Participants may explore symbolic language (e.g., cycles, directionality, personal myth)

  • Focus remains grounded in embodied experience

Closing Integration

“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost

Participants will leave with:

  • Tools for nervous system regulation

  • A deeper connection to self and community

  • A renewed sense of agency and vitality

Flow (90 Minutes)

  1. Arrival & Grounding (10 min)

  2. Nervous System Education (15 min)

  3. Guided Somatic Practice (25 min)

  4. Group Field Experience (15 min)

  5. Reflection & Integration (15 min)

  6. Closing Circle (10 min)