Wellness Solutions - Neuro Reset

Shift your attention from what’s lacking to what’s present. Gratitude has a powerful way of changing our perspective and helping us see the abundance that already exists.

What is one thing you’re grateful for today?

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Healing Soul~Mind~Body at Bowenwork Marin

-Technique

Ever have that numb, tingling feeling in your arm and hand when you wake up?

🛑 STOP assuming you have a severe neurological disease just because you wake up with completely dead, numb arms! It is a terrifying experience: you wake up in the middle of the night or early morning, and your entire arm—from the shoulder down to your fingertips—feels completely detached from your body. It is numb, heavy, and tingling with pins and needles. You have to use your good arm to physically lift the dead arm to shake the life back into it. You immediately google it and assume you have a herniated disc in your neck, severe heart issues, or a demyelinating nerve disease. But what if your spine and your heart are perfectly fine? What if your stress-induced sleeping posture is literally turning your own chest muscle into a biological guillotine?

The Anatomy:
To fix this this terrifying numbness, we have to look past your neck and into the deepest layer of your chest. If we make your main chest muscle transparent, we find a much smaller, hidden muscle underneath it: The Pectoralis Minor. It attaches to a bony beak on your shoulder blade (the coracoid process) and anchors diagonally down to your top three ribs. Crucially, a massive bundle of nerves called the Brachial Plexus—which powers your entire arm and hand—has to pass directly underneath this muscle to escape the neck and enter the armpit.

[Getty Images: Deep anterior dissection of the human thorax and axilla, exposing the pectoralis minor muscle and its intimate spatial relationship overlying the brachial plexus]

The Biomechanics:
When you live with high stress and anxiety, you subconsciously pull your shoulders up and forward into a "defensive" posture. If you also sleep on your side curled in a fetal position, the Pectoralis Minor is kept in a severely shortened, compressed state for hours on end.

Because it never gets to stretch, this deep muscle becomes rock hard and locks into a severe spasm. When you lay on it at night, the shortened muscle acts like a tight, rigid strap. It violently presses backward, physically crushing the massive Brachial Plexus nerve bundle directly against your ribs!

[Shutterstock: Microscopic 3D tissue view depicting severe fascial contracture of the pectoralis minor compressing the neurovascular bundle of the axilla, causing distal ischemic neuropathy]

The Consequence:
This is a classic form of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. The profound, terrifying numbness isn't poor blood circulation or a spinal disease. It is your main electrical cable being violently choked in your chest while you sleep! Shaking your hand only helps temporarily because you move your shoulder, which briefly lifts the muscle off the crushed nerve.

How to Break the Cycle:

Stop sleeping in the fetal curl: Sleeping on your side with your arms crossed over your chest guarantees the Pectoralis Minor will stay locked and crush the nerve. Sleep on your back, or sleep hugging a thick body pillow to keep your chest open.

The Pec Minor Smash: Do not foam roll your broad chest. Take a lacrosse ball, place it against a wall, and lean the very upper, outer corner of your chest (right next to your armpit) into it. Find the tender, deep knot and hold pressure while raising your arm slowly up and down to melt the blade-like muscle.

Corner Chest Stretch: Stand in a room corner. Place your forearms on the walls with your elbows significantly higher than your shoulders. Lean forward. This specific high angle isolates and stretches the deep Pectoralis Minor, pulling it off the nerve bundle.

Strengthen the Rhomboids: You must fix the forward shoulder pull. Build the muscles of your mid-back to permanently pull the shoulder blades backward, keeping the chest open and the nerve free.

The sphenoid and pelvis mirror each other more than most people realize.

Both have a central ‘body’ with wing-like expansions, both function as structural keystones, and both anchor major myofascial and ligamentous systems.

Because their shapes — and roles — parallel each other, rotation or tension in one region can echo through the dural, fascial, and CNS pathways to influence the other.

In PT, we don’t just treat what hurts. We treat the patterns — and these two structures often share the same story.

This was very well written and explained! It’s a must share for my clients too! So insightful and relevant for so many people 🤩 If this spoke to you, or you can relate to any of these symptoms, feel free to reach out to me.

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🤪😁Emotional stress😢😣

is often described as “stored” in the upper back and chest/shoulder area because fear, grief, anxiety, or chronic vigilance can change breathing patterns, muscle tone, and posture. When that stress is held consistently, many people report physical discomfort and functional limitations in the thoracic spine region (mid-back) and surrounding structures. Below are clear examples of both the emotional contributors and the physical ailments people may see or feel, along with a practical way to invite you toward Northern Spinal Flow sessions.

Examples: emotional stress held through the Center Gateway or thoracic spine region

💥Chronic anxiety / hypervigilance: feels like an “always-on” state; often corresponds with raised shoulders, tight upper back, and shallow or restricted breathing.

💥Grief / heaviness: can feel like carrying “weight” through the chest and upper back; commonly shows up as stiffness across the mid-back.

💥Emotional overload / stress from responsibility: can create a bracing pattern—people hold their ribs, tighten the torso, and lose thoracic mobility.

💥Fear / perceived threat: can tighten the chest and upper back as the body prepares to “brace.”

💥Unprocessed tension from conflict or pressure: can drive persistent tightness between the shoulder blades and along the sides of the ribs.

💥Resentment or emotional shutdown: may present as a guarded posture—rounded thoracic spine, limited expansion with inhalation, and reduced rotation.

Physical ailments people may see and/or feel from the Center Gateway or Thoracic spine region

😩Mid-back stiffness or “stuck” sensation (difficulty twisting or extending through the thoracic spine).

😩Rib and intercostal tightness (a band-like feeling around the chest or sides).

😩Shoulder blade tightness (often felt between the scapulae or along the medial borders).

😩Upper back muscle guarding (upper trapezius, rhomboids, and thoracic paraspinals feel chronically tense).

😩Restricted breathing sensation (inability to fully expand the rib cage, frequent sighing, or shallow breaths).

😩Postural discomfort (rounded shoulders, forward head posture, or “hunched” thoracic posture).

😩Chest wall discomfort or tightness (felt as constriction, heaviness, or soreness that may fluctuate with stress).

😩Headaches related to upper back tension (tension patterns from thoracic/shoulder girdle commonly contribute).

😩Nerve-like symptoms around the upper back/side of ribs (tingling, radiating discomfort, or hypersensitivity can be reported when thoracic mobility and rib mechanics are restricted).

😩Reduced thoracic rotation (tightness when reaching across the body or turning while standing).

Have you been dealing with thoracic tightness—between the shoulder blades, upper-rib constriction, “stuck” mid-back rotation, or a breathing feel that never quite gets fully open—and wondered if it is more than just posture or muscles… like there is an emotional stress pattern underneath that you have been carrying longer than you meant to?

If you read this and felt a genuine “yes,” recognition, or even a little relief just seeing your experience named, that matters. If you feel drawn to getting yourself flowing in the right direction through Northern Spinal Flow—especially to clear the blocks and support easier breathing and thoracic movement—message us with your top symptoms, how long you have had them, and what you have already tried.

Well said! Let’s take this challenge together!

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Are you ready to listen to your body and let go of things that no longer serve you? Spinal Flow can get you out of that fight or flight mode which can help your body heal. Reach out if you’re ready to heal. Heal your body, change your life!

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🌿 Hey friends, has anyone else experienced this?

After years of the same frustrations—feeling unheard, unseen, or carrying old hurts—do you ever wonder if that emotional weight is showing up in your body? Trauma isn’t just “in your head.” Science shows it can literally get stored in specific spots, leading to tension, pain, and ongoing physical ailments.

Think about it:

• Shoulders carrying the weight of responsibilities and unexpressed burdens.

• Neck holding chronic stress and “fight or flight” tension.

• Jaw clenching from unspoken words or suppressed anger.

• Arms and upper back guarding against old emotional hits.

A high percentage of our physical issues (headaches, tightness, fatigue, and more) can trace back to unprocessed emotional trauma. As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk explains in The Body Keeps the Score, our bodies remember what our minds try to push away—through the nervous system, muscle memory, and stress responses. Somatic approaches recognize that trauma gets “trapped” in the body, and releasing it can bring real relief. 

If this resonates, you’re not alone.

Have you noticed patterns in where you hold tension? Share below—We would love to hear your experiences!

This!





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The nervous system is essential to healing, as it serves as the pathway through which life force energy flows throughout the body.

Spinal Flow Technique gently helps restore this flow, allowing the nervous system to regulate, heal, and return to balance.

Healing Soul~Mind~Body at Bowenwork Marin

Good explanation of what some clients experience during a Spinal Flow session.

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✨ Some clients report seeing colours, gentle lights, feeling like they are floating or swimming, or entering that space between wakefulness and sleep during a session. Why can this happen?

From a neuroscience perspective, these experiences are often linked to the nervous system entering a deep state of regulation and relaxation.

When the body feels safe and the mind begins to quiet:

🌿 external noise reduces
🌿 brainwave activity can shift into calmer alpha/theta states
🌿 awareness turns inward
🌿 the brain may generate internal sensations such as colours, light, floating feelings or dreamlike imagery

This is similar to what many people experience during:

meditation
deep breathwork
hypnagogic states (the bridge between wakefulness and sleep)

It does not necessarily mean anything strange or wrong. Often, it can simply reflect that the body is letting go of stress and the nervous system is moving into a restorative state.

💛 Every person experiences sessions differently. Some feel stillness, some feel emotion, some feel energy, and some experience colours or drifting sensations.

Sometimes healing feels less like “doing”… and more like allowing.

An AMAZING testimony of a healing journey with Spinal Flow! Just WOW!!

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✨ Why I Opened Northern Spinal Flow ✨

In June 2020, I was managing Dollar General when a severe injury changed everything. What started as a herniated disc led me down a road I never saw coming.

Just three days after my first back surgery, the same disc shattered on the other side, requiring a second surgery only a month later. Then came my right SI joint fusion. When that side stabilized, the left side started hurting. My surgeon looked at me and said we were going to have an “extensive relationship for the rest of your life” because of the extent of the damage at my age.

By 2024, I had undergone a back surgery almost every single year since my injury. I also had a C-section with my youngest in 2023. My body had been cut open on my back and my stomach multiple times. I was exhausted, broken, and losing hope.

Nobody talks about the mental toll a serious physical injury takes. I was battling doctors, the system, and my own body. At one point I was on 22 different medications — including 4mg of Xanax a day (plus extra as needed), 30mg Adderall in the morning, 15mg in the afternoon, Trazodone to sleep, gabapentin, pain pill, muscle relaxers, antidepressants, something to enhance the antidepressants,… you name it. The meds turned me into a zombie, so they gave me more meds to function. It was a vicious cycle.

I couldn’t lift my kids. I couldn’t play with them. I couldn’t even properly parent them. I had to sit back and watch someone else do everything while I was in constant pain and fog.

I knew the traditional medical route was no longer healing me — it was just managing my very fast decline. I needed something different. Something that cured the CAUSE and not put another bandaid on. Something holistic. Something that actually helped my body heal. That’s when I found Spinal Flow.

I was extremely skeptical. The idea that gentle touch could create such powerful healing seemed impossible. I thought “there’s no way.” But something deep down told me to keep an open mind. This was what would help!

In 2024, I went to an immersive training in Mexico. On the third day, after a session on the table, I stood up… and had zero pain. I waited. Five minutes. An hour. Four hours. Then the whole evening passed — still no pain. I couldn’t believe it.

A year and a half later, I have successfully avoided my fifth surgery. I’m down to just one pharmaceutically prescribed medication. I have energy. I can play with my kids. I can live my life again.

I opened Northern Spinal Flow because I believe people in our community deserve options — the same options I wish I had when I was suffering. I want to offer a gentle, powerful, holistic path to healing that goes beyond what traditional medicine could do for me.

Spinal Flow gave me my life back. And I’m incredibly grateful to now share this work with International Falls and the surrounding area.

If you’re in pain, if you feel stuck, if you’ve been told “this is just how it’s going to be”… please know there are other ways!

I’d love to talk with you.

With hope and gratitude,

Amy 💕

Northern Spinal Flow

International Falls, MN