If you’re feeling a constant level of stress from the time you wake up, to the moment you go to sleep, join the “Tools for Stress Resilience” salon series. The salon series will be hosted by Interintellect host Mariya Hoffman, a somatic mindfulness instructor with a specialty in Focusing and Polyvagal Theory
We all get knocked down by life at some point. A serious health issue might impact us or someone we love. People and pets we care about pass away. Financial setbacks, work-related challenges, or difficulties in relationships can chip away at our sense of security. In those moments, we might yearn for certainty–some sign that things will just be ok. It’s perhaps the height of the phrase “life’s unfair” to say: life is full of uncertainty whether or not we feel equipped to deal with it.
In this salon series, we will explore the VAST toolkit for stress resilience: Values, Awareness, Spotlight, and Taking the Long View. Rather than rigidly fighting for how things “should” be, the tools help us foster psychological flexibility. This allows us to flexibly navigate obstacles, cope with difficult circumstances, and make space for recovery.
This framework is a blend of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (a psychotherapy that teaches psychological flexibility by accepting inner experiences), Polyvagal Theory (which proposes, among other things, that the way we subconsciously perceive danger and safety influences our thoughts, emotions, and behavior), and parts psychology (the idea that our psyches are a complex system of parts that can either work together or get stuck in stressful interactions).
Come explore tools designed to help you tame some of life’s chaos. The goal of this Series is for participants to have the confidence that they can get back to center when things go off the rails.
You can join the entire series, or explore individual tools that speak to you.
All episodes of this series start at 7 am PDT
Already have a membership? Sign in to get your series ticket!
In addition to series tickets, you will get access to our community Discord (with a channel for this series to chat between events)—as well as free salon tickets each month, discounts, free members-only events, and more.
| # | Date | Episode |
| 1 | Aug 5, 2023 | Values: Who You Are Before we can go into where we want to go, we need to start with who we already are. |
| 2 | Aug 19, 2023 | Values: Conscious Choice of Values We can use our past experience to explore what we most value and when we were at our best. Then, we can call forth that same capacity to face the challenges that are in front of us. |
| 3 | Sept 2, 2023 | Awareness: How Our Physiology Conditions Our Feelings and Actions Polyvagal Theory describes how our autonomic nervous system has its very own detection mechanism for cues of safety and danger. It picks up on these cues and impacts our emotions and actions before we have a chance to even think about what’s happening (just think about how scary it feels to jump back from something falling on your head, only to realize it’s a small stick). We’ll explore how our nervous system works, and how better awareness can help us feel more in control of what happens in our body and mind. |
| 4 | Sept 30, 2023 | Awareness: The Intention-Execution Loop We often think we are aware of why we want to do something, but we often have hidden motives. We might convince ourselves want a successful Walstreet career, but deep down hate dealing with finance. Why? Because at some point someone has convinced us that people who are worthwhile and acceptable have successful Wallstreen careers. This salon explores how we can get at our real intentions so that we can have hope of fulling a goal we both want and believe we can attain.. |
| 5 | Oct 7, 2023 | Spotlight: Using the Metaphor of the Spotlight to Understand the Observing Self We will get in touch with what a Self that lives in the present and observes/witnesses our other parts feels and sounds like. |
| 6 | Oct 28, 2023 | Spotlight: Using Language of the Observing Self to Unhook from Difficult Emotions We will explore and practice non-judgmental language that we can use to unhook from the flood of stressful feelings and to be present with ourselves from a more calm place. |
| 7 | Nov 4, 2023 | Spotlight: Shifting Our Conscious Point of View We will explore using the spotlight analogy to move our conscious awareness to different points of view within ourselves and to those of others. This will help us align our true intentions and seek to understand the intentions of others. |
| 8 | Nov 25, 2023 | Taking the Long View: Continuous Recalibration of Your Sense of Safety Getting to a place where it feels like things are going well is never a one-time goal. Our sense of safety is like the weather–ever-changing. This is why we need long-term habits to continually recalibrate as life throws curveballs our way. |
| 9 | Dec 2, 2023 | Taking the Long View: Continually Pruning Our Life Tasks We will look at the habit of continuously taking stock and realigning with what’s important to us at each phase of life, as our intentions inevitably shift with each phase. |
| 10 | Dec 30, 2023 | Taking the Long View: Continually Adding in What Brings Us Meaning and Joy If we are not conscious of taking in the things right in front of us that bring us joy and meaning, life has no shortage of challenges or doomsday scenarios to place in their stead. In our final Salon in this series, we will discuss the practice of continuously bringing in and nurturing the good and meaningful things in our life to counterbalance life’s inevitable challenges. |
Already have a membership? Sign in to get your series ticket!