Navigation and Regulation: Exploring the nervous system from within
In this two-part workshop series, you will get to know your nervous system and its reactions in a playful way.
The first part is mainly about the basics and techniques you can use to self-regulate your nervous system. In the second part, we will gain a deeper insight into the origins and effects of shock trauma and developmental trauma, as well as some complex but everyday relationship dynamics. Also in the second workshop, we will look at techniques to help other people to regulate themselves („co-regulation“).
All important information such as location, times and prices can be found below in the „Facts and figures“ tab.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – A (translated) review on Part 1 of the series
„I am delighted with the excellent preparation of the topic in a creative, informative and funny PowerPoint presentation and games that made the topic tangible and were not silly (my fear of games in seminars).
The speaker couple used a very easy to understand and at the same time charming language towards the participants and themselves. This created a very nice atmosphere of friendly connection between all participants, which also made it possible to bring sensitive topics into the group.
I was able to take away a lot for myself in my various roles, e.g. as a person in a romantic relationship, as a father and also as an employee and manager. Thank you very much for a great evening!“
– H. Warschke, Participant of Part 1, „Fight, Flight Freeze…“
German flyer for the workshop series.
Click to enlarge.
Feel free to share!
Part 1: Fight, Flight, Freeze: How can I return to feeling grounded?
Hello there 😊
Great that you found your way here.
Perhaps you know situations in which you suddenly tense your muscles, your blood rushes to your head and all you really want to do is run away or punch the other person in the face. Or that your thoughts become increasingly sluggish during an argument, you can no longer look the other person in the eye, your body feels numb and a buzzing starts in your ears.
In such situations, your nervous system wanders through different states. This can sometimes be pleasant and helpful, sometimes exhausting and disruptive. But above all, it is one thing – human! 😉
In the first part of our two-part workshop series, we want to experience and get familiar with the different states of our nervous system together with you in around four hours.
You can expect a mixture of interactive, playful practice and relaxed, creative theory, in which we will convey in-depth knowledge about the various reactions of our nervous system and provide you with methods for self-regulation, i.e. for actively changing your own nervous system state.
The content on which the workshop is based is a combination of our own private and professional experiences and aspects of Stephen Porges‘ “Polyvagal Theory”. You can read more about our background at the end of this event description.
It is a deep concern of ours to enable more people to look at life and other people from a loving perspective, to give each other space to process and feel, and to come together step by step into a sensitive relationship with each other – without having to avoid conflicts.
From our point of view, the first step towards this, which we want to support with this workshop, is to establish a nurturing, appreciative contact with your own nervous system.
The next step, for which our second workshop ‘Part 2: Trauma, Trigger, Projection: How can we get back into connection?’ is intended, is about enabling this perspective in contact with other people and better understanding interpersonal dynamics.
For a deeper learning and understanding, we will make the nervous system states tangible and experienceable through a story, group games and movement.
Among other things, we will play some ‘Authentic Relating Games’, which in our experience are both fun and very suitable for getting in touch with yourself and others.
We will also collect experiences from everyday life together, about what helps each of us to regulate ourselves and to stay well – in addition to the self-regulation exercises we will introduce throughout the workshop.
On a more tangible level, our aim during of the workshop is to give you an insight into the reactions of your nervous system and to allow you to experience the states of your nervous system first-hand.
At the end of the workshop, you will be able to take concrete navigation and regulation options with you into your everyday life.
The nervous system states, some of which you may already be familiar with, such as ‘fight/flight’ or ‘freeze’, are an integral part of each and every one of our lives. This also means that by actively immersing ourselves in these states, we can come into contact with our own issues. We want to offer a space in which participants feel safe and accepted and in which their own issues can have a place. If you are unsure whether this experience is something for you, please contact us.
It is important for us to emphasise at this point that this workshop is intended for learning techniques and understanding neurobiological principles (and of course for fun and exchange).
We are not offering a healing or therapy group. We do not do trauma therapy here, nor is it a group for the treatment of mental or physical problems.
If issues come up that are too intense for you, you will of course be given enough space to go home in a regulated and perhaps a little lighter state. However, our goal is healthy regulation, not working through/therapy/healing.
If you come across issues during the workshop that you would like to work on in the long term, you are welcome to arrange a treatment with Ben or receive a recommendation from us as to where you can turn.
We’re looking forward to meeting you! 🙂
Part 2: Trauma, Trigger, Projection: How can we get back into connection?
Hello there 😊
Nice to have you here.
This is the second part of this workshop series. Booking the 2nd part is only possible if you are also taking part in the 1st workshop or already have comparable knowledge.
Now to the introduction of this workshop, the second part:
‘When someone walks behind me, I tense up inside’, “Why do my relationships always last so short?”, “I often can’t even say what I need”…
It’s often not so easy to put something like this into words. This is because our patterns and strategies resulting from trauma usually run unconsciously and we take them for granted.
In the second part of our two-part workshop series, we want to give you an insight into the topics of ‘trauma’, ‘dynamics’ and ‘co-regulation’, in roundabout four hours.
As in the first part, you can expect a mixture of interactive, playful practice and relaxed, creatively loosened-up theory. In detail, we will build an understanding of the formation of shock and developmental trauma, look at some common interpersonal dynamics and learn techniques to support other people in regulation (‘co-regulation’).
The content on which the workshop is built is a combination of our own personal and professional experiences and backgrounds. The second workshop builds particularly strongly on trauma therapy models and methods, above all NARM (‘Neuro Affective Relational Model’) and Somatic Experiencing. For more information, see below in the ‚Facts and figures’ tab, in the section ‘By whom?’ 🙂
We are deeply committed to giving more people the tools they need to look at life and other people from a loving perspective, to give each other space to process and feel, and to gradually find a sensitive way of dealing with each other – without having to avoid conflict.
The first step towards this, which we will be taking with the first part of this workshop series, ‘Part 1: Fight, Flight, Freeze: How can I return to feeling grounded?’, is to support, from our point of view, establishing a nurturing, appreciative contact with your own nervous system.
The next step, for which this workshop (i.e. the second part) is intended, is to enable this perspective in contact with other people, to better understand interpersonal dynamics and to learn ways to help shape relationships in a healthy way.
For deeper learning and understanding, we will revisit the story about the nervous system states we introduce in the first part and use it to comprehensively explain the principle of the development of trauma.
Once again, we will use games and movement to turn theory into experience, in addition to the bite-sized input. ‘Authentic Relating Games’ are also again part of the process and will help us to better grasp the complex interpersonal dynamics.
After we learnt how to regulate ourselves using various techniques in the first part, this time the focus is on helping other people to regulate themselves.
On a practical level, our aim is for you to gain an insight into trauma and relationship dynamics over the course of the workshop and to further explore the interpersonal space together with the other participants. At the end of the workshop, you will be able to take home some practical ways to support other people in dealing with stressful and overwhelming situations. You will also have a handful of new perspectives to help you better understand and navigate difficult relationships.
This workshop will deal with topics that will resonate and be recognised by most people. This also means that we can get in touch with our own issues by dealing with trauma patterns.
We want to offer a space where participants feel safe and accepted and where their own issues can have a place. If you are unsure whether this experience is something for you, please contact us 🙂
It is important for us to emphasise at this point that this workshop is intended for learning techniques and understanding neurobiological principles (and of course for fun and exchange).
We are not offering a healing or therapy group. We do not do trauma therapy here, nor is it a group for the treatment of mental or physical problems.
If issues come up that are too intense for you, you will of course be given enough space to go home in a regulated and perhaps a little lighter state. However, our goal is healthy regulation, not working through/therapy/healing.
If you come across issues during the workshop that you would like to work on in the long term, you are welcome to arrange a treatment with Ben or receive a recommendation from us as to where you can turn.
Facts and figures
What?
A series of workshops on the topics of ‘Nervous system, trauma and regulation’
Series title: ‘Navigation and Regulation: Exploring the nervous system from within’
Part 1: ‘Fight, Flight, Freeze: How can I find back to groundedness?„
Part 2: ‘Trauma, Trigger, Projection: How can we get back into connection? ‚
Where?
At
„Aquariana“ Praxis- und Seminarzentrum
Am Tempelhofer Berg 7D
10965 Berlin-Kreuzberg
For directions and orientation, please have a look at the Aquariana website (German): https://www.aquariana.de/kontakt/anfahrt
The most important part is this, I translated it from the Aquariana website:
„No. 7D: The property with the large car park (the parking barrier is missing). Then across the courtyard at the back on the left: We are in the tall brick building. Everything is signposted. 4th floor, lift available.“
If you can’t find it, please call us: +49 1575 0163 738🙂
The location is largely accessible and hopefully our workshop is too 😉
If you are planning to come and have physical limitations, we would be happy if you contact us in advance so that we can modify some exercises/games or provide a variation if necessary.
When?
There are currently five more rounds of the series planned. Further runs will be announced here, you can also write us an email and ask to be notified, or join our Telegram-Channel (Link: https://t.me/+63K-U0JWqSBjNDMy) or Newsletter list. We’re doing our best to make everything bilingual bit by bit, but some things are still going to be mostly in German for now.
Each single workshop of both parts is set to take four hours 17:30-21:30, although it can sometimes take a bit longer, especially with circumstances that are new to us, like doing the workshop in English ;).
Part 1: „Fight, Flight, Freeze: How can I find back to groundedness?“
will be repeated on these dates:
(Friday, 4th of October>, in German)
Friday, 8th of November, in English.
(Friday, 6th of December, in German),
(Friday, 7th of February ‘25, in German)
(Friday, 14th of March ’25, in German)
There will be no workshop in January.
You can also participate in Part 2 in a later month if you wish!
Part 2: „Trauma, Trigger, Projection: How can we get back into connection?“
will be repeated on:
(Friday, 18th of October>, in German)
Friday, 22nd of November, in English.
(Friday, 13th of December, in German),
(Friday, 21st of February ‘25, in German)
(Friday, 28th of March ’25, in German)
For whom?
The workshops are designed for people aged 16 and above who want to have more influence on their stress levels and nervous system.
Younger participants aged 10 and above (twelve and above for Part 2) are also welcome, but the workshop is not designed for children. (If you are interested in workshops for even younger children, please contact us, we will put you on a list and let you know as soon as such a workshop is planned).
Participants between the ages of 10 and 12 must be accompanied by an adult guardian (min. 16 years).
Regarding physical restrictions or disabilities, see ‘Where?’ 🙂
For the first workshop, no previous knowledge is required.
The second workshop is only suitable for people who have roughly the level of knowledge that we teach in the first workshop.
For this reason, the second workshop can only be booked together with the first workshop or by prior arrangement with us.
Maximum number of participants for Part 1: 20 participants
Maximum number of participants for Part 2: 15 participants
If you have any other concerns or questions, or would like to let us know of a special requirement that we should be aware of, please write to us, contact details see ‘By whom?’
Price and registration
The regular price for each individual workshop part is €30.
You can also pay the reduced price of €22 without explanation.
If you know right from the start that you want to book both workshops,
you can pay €48 for the regular package,
or book the reduced package for €38.
You can choose on which date you participate in the second workshop as long as the order remains the same (see also: ‘For whom?’), even if it might be worth choosing the date immediately after, because then you will probably see more familiar faces 🙂
However, there is currently only one planned occurrence of the English version, so if you need it in English, you will either have to make it to both workshops in November, or it might be some time until we repeat the event. Probably around May ’25 or similar 😉
If this price offer is also beyond your current possibilities, please feel free to contact us and we will surely find a solution together.
Please understand that cancellations are only possible up to one week before the date. You are of course welcome to give your place to someone else if you miss this deadline.
To book, you can either send us an e-mail or simply book in the booking system.
By whom?
You can reach us using these contact options:
Rhia’s e-mail: rhia@balancedyoga.de
Ben’s e-mail: info@ben-gerull.de
Ben’s mobile number: 01575 0163 738
(Messages by email or WhatsApp/Telegram preferred, if you call, leave a message on the answering machine, including a time slot in which we can call you back)
We, Ben and Rhia, have developed this workshop together based on our respective fields of work.
In the course of our time together, we have held many processes together, worked with our own traumas and those of friends and finally decided to do trauma prevention together and support people in inner work.
The following is a summary of the methods and models we build upon in the workshops.
Foundations of the workshop
Models / concepts:
- Traumatherapeutic approaches such as Somatic Experiencing by Dr. Peter Levine and NARM by Dr. Laurence Heller
- Inner Parts work (such as IFS – Inner Family System)
- Nonviolent communication by Marshall Rosenberg
- Polyvagal theory by Stephen Porges (we have some reservations about the theoretical or neurobiological background given here, but agree with most of the practical implications)
- Holistic Bodywork by Pascal Beaumart
Methods:
- various self-developed games and presentation methods from the field of storytelling and improvisation, often inspired by the aforementioned methods and models
- ‘Authentic Relating Games’, partly ‘Circling’: games for exploring authentic interpersonal relationships
- ‘Brainfit’, a method for activating and training the brain
- ‚SOS-Exercises‘ by Kati Bohnet („SOS“=“Somatically Oriented Safety“, a series of regulation techniques)
- various nervous system regulation techniques from the above models/concepts
- ‘Autogenic training’
- ‘Progressive muscle relaxation’ by Jacobsen (‘PMR’)
Registration
You can easily and conveniently register for this workshop here. Please note that for technical reasons, the discount for booking the 1st + 2nd workshop at the same time can only be applied to a single booking. If you would like to book the package for two or more people, please complete the booking process several times.
Of course you can also simply book by e-mail to info@ben-gerull.de. Please state your name, the number of tickets you would like and the dates. You will receive a confirmation with the total price and all the important details within one or two working days.
Payment is possible via PayPal directly at the time of booking, but includes a surcharge due to PayPal’s transaction costs. You are welcome to pay in cash at the workshop or by bank transfer to the bank details provided in your confirmation email.
An invoice is available on request.