Esther Brandon Post-Traumatic Growth Coaching

A gentle invitation 🌿

On June 10 at 11 AM EST, I’ll be offering a Vagal Toning session — a grounding pause to reconnect with the wisdom of the nervous system through breath, presence, and simple regulating practices.

A participant recently shared:

“Another beautiful class".
I appreciate the tempo of your teaching, the pauses, the beautiful slides, the time for questions, and the practice too!”
— Orit

I’ll be sharing more on Sunday during a brief Facebook Live. 💛

🌿 A Grounding Pause for Your Nervous System

During these uncertain times, our nervous system can sometimes feel like it's carrying more than it was meant to hold — waves of anxiety, weariness, or difficulty settling may arise. For these moments, I'd love to offer you a gentle invitation.

🌟 On June 10 at 11 AM EST, I'm offering a Vagal Toning session —
a practice that works with your body's own wisdom: its capacity for connection, protection, grounding, and response. Whether you're new to this or already familiar with these practices, you're warmly welcome.

📅 Wednesday, June 10 | 11 AM EST

🔗 Sign up here: https://EstherBrandonCoachingandConsulting.as.me/?appointmentType=93676999

🌱 The image illuminates the vagus nerve pathway — and the name itself tells the story. Vagus means "wandering" in Latin, and this nerve truly does wander, traveling from your brainstem all the way through your heart, lungs, and digestive system.

🌱 Here's something remarkable: 80% of vagus nerve fibers carry signals upward — from the body to the brain, not the other way around. Your gut, your heart, your breath are constantly in conversation with your mind.

A toned vagus nerve builds resilience by helping you move more fluidly between the sympathetic ("activated") and parasympathetic ("rest") branches of your autonomic nervous system —

increasing your capacity to return, again and again, to a calm, regulated state.

You Can't Direct the Wind, But You Can Adjust the Sail
— Louisa May Alcott

These words lived on the boathouse wall, just around the corner from my house — grown from moss, by someone with patience and love. Every time I walked past them, they brought me back to the same quiet thought: we may not get to choose what comes our way, but we can gently find our way to meet it.

Thinking about Well-Being coaching?

I offer a free, 30-minute Inquiry Call — no pressure, no obligations. Just the two of us, getting to know each other, exploring whether working together feels like a good fit.
Come exactly as you are. Bring your questions, your hopes, or even just your curiosity. That's more than enough to begin.

💚 Link is in the comments
Or simply send me a message — whatever feels right for you.

Would you like to pause in the middle of your day…
and find your way to more ease?

Vagal Toning 🌱
A gentle midday pause to settle and steady

Simple Practices to Soothe Your Nervous System

A gentle introduction to how the vagus nerve supports your heart, body, mind, and overall well-being.

In everyday life, we’re often already tending to this pathway—
sometimes without even knowing it.

In this session, you’ll learn what vagal toning is and experience simple, supportive practices using breath, sound, self-applied touch, and soft, gentle awareness to help bring your system into balance—especially during times of stress or uncertainty.

Date: Wednesday, May 13
Time: 1:00 PM EST (12 PM CST / 11 AM PST)
Location: Zoom

🌿 Register to Join Us: Link in the comments

Offered by Esther Brandon, mindfulness teacher and trauma-informed resilience coach.

Box Breath 🍃

This mindfulness breathing practice gets its name from the four equal steps that form the "sides" of a box. I often use it when I feel anxious or unsettled. It can be powerfully soothing with soft effort.

Begin by finding a comfortable position — sitting or standing, feet steady on the floor or earth. Take a slow breath in, and out.

Notice how your body feels. Are there any places that feel relaxed? Constrained? Tense? Or you may not feel any of these — simply notice whatever is there.

Choose a count that feels natural — 2, 3, or 4.

Inhale: Breathe in slowly through your nose.

Hold: Pause and hold.

Exhale: Slowly breathe out through your mouth.

Hold: Pause, lungs empty, before the next inhale.

Take a moment to notice how you feel.

Like the surface of still water…

🍃 Finding Your Way Coaching ~

In a session, we will listen softly to the body’s natural wisdom, intelligence and rhythms~

✨This is the heart of my work: holding space for women to reconnect with the unfolding of their strengths and wholeness. Over time, softly being with what is difficult builds resilience — much like a tree in strong winds. The tree doesn't brace or harden. It moves with the force, and grows stronger, more rooted. This is what mindful awareness and trauma-informed understanding make possible — medicine for the nervous system.

When the nervous system is soothed, settled, regulated something tender becomes possible — not fixing ourselves, but softly reconnecting with ourselves. Trauma recovery is its own quiet heroism: a soft and steady walking toward the light of our own wholeness.💙

💙 "The places in which we are seen and heard are holy places.
They remind us of our value as human beings. They give us the strength to go on."

- Rachel Naomi Remen

Kitchen Table Wisdom
Stories that Heal