How Nervous System Regulation Creates Emotional Safety and Secure Attachment with Jessica Bishop

Do you ever feel like your body is reacting for you—especially in moments of stress or around certain people?

In this powerful episode, I sit down with Jessica Bishop, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Yoga Teacher, to dive into her personal journey of healing anxiety, nervous system regulation, and living with essential tremors. Jess shares her experience of relying on medication for years, and how somatic healing and learning to regulate her nervous system not only transformed her physical symptoms, it changed the way she relates and shows up with others.

We explore how Jess's essential tremors, panic attacks, and chronic anxiety once controlled her life—and how somatic practices, emotional regulation, and embodiment  brought real, lasting anxiety relief. She talks about how she reduced her need for medication, left an unhealthy marriage, and learned about secure attachment, leading to a healthier relationship and a deeper sense of emotional safety in her body.

This conversation gently unveils how body-based therapy and somatic practices can heal trauma, transform anxiety, and reshape the relationships you attract—starting with the relationship you have with your own body.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Simple somatic tools for healing anxiety and stress
• The power of emotional safety in trauma recovery
  How somatic practices help regulate your nervous system and stress response.
• What it feels like to experience secure attachment in your body
• How nervous system regulation can support healthier relationships
• The difference between intellectual awareness and embodied awareness. 
• Why yoga is often the gateway practice into somatic experiencing. 
• How to tell the difference between a "threat response" and the feeling of "butterflies"

If you’re on a journey to trust your body again or notice how your relationships impact your nervous system, you’re not alone. Your body has wisdom, and as you create more safety, it has the potential to change.

Much love,

Laurie

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Thank you in advance. 

Click here to learn about my NEW “Nervous System Regulation Starter Kit” 

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DISCLAIMER: THE COMMENTARY AND OPINIONS AVAILABLE ON THIS PODCAST ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING LEGAL, MEDICAL OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LICENSED THERAPIST IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. YOU SHOULD CONTACT AN ATTORNEY IN YOUR STATE TO OBTAIN LEGAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WITH RESPECT TO ANY MEDICAL ISSUE OR PROBLEM.

Transcript

Laurie James: Hey there, it's Laurie. Happy December. And before we get started, don't forget to download my free beginner's guide to somatic healing if you're interested in learning how to regulate your nervous system. Also, I'd appreciate it if you would fill out my podcast survey, so that way I can continue to bring you episodes that you want to hear in the coming year. Both links are in the show notes and I'd be grateful for both.

And if you have ever wanted to understand how somatic healing can help someone, this episode is for you. Today I'm talking to a friend, fellow somatic experiencing practitioner, yoga teacher, who has experienced profound healing from working with a somatic practitioner and from going through the three years of training together. Now she helps clients in a treatment facility and she is also an incredible actress, producer and writer as well. And she shares her very personal journey that you don't want to miss. So stay tuned, grab those headphones. We will keep you company for the next 40 minutes. You don't want to miss this one.

Welcome to Confessions of a Freebird podcast. I'm your host, Laurie James. A mother, divorcée, recovering caregiver, the author of Sandwiched: A Memoir of Holding On and Letting Go, a therapy junkie, relationship coach, somatic healer, and now podcaster. I'm a free spirit and here to lift you up. On this podcast, I'll share soulful confessions and empowering conversations with influential experts, so you can learn to spread your wings and make the most of your second half. So pop in those earbuds, turn up the volume and let's get inspired because my mission is to help you create your most joyful, purpose-driven life, one confession at a time.

Welcome back Freebirds. Today I am so excited to jump into this conversation because it's a topic that I can talk about forever and I think my guest can too. Today I have invited Jess Bishop, who is a fellow somatic practitioner, yoga instructor and coach. And she works full-time in a treatment center here in LA, but she also sees clients privately on the side. I met her in my somatic training class and I wanted to bring her on so we can talk about how somatic experiencing has helped her because it's not as easy for us to like bring clients on to share that information, but she has a very rich and beautiful story that I'm so excited to jump into. So welcome, Jess. Thank you so much for being here.

Jessica Bishop: Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm so happy to be here.

Laurie James: Yes. So can you start by sharing with our listeners a little bit about your story of like when we met and what stage you were in and where you are now?

Jessica Bishop: Absolutely. So we met at our somatic experiencing training where, you know, in a three year program to learn to become SEPs, somatic experiencing practitioners. And before SE work, I was a very different human being.

Laurie James: How so?

Jessica Bishop: So first of all, as Laurie knows, I've had an essential tremor my entire life and it's really impacted my life in a lot of ways. I mean, if I was going to a lunch with a friend, I'd think, okay, what kind of food can I order so that my shake won't be as noticeable?

Laurie James: Yeah. And can just real quick explain what an essential tremor does or is for those who might not know?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. To put it simply, I was born with very shaky hands. It's nervous system related. It's not harmful. It's not dangerous, but it's had an emotional impact on me, a social impact on me. I used to take medication for it every single day and I don't need to do that anymore. I've done so much more body work, so much more somatic work. And now, you know, I take medication occasionally as needed, but it's been a game changer for just dealing with this shake that I have.

Laurie James: Yeah. And how beautiful is that that three plus years of doing this work has been able to have such a huge impact on you.

Jessica Bishop: A huge impact. Like a true game changer. Now, it's not a second thought if I schedule a lunch or I schedule a dinner with a friend, I'm not having to look at the menu ahead of time and go, okay, well, if I order this, the shake won't be as noticeable. I would love pasta, but I certainly can't bring a fork from a plate to my mouth and everyone will see. Like it used to control so many things about my life that I didn't think. And now it's just not so much of a concern. People notice every once in a while and people go, oh, your hands are shaking. And I'll say, oh yeah, that's usual for me. That's not a problem. But it used to be pointed out to me every single day. So...

Laurie James: Yeah, and that can really affect how we show up in the world. And like you said, whether it's dinner or if you go to a social event, whatever, going to work. It definitely these types of things, whether it's noticeable or if it's some type of anxiety we have inside that may not be as noticeable, it affects how we show up.

Jessica Bishop: Exactly. And because I was nervous about appearing shaky, the shake would get worse because the nervousness would exacerbate it and it was this rolling issue where the nerves would exacerbate the shake and then the shake would exacerbate the nerves. So...

Laurie James: Yeah, so it was just like a perpetual cycle that just made it worse. Also can you share with our listeners what stage of life you were in when we first met at the beginning of somatic training and maybe where you are now and how somatic healing, somatic experiencing has helped you with that process too?

Jessica Bishop: Oh my gosh. Yes, happy to. Night and day. So when we met Laurie...

Laurie James: Uh-huh. I remember sitting in that triad with you, which just means we had three people and we were practicing this. Go ahead.

Jessica Bishop: Mmhmm. And I was experiencing a ton of anxiety on the regular. I was prone to panic attacks. I was also in a marriage that was extremely destabilizing, dysregulating. I didn't have the deep awareness of it at the time that I do now that I was in such an appease. I was in such a fawn response, a people please, to just survive emotionally in that relationship. So I showed up to somatic work with an intense curiosity, but a severely dysregulated nervous system. With some intellectual awareness of what was happening, but not an embodied awareness. And that was the difference. I've realized you can understand logically what's happening for you and see all of your patterns from a place of evaluation and analysis, but if it's not embodied, if your body isn't on the same page, it's not that helpful.

Laurie James: Yeah. Well, you know I often talk about this sometimes on my podcast, but when I guest, just for our listeners' benefit, it's because 80% of our sensory information travels from our body to our brain and only 20% travels from our brain to our body. So that 20% of our brain is working really, really hard to try and communicate to our nervous system. But when we can move into the body and really embody and feel what's happening and not be afraid of the sensations, of the emotions that we're experiencing, that's when we can really start being more attuned with our body and really build that relationship. Tell me if you have a different viewpoint.

Jessica Bishop: I agree 100%. I couldn't agree more.

Laurie James: Yeah. I mean, this work has just been so profound for me and I know it's been profound for you. So why did you decide to become a somatic experiencing practitioner? Like how did you get into this field?

Jessica Bishop: Yes. Some good luck and some good fortune. So I had been working as a yoga teacher at a treatment center in Santa Monica teaching mindfulness, teaching breath, but internally struggling with all of it. So I think outwardly I looked calm, I looked grounded. I was very good at masking. Inwardly there was so much going on and I was feeling so dysregulated. So I was teaching yoga but not always living the yoga. The treatment center that I was working at hired an SEP, a somatic experiencing practitioner. And at this point I had no idea what this was. He became a colleague of mine, a friend of mine, and we were sharing clients. And I would notice clients who I had been working with for months would be working with this colleague for a short period of time and show up in the space with me with a completely different nervous system.

Laurie James: Wow.

Jessica Bishop: I had never seen results like this before. I had been at this treatment center for 10 years working with a ton of really incredible and talented colleagues, top specialists in their field.

Laurie James: Mmhmm.

Jessica Bishop: And I had never seen changes...

Laurie James: So profound.

Jessica Bishop: So profound. So I befriended this colleague and I said, hey, what are you doing with our people? What are you doing with our clients? Because it's working. He directed me to the somatic experiencing program and the rest was history.

Laurie James: Oh, wow. That's so beautiful. And you know what I want to say in here? Because my entry point into my body and feeling was through yoga.

Jessica Bishop: Yes.

Laurie James: I almost call it like the gateway practice into somatic experiencing. And yoga isn't for everybody, but it was the first time that I was like, I don't always like this, but it helped me focus more. And it helped me have more clarity and really kind of ground myself, which was really the first time I'd had that experience because I'd lived in survival mode up in my sympathetic nervous system for most of my life. Right? Just between an unsafe environment growing up in my childhood and then raising four children, caring for elderly parents and then my marriage falling apart. It's like... I mean, we all have a different story. But that was the yoga and then I just kept building on that. And I mean, unfortunately, I had to fall really ill and was in the hospital twice after I left my marriage to find somatic experiencing. So I'm glad that you didn't go down the same path.

Jessica Bishop: I feel like I hit a rock bottom in a way before we find somatic work and find this type of healing.

Laurie James: Yeah. So when you first started the program, I think you had just left your marriage or was in the process or tell us a little bit more about that?

Jessica Bishop: Yeah. So I was in the marriage and being in the somatic experiencing program brought this deeper awareness to my system that I was just trying to survive and muscle through every day. And I was spending so much of my energy trying to regulate my partner at the time and trying to prevent being on the receiving end of emotional abuse. And it was exhausting.

Laurie James: Well, especially when your nervous system wasn't always regulated because you were also struggling with this essential tremor issue, right?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. Sure. I'm sure that they complimented each other in not such a positive way. But as I was going through in the program and I was starting to deepen my awareness and deepen my embodiment and deepen my ability to access depth authentically without losing my grounding. When I was learning presence and connection and starting to see myself more clearly, I just became aware that I was in this relationship that was not serving me. And I got to a point where I was strong enough in my nervous system where I was able to leave, feel confident in myself and trust my own choices.

Laurie James: Yeah. And how beautiful is that? Is to be able to trust yourself. And that I think is a really important distinction. If anybody's listening, either questioning a relationship or just questioning a change in general, is we need to be able to have our nervous system stable enough to be able to make that move. And I don't know about you, but my ex-husband often kept me very dysregulated too. And I would be like, I'm ready to go. No, I'm not. Yes, I am. No, I'm not.

Jessica Bishop: Yeah, the dance.

Laurie James: Right? That dance. And it's just like because that's our threat response. Like we want to flee.

Jessica Bishop: Right.

Laurie James: Right? Because this doesn't feel safe. And then we calm down and we're like, okay, maybe it's not so bad. But it really is because we shouldn't be having a partner that is causing us to move up into such a heightened threat response all the time.

Jessica Bishop: Exactly. But that was just familiarity for me. It wasn't until somatic experiencing that I had the understanding that I was mistaking dysregulation for chemistry.

Laurie James: Wow. Can you say more about that? That's huge.

Jessica Bishop: Sure. When I was with someone who I felt activated by, I would feel maybe a little sick to the stomach. I think, oh, those are butterflies. I'd feel my heart racing, which is really my body saying, no, no, no, I'm under threat. And I would and I confused it with attraction. Yeah. And somatic experiencing taught me how to rewire my nervous system because I'm with my partner now. He is my soulmate and I have never, I never feel dysregulated by him. He is so secure and safe and grounding, but my nervous system needed to learn how to be with a safe person.

Laurie James: Yeah. So two questions about that. One, did you have a lot of chaos in your childhood or where do you think your nervous system associated that chaos and that confusion of activation or being in my sympathetic is mistaken as chemistry?

Jessica Bishop: Yes. There was a lot of chaos in my childhood. I have two loving parents who are good human beings, but never learned emotional regulation. Never learned tools. Their relationship was oil and water, totally volatile and they would fight and they would fight loudly. They'd fight aggressively. They would separate and then come back together and separate and come back together. And eventually they got divorced and, you know, have since been in very stable, healthy marriages with with other partners. But I grew up witnessing this constant chaos and this constant dysregulation. So I didn't have modeling for a secure, healthy, loving, safe relationship. I didn't have modeling for regulation.

Laurie James: Yeah. I get that. So is it safe to say that you feel like that is why you chose your ex-husband? Because your nervous system equated chaos to love?

Jessica Bishop: Absolutely. It felt like home at the time. Home felt like chaos. So I was in a pattern and I was just repeating the pattern unconsciously. And I didn't have that deeper awareness that, wait, I can break a pattern. A pattern does not need to be a life sentence. And somatic experiencing, that broke that pattern for me.

Laurie James: Yeah. Oh, thank you for sharing that. And then my next question, because this is harder to do. So you leave this relationship, you leave your marriage, you spend some time on your own because for those listeners, our program is two and a half to three years for us to get through all the training for us to become SEPs, somatic experiencing practitioners. So how was it when you first started dating your current boyfriend and what did you do to communicate to your nervous system that secure is okay? That chaos isn't and secure is okay?

Jessica Bishop: Right. You know, I think what's really nice about somatic experiencing is it didn't need to be such an intellectual process. I don't feel like I was overthinking. I think I was at a point, I took over a year off from dating to just be with myself and be with my incredible support system. You know, I really took my time. I didn't rush into things. I dated myself as they say, even though it sounds a little cheesy.

Laurie James: It's true though. Yeah.

Jessica Bishop: So by the time I felt ready to date again, I had a deep sense of trust that I would choose differently and that I was attracted to something different. So I think it had been a slow process over time that was supported by me really taking time to just rest and be with myself. I met my partner quickly after I started dating. I think we we were magnetized to each other and we've been together over a year now. It's just so deeply supportive. I feel so much more capacity, so much more love because my nervous system feels safe. I don't think I would have found him boring. I don't think that's fair. He's incredibly fascinating. But my nervous system might have been like, ah, I'm not activated. I'm not stressed out. Maybe this isn't it.

Laurie James: Well, a lot of people want that the chemistry, want the fireworks right away.

Jessica Bishop: Right.

Laurie James: And when I'm working with somebody who's in that dating process, I'm like, you actually don't. In fact, I have some friends who, a couple of them were therapists, well, one in particular, but it takes a while sometimes for people to not break that pattern of not equating that chemistry. And I'm out there dating again, you know, dipping my toe back in there and anytime a guy says, I'm looking for that chemistry, that fireworks, I'm like, left, left. Like, I don't know. Do you not understand? Like, let's build this slowly over time.

Jessica Bishop: Exactly. And I liked him, I liked my partner immediately. I thought he was handsome. I thought he was brilliant. I thought he was talented. So it wasn't like I was bored by him or unattracted to him. I just didn't feel activated around him. I felt calm. I felt really grounded. I wasn't shaking on our first date. And I'll tell you what, Laurie, on the drive over, I go, oh my gosh, I forgot to take my Propranolol, which was the medication, the beta blocker I historically taken before any first date, before anything that could be heightening or put me into sympathetic charge. I was like, shoot, shoot, shoot. I forgot to take my beta blocker. And I got there and I didn't need it.

Laurie James: How beautiful is that?

Jessica Bishop: I know. It was a it was a really big whoa. Wow. What would a...

Laurie James: And the fact that you hadn't taken it, you know, your mind didn't like keep you looping of like, oh my God, I didn't take it. I didn't take it. So am I going to get nervous? And then, you know, I'm getting nervous because I didn't take it.

Jessica Bishop: Exactly. I wasn't in that that spin out cycle.

Laurie James: Right. You weren't looping about it and ruminating.

Jessica Bishop: That's a testament to the somatic work.

Laurie James: Yeah. Because when we're looping and we're ruminating like that is because we're up in our sympathetic nervous system, heightened, and so then then our thoughts keep us there.

Jessica Bishop: Yes. It was all green flags from the beginning. I just wasn't used to feeling so safe. And I think an older version of me equated safety with boredom. And at this point, this time around, I was wiser, I was more embodied. So I realized, no, the safety means that we can go deeper, that we can be so much more in love from a place of pacing and grounding. And this man is, I mean, he's a dream, Laurie. Like he is such a good man. I'm so loved. I'm so held. I'm so supported. And I can be every version of me and I'm and I'm held through it.

Laurie James: Yeah. How beautiful. And so, if you don't mind sharing and and if you're not comfortable since he's not on this call or, but has he done any work or like or did he just have a really healthy childhood? Or...

Jessica Bishop: You know what? I think he's one of those lucky people who had a really healthy childhood. He's just really well-regulated. He hasn't needed to do that work. And that's wonderful for him. Not a lot of us go through life in that way. But yeah, he just, fortunately, he's always been very grounded, very regulated, very securely attached. He's a rock. He's very interested in this work. He's curious about it. I think he has a natural propensity towards it because he's deeply curious and deeply emotionally intelligent. So he and he's learned it through being with me because I talk about it a lot. I'm passionate about it a lot. So he's kind of absorbed a lot of it through osmosis, but not necessarily in the somatic field.

Laurie James: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And that's good to know because for myself and just listeners because sometimes I think, is there anybody out there for like, do I need somebody who has done their own work or you know, cause it's you don't get to my age typically without having some type of trauma, right?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. And I'm not saying that he's never had trauma by any means.

Laurie James: Right, right, right. But I'm thinking about myself right in this moment and I should be thinking about more about my listeners, but hopefully some of the listeners might be able to connect with this because, you know, when you are meeting people and you are dating, sometimes I wonder like, maybe I do need to focus on people who have done this type of work or some type of therapy, body-based therapy so that way they get it. But I guess both can be true of if somebody has just had a fairly healthy childhood and life and has a propensity to be more grounded in everyday life, then that's what you want to look for. And that goes back to the secure attachment, right? As somebody who has is more secure overall. Like we all have elements of anxiety and of avoidance or hopefully not disorganized too much, but yes.

Jessica Bishop: Yeah. So I think this is just very natural for him. Things that I've needed to learn and really study have just been natural for him.

Laurie James: Interesting. Yeah. So what have been the top three benefits that you've experienced personally from doing this type of work, would you say?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. I think the first benefit's just allowing me to access depth authentically. I'm not afraid or I'm not so in fear of being with myself, being with big emotions at times. I now trust that emotion is like a wave. It'll rise, it'll fall. And I have the capacity to be uncomfortable to navigate something that feels challenging and I won't get stuck there. I can move through it. Two is I think I have an increased ability for presence and connection than I did before. I think there was a point in my life where I lived in such high anxiety that it was difficult for me to just be in the moment with another human being.

Laurie James: Mmhmm.

Jessica Bishop: I can do that so much easier. I feel like I see myself and I see others a lot more clearly.

Laurie James: Yeah. And isn't that a beautiful gift? I mean, isn't that so much of what we want is just to be able to be here, to be able to have this conversation and to be present and not thinking about something that happened in the past or what you need to do next and just really just like dig in. And that's such a beautiful gift.

Jessica Bishop: Yeah. And and just embodiment. I can be in my body and feel good in it. And yoga did help me with that practice to an extent, but somatic experiencing took me to a deeper level. Due to trauma, due to experiences, there were so many times where I'd either be in such a high sympathetic charge where I'm feeling anxiety and panic out the roof or I'm floaty and dissociated and not present. And it was like this pendulum swing, this yo-yo back and forth. And I feel like more often than not, I can be in the moment. I can be present. I can be with myself and another human being. So that is that's a miraculous gift.

Laurie James: Yeah. And I can remember even just on my own personal journey of trying to get to that from a spiritual standpoint, through meditation, and I was able to do it at times, but like you said, I'm able to do that at a deeper level now than I ever was before. And I think that's one of the beautiful gifts. So what are your favorite somatic practices?

Jessica Bishop: Sure.

Laurie James: If you want to share.

Jessica Bishop: So I learned this one first couple days of somatic experiencing training and this was a game changer for me and that was orienting to the environment. So just taking a few moments, looking around your room or wherever you are, letting your eyes land on things that feel pleasant or neutral.

Laurie James: Mmhmm.

Jessica Bishop: Feeling the space, hearing the sounds. It just lets your body know that you're safe in the present moment and it can ease anxiety or hypervigilance. So I use that all the time.

Laurie James: Yeah, I do too. I love that one. I do that in the morning often times when I first wake up too.

Jessica Bishop: Yeah.

Laurie James: So I don't I'm not like startled of like, oh my God, I gotta wake up and I gotta get up right away.

Jessica Bishop: Right. I know. So I love that. I love exploratory orientation. Also grounding through breath and awareness. Like I try to remind myself throughout the day to slow down. Just I can take a few deep breaths and notice the sensations of my feet on the floor or my body being supported by the chair and just allow that to signal safety to my nervous system. I feel like even a minute or two of that can completely reset stress responses.

Laurie James: Definitely. I love doing that like once or twice a day for sure, right? Because we're not meant to live up in our sympathetic nervous system all the time, which is what our capitalistic society rewards us to do. Go, go, go, do, do, do. Don't stop until you are so exhausted you pass out or you end up in the hospital or whatever it is.

Jessica Bishop: Exactly. So I'm very clear that I don't want to live that way anymore. And I have so many benefits from slowing down.

Laurie James: Yeah. Do you have a third one you want to share?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. So I love safe place visualization. I love taking a few moments. I'll usually do this in the morning right when I wake up or right before I go to bed. It'll be maybe a little less during the day if I'm in the flow of things, but just taking a few moments to imagine myself in a place that feels calm. It could be a beach, a forest.

Laurie James: Mmhmm.

Jessica Bishop: Cuddling with my dog in a cozy room, just taking a few moments to sense into imagination and engage the senses. Because as we know, the nervous system can't tell the difference between what's happening in reality and what's happening in imagination. Can't tell the difference between suggestion and reality. So using the power of suggestion, visualization, imagination will directly communicate to the nervous system and promote relaxation. So I love just taking a few moments to drop into a safe place and imagined reality that feels cozy and beautiful.

Laurie James: Yeah, take you back to your favorite vacation or the last vacation that you went on or whatever it is, right? It could be as simple like you said as just imagining sitting with your dog and petting it. You know, one of the things that my kids, I actually love this. One of the things that my kids have done, you know, cause they're all grown and out on their own now. We didn't have animals growing up because my ex-husband was allergic, but they all either have animals themselves or they're fostering. Like three of my daughters foster kittens. It's so regulating for their nervous system. And I just love that.

Jessica Bishop: My little emotional regulation friend. I love just petting her, holding her, giving her cuddles. It I feel the shift in my nervous system immediately. It's like, oh, and there's our parasympathetic drop.

Laurie James: Yeah. And that feels so, so good. So as we come to a close, is there one confession that you'd like to share that maybe we haven't discussed?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. I I think the confession, is such a fun conspiratorial word, isn't it?

Laurie James: I know, right?

Jessica Bishop: I think it's that I could talk about these things and be passionate about these things and have come a long way in my own regulation, my own practice. At the end of the day, I'm still I'm a human and I still struggle with stuff. And you know, I had a day yes, you know, earlier this week where I was like, I am so in the go, go, go. And I'm sitting with clients and supporting them to slow down and teaching them to slow down. And I'm looking at my own calendar and it's nuts. So I am still guilty of falling into some of those old patterns sometimes. It's not as often as it used to be. I have so much more stillness, slowness, regulation than I used to have. But I am still guilty of falling into the the old patterning, the rush, thinking of myself as a like a human doing rather than a human being.

Laurie James: Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. You know, it's, as I often say, it's a it's a journey, damn it. It's not a destination. And I hated that, but I've come to accept that more.

Jessica Bishop: Yes. Absolutely. So I'm a I'm a work in progress. I'm an imperfect work in progress, but I'm so glad to be on this journey. And when I measure where I was to where I am now, it really is a is really is a great difference. It's a big shift.

Laurie James: Yeah. And that's over what a three, three and a half year period of time?

Jessica Bishop: I think four, four years.

Laurie James: Four years? Yeah. And how beautiful is that?

Jessica Bishop: Yeah.

Laurie James: Well, thank you so much, Jess, for being here. I'll leave your information in the show notes, but where can people find you?

Jessica Bishop: Sure. I'm on Instagram, Jessica Bishop TV. You'll see I I have dual roles. I'm both an actor and a somatic experiencing practitioner. And those two roles really fuel each other and and support each other and intertwine beautifully. So you can find me on Instagram. Um, you can reach out to me on Gmail, jessicabishoptv@gmail.com. And yeah, looking forward to connecting with you.

Laurie James: Yeah. Thank you so much for being here, Jess. Loved our convo.

Jessica Bishop: Me too. Thank you so much for having me.

Laurie James: Thank you for listening to this episode of Confessions of a Freebird. I'm grateful to be in your ears and hearts. If you're interested in becoming a free bird, I'd love to support you. Please check out my website at https://www.google.com/search?q=lauriejames.com to learn how we can work together or to sign up for my newsletter. So you can receive tips on how to date and relationship differently and ultimately find more freedom and joy in your life. If you found this podcast helpful, please follow or subscribe, rate and review, and share it with friends so they can find more freedom in their second or third act also. Until next time.