Irene Lyon, MSC.

Nervous system expert & master somatic practitioner

Irene Lyon, MSC
Irene Lyon, MSC

Irene Lyon Credentials

The short story

After 20 years experience…

My Shiny Credentials

I started my SE studies in 2008 and went as far as one can go in this domain (without becoming a trainer of the method). I’ve assisted at the basic SE trainings as well as numerous Master Classes that were exclusively taught by the founder of SE, Dr. Peter Levine. Master Class topics I’m well versed in include: working with near-death and anesthesia states; working with anger, depression, healthy aggression and life force energy; working with syndromal representations (such as autoimmune disorders) in conjunction with the polyvagal theory. I regularly mentor and offer consultation to my colleagues within the Somatic Experiencing practices.

I’ve completed the Touch Skills Training (TST) and Somatic Resilience and Regulation Training (SRR) and have attended speciality workshops throughout the years. I maintain active communication with these stellar teachers to help further my learning and the learning of my mentees and clients.

I’m a certified Feldenkrais ® Practitioner, and have completed a 4-year intensive Professional Feldenkrais Teacher Training Program under the supervision of Jeffrey Haller. I’ve taught public classes, built a private practice in Whistler, British Columbia, and even started a video documentation project dedicated to educating more people about the wonders of this work and how it is needed in the world. Dr. Feldenkrais’ principles around neuroplastic healing and awareness through movement play a massive part in my online teachings, in-person workshops, and my own personal movement practices.

Between 1993 and 1999, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Health Science from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. In 2000, I also obtained certificates in fitness and nutrition from Simon Fraser University. Between 2000-2002, I did a small stint in academia at the University of Wollongong (New South Wales, Australia) pursuing my Masters in Research within the biomedical and health sciences. I was awarded my Masters in 2008. If you’re ambitious, you can download my entire dissertation here.

Get the fruits of my 20 years of experience

Rather than you sifting through all the research and countless books, not to mention attending weekend workshops and trainings for years on end (like I did!), I can give you what I’ve found to be THE MOST essential pieces for personal development and well-being so you can learn to become your own medicine and heal at the root level:
your nervous system.

The long story

nervous system

How it all started

My own healing journey

How did I get here? 👁️👣 That’s a question I get asked fairly often so I wanted to give you all a little background on my own healing journey and what has brought me here, to this moment.

In 1999, while walking down a flight of stairs, my kneecap spontaneously broke in half. Ya. Super fun. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever felt physical pain quite like that. Two knee surgeries later (after the previous two – LONG story) and it was time to recover.

This was the early part of 2000…

While living with physical ‘uncertainty’ I was set to head down under to the University town of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia to pursue a Master’s degree in biomedical science (this was a really fun and intense time and these are the only two pictures that I have from then…I was running an intervention study with older adults, teaching them how to strength train! It was a blast and one of the most memorable moments of my life.)

During this time, a physical therapist suggested I try something out called The Feldenkrais Method ®. I’ll never forget how within a matter of four weeks, my insanely stiff, tense and old feeling 25-year-old body completely transformed to feeling supple, strong and pain-free. This occurred by stopping all flexibility work, strength training, physical and massage therapy and ONLY focusing on what I now call Feldenkraisian learning. The work of Dr. Moshé Feldenkrais (1904-1984), the founder of this work, completely rocked my world and understanding of healing the human system at the physical and functional level. It humbled me beyond measure and made me see that I still had a heck of a lot to learn.

Feldenkraisian learning brings us back to our natural movement ‘roots’ – how we might explore and learn as healthy babies and toddlers – but we do it as adults. We re-learn how to stay curious and attentive to being in the present moment and how we can make our movement as efficient and as delicious as possible.

When I returned home from Australia, I knew I’d be a hypocrite if I did not train in this body of work that helped me so much.

But in 2008, when I started to realize via trial and error in my private practice, that while many clients were having benefits similar to mine, roughly 50% of them were not.

And similar to my ‘seize the day’ ways of going into my Feldenkrais studies by gut feel, I did the same with SE and before I knew it I had enrolled in a three-year Somatic Experiencing program.

That moment is still seared in my memory – I remember where I was, who was there, and thinking to myself, “why the f*ck is this not mainstream!?!” I guess you could say that single moment was the spark that has put me here.

My knee that I mentioned when I started this tale of ‘how I got started’ is osteoarthritic like crazy and, according to the x-rays (and the doctors), I should not be able to walk on it let alone put weight on it – and yet I can do this and a heck of a lot more!

My other superpower, and no doubt why YOU are here, is blending ALL that I’ve learned in my educational career, both academically and in the professional somatic training realms, into a unified whole so the world can get schooled on the importance of nervous system health, healing trauma, and all things neuroplasticity.

What you see here on this site – via my free resources, paid online trainings and live workshops – is what I’ve created for you and the world so I sure hope you stick around to learn with me and my team and discover the capacity for your body to heal and realize its fullest potential.

To your nervous system health

Irene