ABOUT SIMPLY BE WELL
Our Mission
We believe in the power of returning to a time of simplicity and stillness. Our lives are ever changing-in a state of constant stress and our bodies and minds bear the burden. We live in a time when the hustle of everyday life defines us and we fear stillness, for lack of productivity. We are terrified of the act of “doing nothing” and we struggle to see that receiving is an essential part of living fulfilled lives. At Simply Be Well, we are committed to curating sensory resources for individuals to help relieve stress and to bring about a sense of well being. We hope to help others access everything that is already within them to heal.
You are the Medicine.
Our Story
Simply Be Well was co-founded by Barbie and Christi, after experiencing the power of using the senses to help regulate and balance our bodies and minds. As Somatic Psychotherapists, focused on trauma healing and trained in many researched-based and trauma-informed practices, they realized that the most effective way to help clients heal from their struggles was to use the body as a resource.
Many of us move through the world quickly, with urgency, trying to get to the next best thing—we often don’t know how to be still and let our systems settle. In our western culture, we are taught to approach time from a scarcity perspective—it’s never enough and there is definitely never enough time.
When we hold trauma in our system, these feelings and sensations are intensified by the desire to act. The idea of stillness can feel terrifying to someone struggling with the effects of trauma and chronic stress—we fear our pain will catch up with us.
Simply Be Well was created to help individuals feel safety in stillness. Our products are all carefully curated to help bring balance to our systems through the use of our physical senses. We hope that our products will inspire you to create space for rituals that can be easily integrated into our daily lives.
“This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.”
Mary Oliver
Dr. Barbie Hessel, LCSW, SEP, RSP | Somatic Psychotherapist
When I consider the collective reality of my personal journey, I am able to see “how” and “why” I found security in rigidity and linear thinking. I understand why I turned away from the divine and sought out answers and remedies in the structure of western culture.
The daughter of political refugees, the essence of home was hard to grasp, and constant action seemed the only way possible to keep moving forward and avoid the feelings of fear and the panic around scarcity.
After close to 20 years in a profession that thrived in structure and doctrine, I was able to find a way to use my intuition as I sensed through the world. I made personal and professional shifts, becoming a Somatic Psychotherapist, in order to learn how to embrace stillness—and it is by being still that I was able to gain clarity and really listen to my body and all it has to teach me.
For many years, my nervous system was in a constant state of vigilance, striving to survive at any cost. I learned that by be-friending my body and the brain’s alarm system (amygdala) I could feel security and a sense of home within myself.
We founded Simply Be Well as a way of sharing resources for others to begin to find safety and comfort.
Barbie is a somatic psychotherapist and founder of Simply Being, a holistic, trauma informed practice in Nashville, TN. Barbie has extensive academic and professional training and experience working with folks who struggle with trauma and chronic stress—she is passionate about helping her clients access what they have within themselves to heal.
Christi Sidwell, LMSW | Somatic Psychotherapist
Like many of us, I grew up in an environment where it was the norm to look outside of yourself for the answers. This looked like distrusting or overriding the body and looking towards others to inform what my personal boundaries should be.
For many years, I lived in a functional dissociation state from my body as well as a “auto-pilot” fawn response. This created a distrust of my body, voice and inner-knowing.
Part of my personal repair came from inviting curiosity as I offered myself space to explore my internal environment. Experience in “inner”-standing allowed me to build a relationship with my body and intuition.
I believe that our personal evolution in healing is one that connects us back to our true power – which is ourselves. We don’t have to look outside of ourselves – we need to look within and partner with ourselves (our bodies, voices and intuition).
Simply Be Well was founded in this framework and exists to help guide us back to ourselves through intentionally curated resources, products and experiences.
Christi is a somatic psychotherapist and intuitive healer at Simply Being, a holistic, trauma informed practice in Nashville, TN. With extensive training and experience working with folks who struggle with trauma, chronic stress and spiritual development, Christi is able to integrate evidence-based therapy modalities with energetic and shamanic approaches for holistic care.