The Vitality Lab
Dawn Obeidallah Davis, Ph.D., ERYT-500, MMT

Stress doesn't just live in your head. It lives in your body.

Sessions that work with your body directly, so that you can calibrate your nervous system.

Most of our challenges are because our nervous system is bracing for something that already happened, or hasn't happened yet. Feel your own system shift in each session, tracking sensation, breath, and consciousness.

Depending on what you bring in, that might mean titrating activation in small doses, slowing the breath until the vagal brake can find you again, or sitting in stillness long enough for something to settle on its own. Her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies — completed at Penn State, with a research focus on anxiety, depression, and development gone awry — was followed by post-doctoral research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. This foundation is sharpened further by direct study with Bo Forbes and Natasha Rizopoulos in mindfulness, yoga, and breathwork; Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield in mindfulness mentoring; and Melissa Grace in Hakomi therapeutic training.

Sleep is often where dysregulation shows up first, and where a shift is easiest to feel. Sessions draw on research-based tools aimed specifically at sleep — helping you fall asleep more easily, stay asleep, and wake with the kind of deep restoration your body actually needs.

Polyvagal-informed work Somatic Experiencing Hakomi HRV biofeedback Breathwork Yoga therapy Mindfulness

How stress shows up in you

Everyone's nervous system has a default archetype under pressure.

Accelerator

Moves faster to outrun what's underneath.

Collapser

Goes small and quiet as a way to protect you.

Appeaser

Tends toward hypervigilance — scanning others, people-pleasing.

Disconnector

Shutting down, retreating — because that feels safer.

Oscillator

Swings between overwhelm and shutdown.

Inside a session

01

Arrive

A few unhurried minutes to land in the room before any work begins.

02

Track

Following what the body's already doing — breath, tension, temperature, the urge to move or freeze.

03

Work the edge

Approaching activation in small, tolerable doses rather than flooding the system.

04

Integrate

Explore ways to integrate and bring the session to work in your daily life.

Sessions are held in person or by video. Reach out for current availability and rates.

Monthly at the Windsor Club

A themed workshop held once a month at the Windsor Club — practice yoga, breath work, meditation, and mindfulness in a vibrant community of women.

Next up: Center into Compassion, September 9th.

Space is kept small on purpose.

Reserve a spot

Want To Talk?

Reach out at dawn@dawndavis.com to schedule a free Zoom consultation — a chance to explore what's going on and how I can help.

Email dawn@dawndavis.com
Dawn Davis