Q and A with Dr. Alice from San Diego, California
“…take pride in your skills, even if they have nothing to do with your career. Hobbies and passion projects are vitally important to living a fulfilling life. I recommend dance, but I am pretty biased.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about so many things—it can feel overwhelming at times! This year I have expanded my container to focus on identifying as an artist, and I have thrown myself into my dance practices, returned to performing as a belly dancer, and picked up fire dancing again (an art form I learned in my 20s and had gotten away from). I’m also passionate about rock climbing and maintaining good physical, mental, and emotional health.
Most of how I spend my free time is dedicated to self growth, personal development, movement, fitness, and connecting with my community. I’m currently putting energy towards passion projects, including more workshops and retreats on nervous system regulation and somatic experiencing, and creating a rock climbing program for my patients who have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. I’ll also be working on a duet choreography with one of my dance girlfriends to be performed at a show in April!
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: It’s funny because I am doing a lot of IFS (Internal Family Systems) work personally around my younger years and recognizing patterns I hadn’t been previously aware of. I am the youngest of five, and I spent a good deal of time as a child playing outside in the nearby patch of forest we had in our suburban neighborhood. My parents were big on road trips, so my passion for travel and nature was ignited at a young age, as we camped and visited many of the beautiful national parks the U.S. has to offer.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A:Three things come to mind. 1. I’m seven years sober and went through some really tough years of struggling with alcoholism and not understanding what addiction was or how to work with it. If you’re struggling with addictive behaviors or patterns—get help! Life is so much better on the other side, and there is no shame in addiction. It truly is an unfathomable disease. Help is out there and recovery has been such a huge gift in my life.
2. Working with my nervous system through Somatic Experiencing has been life-changing. These tools are basic human skills we should all learn from a very young age. How to self-regulate, how to identify sensations and separate them from emotions, how to feel anger without it being explosive. I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to learn some of these tools. I personally offer online programs, in-person retreats, local workshops, and countless free resources providing education on these topics because I believe we ALL have a right to live an embodied and empowered life.
3. Find hobbies you love and dive into them. Be inspired, be ignited, take pride in your skills, even if they have nothing to do with your career. Hobbies and passion projects are vitally important to living a fulfilling life. I recommend dance, but I am pretty biased.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Such a good question! The first thing that came to mind for me was “equality.” And not equality in the way that a woman needs to be able to do everything a man can do and vice versa, but strength and power in our own right, for men and women. Can we please celebrate our differences and see the power and wisdom in both?
I’d like to see a world where women are regarded as subjects, consistently and without having to ask for this repeatedly, rather than being objectified. Feminism is the ability to be soft and vulnerable in our strength, and have good support from men who have done their work to hold and cherish the vulnerability. I want to run around naked in my loincloth under a full moon, live for weeks in the forest out of my backpack, and yet still have access to my softness and gentleness.
MORE FROM DR. ALICE: I have a free training on nervous system regulation if anyone would like to check it out. They can access it here: Heal your Nervous System, Heal your LIfe
Thanks for reading!
Connect with me here:
Dr Alice Kerby, PT, DPT, SEP, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
619 432 2991
As featured in: The Huff Post, She Recovers, The Amazon Corp, SEI Community Conversations, The Bubble Hour
Comment below!
The Woman Wednesday Blog 
Nice blog, business and photos.
LikeLike