April is Autism Awareness Month, and with it comes a lot of conversation about the brain—how it works, how it processes, and how it’s different.
But what if we’ve been looking at only part of the picture?
What if some of what we’re experiencing neurologically isn’t just about the brain… but about communication within the entire nervous system?
Because the brain doesn’t function in isolation. It communicates constantly with the body through the spine. And when that communication is clear, the body has the ability to regulate, adapt, and respond. When it’s not, we start to see patterns—overwhelm, dysregulation, tension, and symptoms that don’t always have simple answers.
In Spinal Flow, as taught by Dr. Carli Axford, the spine is seen as a communication pathway between the brain and body. The gateways along the spine reflect how a person has lived, what they’ve experienced, and where stress has been stored over time.
And the very first one—the Base Gateway—matters more than most people realize.
This area, around the sacrum and tailbone, is the foundation of the nervous system. It’s where the body anchors itself physically, but also where a significant amount of stress can be held. Not just emotional stress, but physical stress—falls, impacts, injuries that were brushed off because “you were fine.”
So I’ll ask you a question I’ve been asking more often:
Have you—or your child—ever injured your tailbone?
Fallen hard on the ice. Missed a step on the stairs. Landed wrong as a kid. Even something that seemed small at the time. Most people don’t connect those moments to anything long-term. But the body keeps the record.
Within this work, we look at how physical, emotional, and chemical stress can become stored in the body, creating areas where communication between the brain and body becomes less efficient. Not broken. Not damaged. Just… not communicating clearly.
Now, let’s be very clear about something. Neurological conditions like Autism are complex. They are not caused by a single event or one area of the body. But if someone’s nervous system is already processing the world differently—and then you layer in stored stress, especially in foundational areas like the base of the spine—it can affect how that system regulates, responds, and adapts. That’s the conversation that’s often missing. Because we tend to focus on managing symptoms, rather than supporting the system as a whole.
What I see in my work isn’t about fixing people. It’s about helping the nervous system feel safe enough to shift. When that happens, the body can begin to release patterns it’s been holding—sometimes for years.
Breathing changes. Posture softens. Reactions slow down. There’s more space between stimulus and response. And for some people, that’s the first time they’ve felt that kind of ease in their body. For parents especially, this matters. Because you’re not just looking for explanations. You’re looking for ways to support your child in feeling more comfortable in their own body… more regulated… more at ease in a world that can feel overwhelming.
This isn’t about replacing therapies or approaches you already trust. It’s about asking a different question.
What if there’s stored stress in the system that hasn’t been addressed yet?
What if the body is still protecting from something it never fully processed?
And what might shift if it didn’t have to anymore?
That’s where I start.
And sometimes, it starts with something as simple as looking back and asking…
What happened to the base of the spine?
