Befriending Your Nervous System
Nervous System Breakdown:
The nervous system is broken into two parts: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. Within the peripheral nervous system, exists the autonomic nervous system. Most of us have learned that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) gives us "fight or flight" vs "rest and digest" responses to our experiences. The ANS actually is composed of many more states beyond these categories. Whichever state your nervous system enters, know that it is adaptive and functions with a loving desire to protect you.
Examples of ANS responses in response to perceived threats are various. You may experience a combination, or fluctuations from one reaction to another! Here are some general examples…
- Fight, Flight: cortisol increases, pupils dilate, heart rate increases, digestion slows down)
- Faint/flop: feelings of hopelessness, results in collapse/ fainting; your body tries to remove you from dangerous situation by "blacking out"
- Freeze: momentary paralysis, feelings of being "stuck" in our emotions and thoughts, may experience feeling numbness/dread
-Fawn: often the last ditch effort, resembles "people pleasing"; dismissing your own needs to gain safety by accommodating and helping others
How to support your nervous system?
By knowing what it feels like inside your body when you are “triggered”, you can start to name what you are experiencing. From there, you can offer yourself compassion, knowing that your system's response is a combination of your past life experiences, how society treats you, how you developed as a child….and then you engage in embodied, somatic practices that connect your mind and your body and help restore your state of calm (or in the case of “freezing”, help restore you to a safe, neutral, calm yet engaged state).
Part of supporting our nervous system is to understand it and appreciate it for its self-preservation tools. Once we identify our responses to threats, we can start to work with them. The goal isn't to "correct" or override your system, rather to create a sense of partnership, safety, and "coming home" to ourselves.
Ideas to help us find our center and re-balance our ANS include;
*myofascial release therapy
*therapeutic/ trauma-informed yoga with emphasis on choice, safety, autonomy
*trauma informed therapy
*adequate sleep and hydration
*self-massage
* breath work; facilitate different nervous system states through conscious breathing
*improve posture, joint stability and mobility
*social support, support groups
*emotional release practices (emotional freedom technique "tapping", journaling, talk therapy)
Heart Rate Variability and Vagal Tone
Flexibility, adaptability, and resilience can be worked towards as we seek healing and partnership with our own nervous system. Heart Rate Variability, or the time intervals between heartbeats, is used to measure vagal tone, or our system’s ability to adapt to everyday stressors.
“Heart rate variability (HRV) provides the best available means of measuring the interaction of sympathetic and parasympathetic tone, that is, of brainstem regulatory integrity.”
(Van der Kolk, 2006)
The Vagus Nerve, Cranial Nerve 10, is the longest cranial nerve running through your body- connecting your brainstem to your heart, lungs, gut....and it helps you regulate stress! Higher vagal tone = better ability to cope and adapt.
Practices to improve Vagal Tone and HRV:
* diaphragmatic breathing
* daily sunlight
* cold-water exposure
* increase self-awareness towards “discomfort” versus “pain”
* release "stuck" emotions; shaking, stomping, running, dancing
In summary…
You entered this world with parts that formed your nervous system. Your nervous system quickly began filtering and processing everything this world threw at you. Eventually, your system started to favor certain ways of responding to stress. In your formative years, these responses became more and more a part of you, helping you cope with big “threats” and small “threats”. This happened so frequently, that in time, your system started to have a difficult time in discerning the past from the present, and the “big” threats from the “small”. Now, you may find yourself entering “flight” response even when you don’t want to! No fun.
BUT LUCKILY… you now have increased self-awareness and newfound appreciation for your body’s loving self-protection techniques, and perhaps you are more willing than ever to partner with your body and work together day to day.
If finding techniques that support your nervous system health is important to you, be sure to grab your free download on the resources page of www.jessnoreiga.com. Visit me on social media @imperfecly_well_blog and share what somatic practices support your nervous system!
For even greater support, reach out to me at www.jessnoreiga.com to learn how we can take an integrative approach together for finding you calm, balance, and ease.
Disclaimer: This post is adapted from information shared in The Embody Lab's Applied Polyvagal Theory in Therapeutic Yoga Training Certificate Program. The information shared is for educational purposes only, and is not a replacement for professional medical attention. Please see a doctor and/or licensed therapist for more support.
Wishing you well,
Jess
