Calming your nervous system
This is the beginning of your unwinding your story and the first step is to focus on calming and relaxing you nervous system. We cannot start any self growth work when our body is screaming at us to slow down, to stop and reset to our 0 point.
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Please click on my introduction for this lesson below.
Finding your calm - meditation
Your nervous system works by sending messages, or electrical signals, between your brain and all the other parts of your body. These signals tell you to breathe, move, speak and see, for example. Your nervous system keeps track of what’s going on inside and outside of your body and decides how to respond to any situation you’re in.
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In a dysregulated state, our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are imbalanced. We feel we are at our limit, and it affects our ability to problem-solve, make rational decisions, and engage positively with others.
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It also creates an environment where we react out of fear, in anxiety and in a high cortisol state, making it difficult to be in our heart resonance. Our heart resonance is where we perform at our optimum as we have fell relaxed, at ease and more optimistic.
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When our nervous system is on fire, we breathe in a shallow way which increases our reaction of our body and it then continues to operate from a high level of anxiety, worry and fear. Imagine a car engine on high rev for continues years and sometimes even decades. The body starts to wear down and this is when diseases, illnesses and injuries start to take place.
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When we learn to calm the nervous system, we breathe deeper, our cortisol level decrease, and we move from flight and fight mode to a more intentional, relaxed way of operating and living.
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Lets have a look at some other ways you can calm you nervous system.
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Body scan meditation
What Is Body Scan Meditation?
Body scan meditation is a form of mindfulness in which you focus on each body part and its physical sensation. This process builds awareness of areas where there is tension and allows for deep relaxation to occur, as well as improving the connection between your mind and body. It is used therapeutically for PTSD, anxiety, stress, chronic pain, and sleep problems.
Body scan meditation has roots in Buddhism and breathwork but is also the first formal mindfulness practice taught in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which is a program developed in the 70s to teach mindfulness skills to manage stress, pain, and illness.1 The body scan is a core practice of MSBR used to teach non-judgmental awareness of the body and relax the nervous system.
Benefits of Body Scan Meditation
Body scan meditation is an easy and accessible tool to implement mindfulness. It’s free, and you don’t need any special training or equipment. With regular practice, body scans have been shown to improve sleep, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety. It can also improve self-acceptance, decrease cortisol levels, and decrease negative self-talk.2
The benefits of body scan meditation include:
Grounds You Within Your Body
As you scan your body without judgment, you soften the mental chatter and tune into what you’re feeling and where. This process grounds you by allowing you to be present in the current moment and not get caught up in thoughts or worries. This also helps counteract any distractions or becoming dissociated by being more connected to your physical body.
Teaches Your Nervous System to Calm Down
Your nervous system responds to cues of threats or danger in your environment by activating its fight-or-flight mode. When we become anxious or stressed, we engage in fight or flight, and stress hormones are dumped into our bloodstream, our heart rate goes up, and our bodies enter a state of hyperarousal. Body scan meditation engages our vagus nerve, which is responsible for our relaxation response. Engaging the vagus nerve is like a muscle; the more you use body scan meditations to relax, the stronger the vagus nerve becomes at fighting off stress.
Increases Mind-Body Connection
A huge benefit of body scan meditation is that it increases the communication between your brain and your physical body. We often don’t take time to focus on the sensations we are feeling, which can leave us disconnected and stressed. Practicing body scans will allow you to become more aware of sensations to manage stress and anxiety better.
Assist With Emotional Regulation
Body scans allow you to anchor in the present moment and assist with emotional regulation by redirecting your focus to interrupt unhelpful thought patterns. Quieting your mind creates space between your anxiety triggers and stressors, allowing you time to come back to neutral and respond from a more rational place. You also become more in touch with the physical sensations of triggers, like your heart racing during panic or your throat tightening when feeling anxious.
Reduces Stress & Anxiety
When we are feeling anxious, we activate our flight or fight response. This brings in not only anxious and worrying thoughts but also physical sensations like rapid heartbeat or chest tightening. Body awareness through body scans not only triggers these tension signals earlier but also helps to calm anxiety.3
Triggers and your nervous system
Trigger identification task
Create a word document for identifying triggers, trigger source, step by step guide to stop triggers in the moment
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