Greetings, Reader!
During a Nervous System Attunement Strategy Session, a new client teared up when telling me about how she feels like her nervous system is failing her because even though she meditates and has a lot of tools to "regulate" her nervous system, she still doesn't feel calm.
I hear things like this all the time, and I want to shout from the rooftops that calmness is not the goal!
When we equate nervous system regulation with being calm, then activation starts to feel like a failure.
But it's not a failure.
When the nervous system activates in response to threat, it is doing exactly what it is designed to do: keeping you safe.
If you've been reading this newsletter for a while, you might already know that I strongly dislike the term nervous system regulation.
The word regulation implies control and external authority.
The nervous system doesn't need to be regulated, it needs to be resilient.
A resilient nervous system is adaptable and flexible. It is able to responsively move in and out of activation at the appropriate times because it can accurately discern risk and danger.
Once the mobilizing force (e.g. stress, exercise, embarrassment, excitement, or emergency) passes, a resilient nervous system can downregulate and not stay stuck and vigilant.
A resilient nervous system is NOT calm, it is responsive.
Honestly, expecting the nervous system to be calm all the time is kind of like expecting the air conditioner to be on year round, regardless of the temperature outside. Just like a thermostat turns the A/C on when it is too hot and turns the heat on when it is too cold, the nervous system should be able to adapt to the environment.
The nervous system has a three-step process to decide how to act:
- Input
- Interpretation
- Output
First, the nervous system gathers sensory information through:
- Exteroception (the five senses)
- Interoception (sensory cues from inside the body)
- Vestibular information
- Proprioception (like the body's GPS that tells the central nervous system where our body is in space)
Then, the nervous system assesses that information for safety.
Based on the information it receives from the internal and external environments, and the way the nervous system interprets that information, it responds on a spectrum from presence to protection.
When the inputs the nervous system receives are interpreted as threatening, the outputs are defensive and protective. Over time, the nervous system can become hypervigilant and can start to interpret even safe sensory signals as dangerous. This can manifest as the following outputs:
- Chronic pain
- Chronic fatigue
- Migraines or frequent headaches
- IBS or other digestive challenges
- Chronic conditions, such as long Covid and chronic Lyme
- Sleep disturbances, insomnia, or nightmares
- Anxiety, worry, or fear
- Heart palpitations or racing
- Depression or hopelessness
- Irritability, impatience, anger, and reactivity
- Being easily overwhelmed
- Feeling depleted
- Being wired, but tired
- Brain fog or confusion
- Trouble concentrating
- Difficulties with executive functioning
- Memory challenges
- Racing thoughts
Most treatments focus on changing the outputs, which is why they often don't work. For example, when the nervous system interprets movement as dangerous, it will guard and limit mobility. Treatments that focus on enhancing range of motion may work temporarily, but they often don't provide lasting relief, and sometimes they even make the pain worse by increasing the sensory input the nervous system receives from a part of the body it is protecting.
Lasting nervous system change happens when we change the inputs and the way we perceive them. By focusing on these root causes, the outputs change naturally, and sustainably.
If you've been trying all the tools and your symptoms are still there, you don't need more tools, you need a system to help you orient to to safety, accurately interpret your sensory experience, and build your capacity to respond from a place of presence rather than protection.
This is what I teach in my Break the Pain Cycle program. Over the course of three months, you'll learn how to rewire your nervous system and transform:
- Vigilance into presence
- Fear into safety
- Defensiveness into resilience
The next cohort begins on Thursday, March 12th and meets virtually every other week through June 18th from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.
If you are curious and want to talk about whether the program could be a good fit for you, or you are interested in working with me 1:1, please schedule a free Nervous System Attunement Strategy Session. You'll get clear on what your nervous system needs and what is keeping you stuck, and we can develop a customized plan to get you the support you need.
Questions are also always welcome via email. Feel free to reply and let me know what resonated and what questions came up for you.
In love and solidarity,
|
|
Rachel
Doctor of Physical Therapy & Integrative Pain Specialist
Build a resilient nervous system to help you flow through the seasons of your life with courage, wisdom, and compassion.
|
SPRING QIGONG STARTS MARCH 7TH!
As we transition into the year of the fire horse and into the spring season, we will need courage, boundaries, and discernment in order to take purposeful action and prevent burnout.
We'll be working with the wood element and the liver and gallbladder channels to support aligned growth. We'll also be exploring some of the dragon forms, which are so powerful and heart-centered. Dragons in TCM are benevolent protectors, and they channel rage as an act of love.
I hope you will consider joining us. Register for the full series, or for individual classes, via this link.
|
|
|
Invitations to Work Together
|
