Creating & Stabilizing the New Dream - April
Last month I shared a practice for expanding your energy field to hold your new dream. This month we will learn how to check-in with your nervous system to ensure that your energy can attract and magnetize your new dream experience.
—-
THE POWER OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Learning to recognize and navigate stress responding
Identifying and self-regulating nervous system stress responses is crucial for managing our overall well-being. One way to identify stress responses is to pay attention to physical and emotional cues. These may include increased heart rate, muscle tension, sweaty palms, shallow breathing, racing thoughts, or feelings of overwhelm and irritability. Recognizing these signs can help you intervene before stress escalates.
Self-regulating stress responses involves implementing various techniques to help your nervous system return to a state of calm.
Deep breathing exercises
Progressive muscle relaxation
Mindfulness meditation
Gentle physical activity like yoga, stretching and walking
Additionally, practicing positive self-talk, setting boundaries, maintaining a healthy lifestyle with proper nutrition and sufficient sleep, and seeking support from loved ones or a professional can also aid in regulating stress responses. Consistent practice of these techniques can help you better manage and cope with stress in your daily life.
—-
The nervous system is a complex network of nerves and cells that transmit signals between different parts of the body. It can be divided into two main parts:
THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS),
which includes the brain and spinal cord.
THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (PNS),
which consists of all the nerves outside the CNS.
The main function of the nervous system is to gather information from both internal and external environments, process that information, and respond accordingly. This allows the body to coordinate movement, regulate bodily functions, and perceive and react to the world around us.
The nervous system plays a critical role in controlling all bodily functions and is essential for our ability to think, feel, move, and respond to our environment.
Let’s take a few moments and walk through the different responses -
which do you relate with?
THE RESPONSE - ATTACK
When the nervous system is under attack, either through stress, illness, or other factors, it can have significant effects on both communication and physical responses. Here are some ways this can manifest:
- COMMUNICATION -
SPEECH DIFFICULTIES:
Nervous system issues can cause disruptions in speech patterns, leading to stammering, slurring,
or difficulty finding words.
COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS:
It can impair cognitive functions like memory, concentration, and problem-solving abilities,
affecting the ability to communicate effectively.
EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY:
The nervous system's state can lead to heightened emotional responses, causing mood swings, irritability, or difficulties in regulating emotions, which can impact communication.
- PHYSICAL RESPONSES -
MUSCLE TENSION:
Stress on the nervous system can result in muscle tension, stiffness, or tremors, affecting
physical movements and responses.
IMPAIRED COORDINATION:
Coordination can be affected, leading to a lack of balance, unsteady movements, or clumsiness.
SENSORY DISTURBANCES:
Changes in the nervous system can alter sensory perceptions, leading to hypersensitivity or numbness, affecting physical responses to stimuli.
Overall, disruptions in the nervous system can have a profound impact on both communication abilities and physical responses, highlighting the intricate connection between the mind and body in times of stress or illness.
THE RESPONSE - IGNORE & DISTRACT
INCREASED STRESS:
Ignoring or distracting yourself from stressors in the short term can lead to a buildup of stress
and tension, affecting your mood and productivity throughout the day.
POOR DECISION-MAKING:
Avoiding addressing stressors may lead to impulsive decision-making or avoidance of
important tasks, impacting your daily responsibilities and goals.
STRAINED RELATIONSHIPS:
Ignoring emotions or stressors can affect how you interact with others, potentially leading
to misunderstandings, conflicts, or feelings of isolation.
- LONG TERM EFFECTS -
CHRONIC STRESS:
Continuously ignoring or distracting yourself from stressors can contribute to chronic stress,
which can have detrimental effects on both physical and mental health over time.
EMOTIONAL SUPPRESSION:
Long-term avoidance of emotions can result in emotional suppression, leading to difficulties
in processing and expressing feelings, potentially affecting mental well-being.
PHYSICAL HEALTH IMPACTS:
Chronic stress due to ignoring stressors can manifest in physical symptoms like headaches,
muscle tension, digestive issues, and weakened immune function.
REDUCED RESILIENCE:
Avoiding or distracting from stressors may hinder the development of healthy coping
mechanisms, leading to reduced resilience in dealing with future challenges.
THE RESPONSE - DEFLATE
- LOW MOOD -
The deflate response may result in feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or apathy, affecting
your overall mood and motivation.
LACK OF ENERGY:
It can lead to a lack of energy, making it challenging to engage in daily activities or find
enjoyment in things you typically enjoy.
DECREASED SELF-ESTEEM:
Continuously deflating in response to stressors can erode self-esteem and self-confidence over time.
WITHDRAWAL:
The deflate response may lead to withdrawing from social interactions or avoiding
connections with others, potentially straining relationships.
COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES:
It may result in difficulties communicating needs and emotions effectively, leading to
misunderstandings or conflicts in relationships.
FATIGUE:
The ongoing deflation response can contribute to feelings of fatigue and exhaustion,
impacting your physical well-being and daily functioning.
WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM:
Chronic stress from the deflate response can weaken the immune system, making you
more susceptible to illnesses and infections.
NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS:
It may contribute to negative thought patterns, self-criticism, and a pessimistic outlook on life.
THE RESPONSE - FLIGHT
AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR:
The flight response can manifest in avoidance behavior in relationships. This can lead to avoiding conflict, difficult conversations, or addressing issues, which can result in unresolved issues and build-up of tension over time.
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN:
Flight response can hinder effective communication in relationships. Avoiding discussions or shutting down emotionally can lead to miscommunication, misunderstandings, and feelings of neglect from the other person.
LACK OF EMOTIONAL INTIMACY:
Constantly fleeing from emotional discomfort or stress can prevent the development of emotional intimacy in relationships. This can lead to a sense of distance and emotional disconnection between partners.
TRUST ISSUES:
Continual use of the flight response may create trust issues in relationships. This behavior can cause feelings of abandonment, unreliability, or emotional unavailability from the partner's perspective.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION CHALLENGES:
Avoiding conflict through the flight response can prevent the resolution of disagreements
or differences in a healthy manner. This can result in unresolved conflicts lingering and
potentially escalating in the future.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT ON PARTNER:
The flight response can have emotional consequences on the partner as well. Constant
avoidance or escape behaviors can make the partner feel unheard, unimportant,
or rejected, causing emotional distress.
THE RESPONSE - FREEZE
REDUCED MOBILITY:
Functional freeze can result in a decrease in physical movement and flexibility, affecting
activities of daily living and overall physical health.
EMOTIONAL NUMBNESS:
The freeze response may result in emotional numbness, where you feel disconnected from your emotions or have difficulty identifying and expressing feelings.
DIFFICULTY EXPRESSING NEEDS:
Functional freeze can make it challenging to communicate needs or emotions, leading to misunderstandings or unmet needs in relationships.
IMPAIRED DECISION-MAKING:
Functional freeze can impair decision-making abilities, making it difficult to think clearly and
make choices effectively.
COGNITIVE FOG:
The freeze response may contribute to cognitive fog, where you experience difficulties with
memory, concentration, and mental clarity.
AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICT:
Freezing in response to stressors can lead to avoiding conflict or difficult conversations in
relationships, potentially hindering the resolution of issues.
DIFFICULTY IN BUILDING INTIMACY:
Functional freeze can impede the development of emotional intimacy in relationships, leading to emotional distance and challenges in connecting with others.
CHRONIC STRESS:
Frequent activation of the freeze response can contribute to chronic stress, impacting both physical and mental well-being over time.
REDUCED RESILIENCE:
Relying on freezing as a coping mechanism may reduce resilience in facing future challenges,
as it prevents active problem-solving and adaptation.
IDENTIFYING & RESETTING
Creating a strong connection between our consciousness and cultivating mental presence, combined with attuning to our bodily sensations, is essential. It is through feeling these sensations that we pave the way for healing.
Engaging in somatic therapy, which involves grounding in bodily experiences, offers us the opportunity to reframe how we process our past experiences with maturity and wisdom. This reframing enables us to detach from automaticreactions to situations we perceive as frightening or traumatic. Starting to nurture a healthier relationship with our body and internal systems, we can skillfully navigate moments when we experience fight, flight, or freeze responses.
This practice of feeling and comprehension guides us in breaking the cycles of persisting in long-term activated responses and dealing with high levels of chronic stress effectively. It empowers us to embrace a more balanced and resilient approach to life's challenges.
To heal the language with the body responses our attention needs to go to our bodily impulses.
Pay attention to your bodies basic functions.
How many times do you put off or ignore that you have gas and try and hold it, or need to go to the bathroom and wait and not get water when we are thirsty.
Listening to when your body says it is hungry, tired, overstimulated and so on. When we can listen and respond to our bodies requests immediately we rebuild the connection between the body responses and our health.
HERE ARE SOME HELPFUL RESETTING EXERCISES:
DEEP BREATH MEDITATION
Deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, the activation of the vagus nerve through deep breathing can lower heart rate and blood pressure, indicating a shift towards a more restful and restorative state of being.
GUIDED STEPS:
GET COMFORTABLE: Sit or lie down in a quiet space.
HAND POSITION:
One hand on the chest, the other on the abdomen.
BREATHE IN:
Slowly inhale through your nose for four counts, feeling the abdomen rise.
BREATH OUT:
Exhale slowly through the mouth for six counts, releasing tension.
REPEAT: Perform 5 - 10 cycles.
TIPS:
Focus on your breath and use a calming humming or a mantra on the exhale.
Practice twice daily for best results.
—-
HUMMING AND TONING
The act of humming creates gentle vibrations that resonate throughout the body. These vibrations can stimulate the vagus nerve because it runs through the neck and thorax, where the vibrations from humming are likely to be felt. This can help to enhance the vagus nerve’s function.
This exercise can be done in any position, but lying comfortably on your back has proven to be most effective. In this position, the body doesn’t need to work as hard to maintain posture, allowing the vibrations to spread more easily and be felt more deeply throughout the body.
GUIDED STEPS:
Let a humming sound resonate from your voice, feeling it as a vibration moving through your body. Focus more on the sensation of the sound rather than how it sounds.
Over time, you can play with different vowel sounds like A, E, I, O, U.
If you need to take a break during the seven-minute exercise, that’s okay.
After humming for 7 minutes, allow at least 3 minutes for the vibrations to continue their effect.
Interoceptive stimuli, such as these vibrations, take quite a while to be integrated into the nervous system.
—-
HAND POSITIONS
Hand positions can be a simple yet profound way to foster calmness and reduce the arousal of the nervous system. These gestures can provide a feeling of being embraced and secure while soothing your internal state. Each hand position has its own way of offering comfort and stability.
THE FIVE HAND POSITIONS:
ONE:
Place each hand gently on the sides of your head.
TWO:
Position one hand on your forehead and the other over your heart.
THREE:
Rest one hand on your forehead and the other on the back of your head.
FOUR:
Lay one hand on your heart and the other on your abdomen.
FIVE:
Hold one hand on your solar plexus and the other at the base of your skull.
THE PRACTICE:
Start in a comfortable spot with deep, mindful breaths.
Hold each of the hand positions for a few minutes aiming for a 15-min session.
Focus on the comfort of your touch.
Use any hand piosition for 5-10 minutes during stressful times for grounding.