Nervous System Basics
Our beautiful nervous system. This brain of ours perceives our world through two branches of our autonomic nervous system (ANS)- sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The majority of us spend the majority of our lives in a highly sympathetic state. The sympathetic state is responsible for Fight, Flight and Freeze. In fact our world is designed to keep us here. This is where all the hard drivers, workoholics spend long hours grinding it out with caffeine & other stimulants, high intensity exercise (often despite injuries) and then this high sympathetic state is often followed by numbing out through substances, shopping, and other vices. This is a very common pattern of living for many and it’s normalized. Many of us refer to this state of numbing as relaxing. It’s not. There is still sympathetic tone to this state and it reduces capacity overall. So we end up requiring more each time to get us into gear. However, if we learn engage the parasympathetic system (PNS) daily, we can actually expand our capacity overall and still not lose our edges and drive to crush it in other areas of life.
Let’s start with real tools that can done in REAL TIME. First let me explain why we may start a certain way with this type of person.
When a nervous system functions at such a high sympathetic state for so long, it needs a bit of charge to meet IT and bring IT down, not a complete opposing force of stillness and silence. I applaud those of you that try yoga only to get pissed off and state “ It just doesn’t work for me!” I hear ya and I’m right beside ya. That nervous system has to work so damn hard to TRY to get still that IT actually causes a sympathetic stress response but this time that sympathetic stress response will force it into freeze or shutdown. Our nervous system’s design is to keep us safe and preserve energy. Being in a constant state of Fight or Flight is an energy expensive state. Freeze happens out of necessity to preserve energy. This is where the mood is low, dopamine levels are suppressed and the muscles are too lax to take action. Often when we enter this state we cope with substances like alcohol or cannabis that further depress the nervous system and we may convince ourselves that these substances “take the edge off.” However, now our nervous system has to work even harder in a physiologically depressed state, to gain momentum and start engaging in life again.
When we experience this survival pattern over and over again, our coping mechanisms and operating system becomes maladaptive. What once worked, no longer does. Ahhh Shiiit….what are we gonna do NOW?! Don’t worry this tightly wound social worker discovered a few hot tickets that work in REAL TIME!
Short answer is TITRATE the experience! Lean into the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and receive it for moments at a time. This can look like:
Connecting with a loved one that sees you. This can be a pet as well. This engages the PNS and helps us to release oxytocin & sometimes seratonin. These are neurotrasmitters that are associated with pair bonding and satiation.
Vary your workouts!!! If you train at high intensities, try for just a day a week to do a Zone 2 or 3 workout. Take notice and supplement as needed. Pay attention to your resting heart rate (RHR) and make adjustments based on your physiology. When you wake up gassed ( 7-10+ beats higher/lower than normal), it’s not a great plan to do a high intensity workout….Unless you plan on being a miserable cusp for the majority of your day, unable to focus on any one thing for long & struggle to make informed decisions.
Add 10 min walks, outside, post meal to your day. This helps with gut motility and glucose regulation. When we do this outside, it can help signal safety to the body while engaging the PNS through the optic nerve.
Add Nasal in, Nasal out breathing to your walks, runs, biking etc. This is not about working harder. If you’re new to this or starting to do it on your runs, try a breathing pattern like this- 15 Nasal in, Nasal out breaths followed by 5 Mouth in, Mouth out. Cycle through that pattern for 15-20 minutes.
Practice Deep inhale breaths, from the lower abdominals and exhale through mouth for twice as long. If you inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. This helps engage the vagus nerve which is a quick route to the PNS. Don’t rush through this.
Try Cat/ Cow stretch with deep inhales and exhales. Focus on releasing from each vertebrae and then tightening the lower abdominals and rounding the vertebrae on the inhale. Draw your attention into your body and notice the movement.
These are all tools you can try on and fool around with for minutes at a time. Keep trying them and adding more time with them. Repetition matters when building new skills. You will start to notice a shift in your capacity for stress and your capacity to do hard things will increase. You will start to create more flexibility in your nervous system and the emotional benefits of this are boundless.
Keep trying! Keep going my friends!
