What it is and what you can do about it The Effects of a ‘Dysregulated Nervous System’ on our lives
Living with a chronic dysregulated nervous system is draining and results in much suffering. Many physical illnesses have a basis in chronic stress and/or chronic suppression in the nervous system. Many mental illnesses, difficulties in learning, struggles in relationships and general unhappiness can be seen when the nervous system is in a state of chronic dysregulation. People often turn to substance or behaviors (addictions) in an attempt to cope with chronic nervous system dysregulation. What is Nervous system Dys-regulation? We have 3 nervous system (NS) branches. One branch, called Rest/Digest/Connect, facilitates connection with other people, higher thinking and a multitude of restorative body functions. The other 2 circuits are commonly called fight/flight, and freeze/shutdown. Either of these two get activated when the NS perceives threat. This is below our conscious awareness and happens automatically. When the fight/flight or freeze/shutdown branches are activated the body’s restorative systems go on hold and all focus is on readiness to fight, flee or freeze in order to survive. These are normal self-protective reflexes but when either of the 2 survival branches become stuck in the “on” mode, our ability to think creatively, connect with other people, and many restorative body functions go on hold - like digestion, and immune system, deep restorative sleep, ability to think creatively and engage socially is also reduced. How or why the survival branches get stuck is often due to unresolved trauma responses, coping patterns, cultural conditioning or lack of enough early childhood nervous system mirroring with parents or caregivers who have a stable nervous system themselves. Beliefs (about ourselves and the world) and deficiency stories perpetuate and reactivate our survival responses. In turn, our nervous system survival patterns reinforce our beliefs and deficiency stories. We can help our dysregulated nervous system get unstuck. As we become aware of our nervous system states and how we react to life, we can choose new ways to respond and tend our nervous system, bringing it back into the Rest/Digest/Connect branch (aka ‘ventral vagal’). It’s when we increase our capacity to be anchored in ventral and return to ventral when we are triggered, that gives the capacity to heal, and grow, to have the resilience to dissolve old patterns, to engage the healing capacities of our bodies, to be more present and creative in our relationships and much more. What can you do? Here are some simple exercises you can do to shift your nervous system state. There are many ways to do this, these are just a few that are super simple and easy to do any time. (for guided exercises check out my YouTube channel here) 1. Practice full body bouncing and shaking while exhaling with a sigh or a “zzzzz” sound. Continue 1 to 3 min. During and afterwards notice the space around you and pause to rest. 2. Try long slow exhalations (to do so, breathe deep, hold a moment, then exhale slowly like you are blowing through a straw for about 6 seconds). Do this 2 or 3 times, then breathe normally a couple times. Repeat this set several more times. During and afterwards notice the space around you and pause to rest. 3. Twist/turn side to side from the waist while letting your arms swing out and back to tap the body gently. Repeat in a relaxed rhythm while noticing how it feels. During and afterwards notice the space around you and pause to rest. 4. Assume the welcoming posture (standing or sitting). Hold the arms wide open as if to welcome someone into a hug. Become still and keep breathing. Come into the stillness as awareness in the spaces around and between everything. Watch what arises and welcome everything as it is. Do these in any order. Do them for any amount of time – approx. 30 sec. up to 3 minutes each. Experiment and listen to how your body wants to move. There may be a version that works better for you. Comments are closed.
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