Strengthening The Nervous System: Using Nature and Mindfulness for Safety and Connection
The nervous system is our system for safety, protection and connection, make sure you nourish your nerves so that your nerves don’t frazzle.
Strengthening the Nervous System: Exercises for Safety and Connection
The Polyvagal theory explains how our nervous system is shaped by early experiences and learned habitual response patterns and how new patterns can be created through intentional exercises of learning and discovery.
The nervous system is a powerful creator of how we experience life in each moment’s detail. So, it is important to teach and guide the nervous system to learn experiences of regulation, safety and connection in order to build and maintain a healthy nervous system.
The nervous system follows a sequential pathway of events that cascade into a story that then is expressed along a continuum of protection and connection.
Understanding this sequence is a basic introduction to practicing simple internal autonomic listening and skill building starting with neuroception.
The nervous system response cycle begins with neuroception which is detection without awareness. As you begin to consciously understand the internal workings of your nervous system you can bring more awareness to the neural feedback processes you experience beginning with neuroception.
Neuroception
Perception
State
Feelings
Behavior
Story
Try this simple exercise in beginning to understand how the autonomic nervous system works through neuroception.
Background
The autonomic nervous system uses the voice and sounds to discern safety. You respond to intonation before you take in information. Just as, the way you speak changes the way you feel, the story you tell, and the way people respond to your story.
Steps
Notice where different tones of voice take you in the sequence of the neural feedback process listed above.
Notice how certain words elicit certain feelings or emotions.
Talk in different tones of voice and notice the response you receive from others
Affirmation: I can notice my nervous system response patterns.
Mindful Moment: Stand tall in mountain pose, with an awareness in posture. Notice the 6 steps of neuroception. What is the story in your mind. How did your perception get here? What thoughts, feelings, sensations, reactions are present? What are you noticing? When you feel distracted or unclear, keep going back to your breath. Is it heavy or is it relaxed and free, resilient? Lengthen each breath. Then, let go.
Nature Experience: Take a hike and keep going all of the way to the top. Stay aware in each moment of any thoughts, feelings, sensatons, or reactions that are present. Just observe and notice how your nervous system impacts your perception all the way to the story in your mind. Notice the sense of accomplishment with the view from the top.
Journal Prompt: During my hike today I noticed how my nervous system responds, and impacts my perception and the story of my mind’s eye. What did I observe? How did this effect my ability to keep moving forward? How did I change my nervous system response patterns when the story in my mind was not the story that I wanted? What was the view like?
