YOUR BODY IS DESIGNED TO HEAL
Understanding the autonomic nervous system
Within the autonomic nervous system, there are two divisions—sympathetic and parasympathetic—at the centre of the involuntary bodily functions you experience on a daily basis. While both systems control the same bodily functions, they do so in completely different ways. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for promoting a state of rest and digest, supporting immune system response and restoring your body to a state of calm. In other words, you feel safe and comfortable in your body, which helps your body return to homeostasis more quickly and heal faster.
On the contrary, the sympathetic nervous system helps your survival instincts kick in. Stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline, prepare you to flee or fight what’s in front of you. Your pupils dilate, your heart rate increases, and you may experience discomfort or unease in your body. The sympathetic nervous system recognizes when there is a threat approaching—whether physical or perceived—and arms you with the tools to act. Its purpose is to sound the alarm and protect you from danger.
You need both nervous system responses for long-term health. But if you live in a state of stress for too long, symptoms can become chronic and your stress response may become overreactive. Since the body can’t decipher between a real threat and a perceived one, the same stress response can go off over everyday stressors like work, traffic jams, or delayed flights. Your body starts to feel more comfortable being in a state of panic and stress because it’s what your body is used to; it becomes the new norm.
But here’s the good news: you are not stuck. Your body is designed to heal.
You do not have to live in a state of constant fight-or-flight. Your body wants to heal, in fact. You only have to let it.
That’s where nervous system regulation comes in.
What is nervous system regulation?
Nervous system regulation helps you to adapt to and recover from different triggers with more ease. Using self-soothing techniques, you let your body know that it’s safe, consciously returning you to a state of equilibrium. Techniques that you have the power to learn and incorporate into your daily routine. Life happens and learning how to regulate your nervous system supports your long-term wellbeing.
Now, I’ll be the first to say that learning how to self-regulate isn’t always easy. It takes practice. The experience of having a body is complicated. However, one thing is quite simple: your body is a miracle. It wants to heal, embrace, and envelope you in safety. It wants you to feel comfortable. And the more we learn that the body wants to heal intrinsically, healing becomes the norm. Rather than looking at ourselves as something broken and needing to be fixed, we build trust that we have the tools to initiate healing. Your body knows inner wisdom that the mind, because it’s trying to keep you safe, sometimes gets confused.
But studies in biology have found that the brain is not hardwired like it was one thought it be; it’s highly adaptable and can change with experience. This process is called neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity supports the idea that you can rewire your brain and create new neural pathways to recover a sense of true homeostasis in your body. As you rewrite narratives and consciously soothe your nervous system, you learn to feel safe in your body, allowing you to more quickly adapt to and recover from dysregulation.
Learning how to heal starts with the words you speak into existence, which first starts with building awareness. Here are some techniques to tap into:
- mindfulness exercises
- human connection (co-regulation)
- breathwork practices
- self-inquiry
All of these practices can help your body become more wired for healing. Because your cellular and neurological bodies adapt to your belief system, the words you speak literally alter your physiology. As you work through these practices, in a matter of moments you’ll be able to turn down the volume on the neural circuits connected to your old self and connect new neural circuits.
You can find all of these techniques—and so much more—in the Self-Study Portal. Informed by neuroscience, epigenetics, art and healing, the portal contains ancient healing tools like breathwork, meditation, and other techniques to support you on your path to self-healing. This container is artfully and thoughtfully dedicated to meeting you where you are and guiding you along the path towards your highest expression.
