Accessing Safety

Welcome to our April Newsletter: Accessing Safety

We all yearn to experience ourselves as whole and complete, able to take advantage of life’s opportunities and successfully navigate its challenges. To live this way, we need to feel safe. This month we will explore the vital role that the nervous system plays in accessing safety. As it turns out, when our nervous system is out of balance our learning, attention, behavior and health are compromised, as well as our sense of self. 

HOW THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WORKS

Our nervous system is incredibly complex. Acting as our personal surveillance system, it scans our connections with others and our environment for threats to safety.  As we engage with others, this intricate system is checking faces, voices, body language and the environment for signs of danger.   When triggered, it automatically sends signals telling our body to either shut down (freeze response) or activate (flight or fight response). This response is a primitive mechanism that is vital to our survival when we are in real danger. The problem is that modern-day life, with its many stressors, can often confuse this surveillance system and keep us on high alert even when no threat is present. Swinging continuously between activation and shutdown is exhausting and destructive and often explains acute anxiety, panic attacks, anger, inability to focus, and even depression. Relationships suffer and illness and autoimmune disorders manifest. Without tools to disengage from these states, many turn to alcohol, drugs, food, sex or “zoning out” in front of a screen for relief.

As you can imagine, if your system is always on high alert, there is little chance for it to repair. A myriad of health problems can ensue including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep problems, weight gain, memory impairment, headache, chronic neck, shoulder, and back tension and stomach issues. The primitive level is not the whole story. According to neuroscientist, Dr. Stephen Porges, there is also a more evolved part of the nervous system that puts the “brakes” on all that activity.  Designed for social engagement, this part of the nervous system regulates through relationships.  When we are with others and feel safe, our heart rate is normal and our breath is full. As we take in the faces of friends and become fully present in the moment, our system becomes calm. In this place we are connected to our experiences, feel safe enough to reach out to others, and take risks. Because there is less threat, we become more organized, productive and begin to take care of ourselves. Benefits include a healthy heart, regulated blood pressure, a healthy immune system, good digestion, quality sleep, and an overall sense of well-being.

BEFRIENDING THE SYSTEM

Dr. Porges’ research with the autonomic nervous system also tells us that like the brain, the nervous system is plastic and can “learn.” We can develop the capacity to settle ourselves, remaining calm, aware and present as we go about the day. But building new pathways takes work. Like building muscle, regular and consistent practice is required to become strong and resilient. If you are faithful to your practice, the ability to self-regulate becomes your system’s new default position. There is less demand for both your psychological/emotional self and your physiological/somatic self. That reduction in demand leads to greater resiliency. As you begin to respond to life in more reflective and less reactive ways, you begin to trust your own capacity to respond positively to life. In this place, the breath is full, slow, and deep. The digestive system works well. The body can focus on repair, including reduction of inflammation, tissue repair, and hormone production. You feel fully present and alive.

HOW DO WE GO ABOUT CALMING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM SO THAT IT DISENGAGES FROM A CONSTANT HIGH-ALERT MODE?

Engaging in a regular practice that includes these key components will help create a solid foundation.

  • Physical exercise: Exercise helps discharge, charge and neutralize our energies. It grounds the nervous system and encourages the production of endorphins.

  • Face time: Connect with people who make you feel loved and supported for all the reasons stated above. Disconnect from gadgets that dysregulate the system.

  • Proper Nutrition at Regular Intervals: There is evidence that select dietary factors are important modifiers of brain plasticity and can have an impact on central nervous system health and disease. Recent study results show that select dietary factors have mechanisms similar to those of exercise. Exercise and dietary management appear as a noninvasive and effective strategy to help counteract neurologic and cognitive disorders.

  • Sleep: Go to bed and wake up on a schedule. This is precious time that your body needs to repair and rejuvenate. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and mood disorders.

  • Touch: Self-touch, hugs, loving touch from others, bodywork. Touch stimulates receptors in the skin, which are linked directly to neural networks that release “feel good” hormones into the system.

  • Relaxation: Spend time in nature, meditate, engage in pleasurable hobbies, take an Epsom salt bath, and travel. These are some ways to put the “brakes” on the nervous system.

  • Listening to music: Our auditory processing system is constantly sending signals to our nervous system, monitoring changes in our environment. Music takes advantage of this innate ability to shift our emotional states. Creating playlists for certain times, moods, and activities can help us move into the state of mind we want to be in.

  • Breathwork: Slow, deep breathing results in an increase in “brake" activity in the nervous system. Start by inhaling through your nose for a count of four. Then exhale through your nose for a count of six. Repeat this process six times. Each of the above components builds on the other so undertake as many as you can. Go slow, allowing for integration so as not to overwhelm your system, but be steady! Take notes on the changes you begin to notice around how you handle daily stressors. Positive reinforcement will help you stay on course. Small shifts prepare us to tackle the larger, unexpected curveballs from life.

Beyond these, there are many other steps to enhance your practice, including aromatherapy, full spectrum lighting and the use of chemical-free products.

In my therapeutic practice, I use the “Safe and Sound Protocol” created by Dr. Stephen Porges. In a 5 day process, through the use of music, the auditory pathways are trained to take in relevant stimulation while tuning out what’s irrelevant.  After this intervention, the nervous system is downregulated, enhancing social engagement and resilience.  Clients report a greater ability to focus and be more present and calm.  The results have been amazing. You can read more about it here: fullgestalt.com/sas.html

You can find out more about the nervous system and Dr. Porges' work from the below links:

I hope you found this newsletter helpful. I welcome any and all feedback and would love to hear any suggestions you might have for future newsletters.

With love and light,
Judy Choix

Judy Choix