Creating a Life That Supports Your Nervous System
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Understanding Your Life's Impact on Your Nervous System
How supportive is your current lifestyle? This question goes beyond your relationships with others; it delves into your relationship with yourself. As someone who has faced trauma and emerged from it, are you allowing your nervous system the time and space it needs to heal? Or are you falling back into harmful habits that lead to burnout?
The truth is that trauma can severely affect our nervous systems. It’s not just about the brain; the entire intricate network of your nervous system—both sympathetic and parasympathetic—plays a role. To begin healing, it’s essential to confront this reality.
To create a life that nurtures your nervous system is one of the most effective paths toward self-healing and emotional balance, leading to the fulfilling future you desire.
How Trauma Affects Your Nervous System
With each passing year, our understanding of trauma deepens. Specifically, we are learning how emotional trauma adversely affects various bodily systems. Trauma can shrink and impair brain function, but it also disrupts the overall nervous system. When faced with overwhelming emotional trauma, individuals can find themselves perpetually in a survival mode, navigating a life filled with anxiety.
Trauma can hinder your nervous system's ability to self-regulate, leading to states of hyperarousal or hypoarousal, both of which significantly impact your emotional well-being.
In a state of hyperarousal, the sympathetic nervous system remains in a heightened state, constantly on alert for potential danger. This can lead to elevated levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, which may manifest as increased heart rate, sweating, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, and weight gain.
Conversely, when someone feels inundated by their emotional experiences, they may enter a hypoarousal state, where their nervous system essentially "turns off." This can result in feelings of depression, dissociation, and fatigue.
Both conditions create a challenging existence for those trapped in them, but they also point toward a clear healing objective. If trauma has overstimulated the sympathetic nervous system, balance can be restored by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system and cultivating environments conducive to slow, gentle living.
How Trauma Alters Brain Function
The complexities of how trauma changes brain functionality are profound.
Creating a Life That Calms Your Nervous System
The parasympathetic nervous system is crucial for achieving calmness. It promotes the release of hormones that allow the body to relax and recover. To create a life that is sympathetic to our traumatized nervous systems, we must focus on activating this part of our nervous system instead of triggering hyperarousal.
How can we achieve this? By fostering slow living, enriching our relationships, and seeking meaningful experiences with supportive people.
The Benefits of Slower Living
Think of the nervous system as a delicate instrument for recognizing patterns. Once exposed to trauma, it becomes hyper-vigilant, constantly scanning for threats reminiscent of past experiences. This protective mechanism can be exhausting. The remedy? Embrace pockets of slow living.
Slower living helps ease your nervous system’s tension. By minimizing stressors, you create an environment where the sympathetic system can relax, allowing the parasympathetic system to take charge. Here are some approaches:
- Shift your approach to life goals. Avoid trying to tackle everything simultaneously. Focus on one task at a time, allowing yourself to complete smaller objectives before moving on to the next.
- Incorporate downtime into your routine. Engage in activities purely for enjoyment, without any productivity expectations. Prioritize rest and relaxation, carving out time for self-care.
Space to Disconnect
Living a life that supports your nervous system doesn't solely involve relaxation. Sometimes, we must confront life's challenges head-on, which can be daunting for those with a trauma background. How can we maintain calm amidst emotional turmoil?
Establishing a buffer zone around stressful situations is key. Identify brief moments to step away and gather your thoughts when feeling overwhelmed. Most of us have opportunities to pause and regain composure during conflicts, allowing our nervous systems to maintain a healthier rhythm amid adversity.
Emotional Freedom
Emotions originate in our nervous systems and influence how we perceive external stimuli. When events occur, our nervous system processes them and assigns emotional value, resulting in various reactions.
Conventional advice often suggests ignoring or repressing negative emotions. However, it's vital to allow yourself the freedom to feel and process your emotions to create a life that nurtures your nervous system. Suppressing emotions leads to stress, which in turn affects your nervous system.
Utilizing cognitive reappraisal techniques can help you process intense emotions without allowing them to build up, resulting in a healthier emotional state.
Creating Meaningful Moments
Moments filled with meaning can significantly enhance your nervous system's health. True fulfillment doesn’t come from external achievements but from nurturing positive emotional connections and experiences.
Begin by surrounding yourself with uplifting people and investing in healthy relationships. A supportive community can foster a sense of safety and comfort, allowing your nervous system to relax. Meaningful experiences can be as simple as spending time with loved ones or engaging in acts of kindness.
The Four Essential Self-Care Rules
Prioritizing your well-being is crucial for unlocking your potential. To enhance your health and find peace, shift your focus toward self-care:
- Prioritize Yourself: Make your needs and well-being paramount. Shift your focus away from external pressures to cultivate a life that comforts you.
- Nurture Relationships: Invest time in healthy relationships that uplift you. Surround yourself with individuals who inspire and support your growth.
- Practice Mindfulness: Be aware of your feelings and needs. Regularly check in with yourself to ensure you’re addressing your emotional and physical needs.
- Seek Help: Self-care can include seeking support from professionals. Therapy and counseling can provide valuable insights and facilitate healing.
Make self-care a collective effort, allowing others to support you in your journey. The movement toward enhanced self-care is gaining momentum, and it's essential to engage with it actively.
What steps will you take to nurture your nervous system? How will you honor your mind and body through self-care? The framework is laid out—now it’s time to act for a more peaceful tomorrow.
How to Start Creating Safety in the Nervous System - This video discusses foundational strategies to create a safe environment for your nervous system to heal and thrive.
6 Ways to Create Safety in Your Nervous System and Feel Your Best - Learn six practical approaches to foster a supportive environment for emotional and nervous system well-being.
© Practical Growth 2023
E.B. Johnson is a writer, NLP coach, and podcaster dedicated to empowering women to realize their ideal futures. Subscribe for a FREE workbook and weekly insights through The Growth Digest, a self-recovery newsletter.