Christa 0:00
All right, today, Cheri and I are going to be talking about the nervous system and how we can help regulate ourselves internally. These tips that we're going to be sharing are free for the most part. They are available to you at any time. And the reason we find this important is because so many of us live in that sympathetic state, which is that fight or flight state, and that affects everything from our blood pressure to our gut health to risk for cancer, right? Because we hold so much of this energy in our body, and our body really responds to our way of thinking, and when we can control some of that by understanding tools, then we can live more of our life in that parasympathetic, parasympathetic state, or that rat, relax and digest, rest and digest. So today we're going to go over five main ways to to really start to activate more of a relaxation throughout your day. So, Cherie, let's start with movement, because we love movement. We
Sheree 1:07
love movement. And it's really important to remember this is about regulation, like regulating your nervous system, your body can just feel the perception of stress so much. And so these tools and techniques are very, very simple to help you just feel more in your body, reconnected to yourself and that sense of calm. And so when we think about movement, it's not about applying more stress. It's not about going and sweating it out and smashing your body with a run or a hip workout or something like that. We're talking movement in the sense of maybe it is lifting some weights, because I do know that a lot of us do feel really good, and it's quite cathartic to lift some heavy shit put it back down, but it is more of a slow and controlled it's not about going in and thrashing that can start to get things moving. I personally love yoga and dance. Those are my go tos. If my nervous system needs regulating, I can throw myself around the room just do what I what my body needs to do, more in a somatic sense than necessarily a choreographed dance or yoga. Just being in flow and allowing my body to move through whatever it's processing, it gives me a chance to go quite internal as well. So I always feel so much calmer after I've done both of those.
Christa 2:15
Yeah, I personally love as far as movement goes. I love to get on. I have a little mini trampoline in our home gym, and I find that one to be really just put on some good music and kind of do some waist twists, do some high knees, do some jumping jacks. Not only does that help your lymphatic system, but it just helps you shake some of that energy, whether it's nervous energy over thoughts, or you're just feeling energy in your body where you're just kind of feeling unsettled. I also love to go on long walks. That's another movement that I find helps me really, by the end of two three miles, I feel so much better than I did at the beginning. So none of these that we've mentioned are, you know, super they're not going to bolt, they're not going to strenuously push out adrenaline like a hit workout would. So when you're feeling some of this negative energy, or like a pit in your stomach, or you just have a lot to process in your mind, movement is so powerful to just get you back into that rest and digest and kind of help you process some of these things that you end up feeling much more calm at the end. The next topic I'd love to touch on is breath so we could have a whole entire hour talking about breath work. But I think I'm going to share one way that I like to use my breath, and then I'll have you share as well. Sure what you use. But some of my most common go to that's quick and easy is taking in a deep breath, holding it, and then slowly so make your exhale longer than your inhale. So you want to inhale through your nose,
Unknown Speaker 3:46
let's do it together. Yep, breathe in
Christa 3:50
hold, and then exhale with pursed lips, and literally, on that exhale, it'll be much longer than your inhale through your nose. You're going to feel your whole body relax, inhale through the nose, hold, and then exhale through pursuits along exhale. And that can really tell the nervous system that you're safe, that you're okay, right? It's the opposite of that rapid breathing that our body will go to in terms of an emergency. That's what I go to quite often, and I tell my patients, and I use it myself, starting to become aware of when you feel kind of tension in your neck, at the base of your head and your shoulders, maybe in your chest, your stomach. Just acknowledging that and taking several of those breaths that we just demonstrated can really help shift that, and you'll literally feel less of that tension in that location in your body, 100%
Sheree 4:47
and normally, if you're taking that deep enough breath to be able to have a long exhale, it's going to be sending it down to the belly. And so one of the key things that I focus on, if I. To regulate myself through breath is box breathing. You know, I was actually reading a book the other day, and they call it combat breathing, because the guy in the book is in the army, and he's like, it's one of the tools that they learn. And so I think sometimes we can think a lot of these are very feminine or not super masculine to be doing, but it doesn't matter. In that sense. It's really about coming back to yourself and feeling safe. So whether you call it box breathing or combat breathing, but it's about breathing in for four, about four counts, and you're imagining you're drawing a box. So you inhale for 4321, you're gonna hold at the end of that first line of the box for 4321, you're going to exhale for 4321, hold at the end. Two, one, then inhale and hold and exhale and hold and then you repeat. So you're inhaling for four, holding for four, exhaling for four, holding for four, and just continuing to draw the box, sending the breath all the way down to the belly. So you got to think about it when we were tapping into that parasympathetic state, if you are able to belly breathe, it means that your life isn't in danger. It's communicating to the body that we have enough time, we have enough space to send the oxygen all the way into a nice, deep, diaphragmatic breath, versus when we are in fight or flight, or we're doing more of those shallow breaths, we're going to be rapid breathing, and that's an instant communication to the body that we don't feel safe, and so we're going to tap into that sympathetic which is why the breath work we're suggesting isn't the polytrophic or anything like that, because that can shift you into a wired state. I
Christa 6:53
love box breathing as well when I'm trying to fall asleep or going back, because not only are you combining that count your by your physiologically slowing the body down, so you're focused on counting, not the thoughts that can sometimes keep the big. So I love box breathing. Let's talk about vagal tone. So you know, for those of you listening who don't understand what the vagal tone is, it's really tapping into stimulating the vagus nerve. So we have a main nerve that communicates with our brain, with our gut, and we can stimulate this vagus nerve to relax and ways that are very simple to employ, like during the day, would be humming, which actually got a good tune on The radio, making up your own home. This actually stimulates the vagus nerve and can help you to trigger that parasympathetic, that rest and digest mode. Another one is singing along, shower, in the car, in front of people, whatever. But singing can also really stimulate that that vagus nerve. And then what else do you use Sri to kind of simulate some of that vagus nerve tone? Gargling
Sheree 8:05
is another one. If you think about the three that these would be the those would be the three main ones that I would suggest. If we think about vagal nerve tone, it is really about round that throat area, and it's just encouraging the body to to get all that moving, I guess. And again, the body obviously, is in a calm enough state to be able to do so. And if you think about it, I love that you mentioned the singing, because a lot of the times when you're stressed, you put on your one of your favorite songs and you belt it out, and you're singing at the top of your lungs in the car, or maybe you're combining it with your dance party. But that's going to you know, you might even feel like a little bit of a dick, or like you end up laughing at yourself, and the laughter can also stimulate that vagal tone, because again, if we are feeling safe enough to laugh, we are probably not in a life threatening situation, and we're in our parasympathetic state, so yeah, when we're coming to all of these sorts of things, to vagal tone, I love the like the gargling is a real easy one to do if you're a little bit more conscious that you don't want to be singing out loud or humming. But yet the laughter is also a great one.
Christa 9:03
Another one that I like to use a lot is music. So music has, you know, it has a way of moving us in and tapping into whatever emotion that that we wanted to take us in. And so one song that I use quite often, sometimes first thing in the morning, sometimes midday, when I'm feeling a little bit stressed, but it's called weightless by Marconi union. Morni. I'm not sure how you pronounce that, but it's Marconi Union. The song is called weightless. It's about eight minutes long, and I love to combine this with some of the other things that we've talked about, some slow breathing. Sometimes I'll go sit out in nature and just be cross legged in my backyard, in the grass, so it doesn't take me long to do but listening to music that's calming has been really a game changer for me in moments where I'm feeling kind of stressed. What songs do you feel like hit you in a way that is calming? Shree,
Sheree 9:55
yeah, I normally use something that I might practice my yoga with, because I find those really. Calming. It drops me into a really great state. So there's one called Faith's hymn, which is by beautiful chorus. They actually have a whole range of songs that are really calming and beautiful. So you could even just look them up and look at anything that they've got there. The other thing I'll do, and it may or may not be that I technically chant along with it, but is use a Kundalini practice, or a Kundalini song. So one of my favorites is it's goes on Namo, Guru, Dev Namo. And so it's talking about the light within us. And it's just again, almost like a ritual where you can just sit and say it in a meditative space, if you want to. Or there's actually the song that you can just put on and listen to, and I just find my brain goes to that and it comes right down. And sometimes I'll lie in a yoga twist, or I will just be in shavasana with my palms facing upwards, whole body feeling relaxed, eyes closed. It really is about coming more internal to yourself. You know, we recommend having a playlist, or having a few songs that just are your calm Are you go to really just take that breath. So you might have ones that are fun, move the somatic, feel the energy, sing along to that you love to, or maybe you want to have some that like this can help you really wind down and just feel the calm as soon as that comes
Christa 11:15
on. And sound baths too. These are ones that you can just get on YouTube and get sound. So the frequency of sound can be really, really powerful in igniting a calmer nervous system. And then finally, I wanted to mention visualization and gratitude, because I think when we can sit and really visualize, our thoughts are so incredibly powerful, and the way that we're thinking creates a sensation in our body oftentimes. And so I will close my eyes sometimes and just envision a safe space lying in my bed, lying, you know, sitting cross legged in my backyard, even if I'm not actually there, sometimes, just envisioning everything working out the way I want it to, or a space that I feel really, really comfortable in, and maybe just going to thoughts of gratitude and visualizing all that I have that I'm grateful for in my life can be really, really calming and helps me tap back into that parasympathetic What about you? Yeah, the gratitude
Sheree 12:08
really resonates. I will quite often pop a hand on my heart, hands on my belly, and it's almost a reminder to slow down my breathing as well. And the fact that I'm coming home to me, I think some a lot of the times, and I know a lot of high achievers are often very give, giving and very out would explain in terms of the amount that they have to give, the amount they have to show up and telling you you're bringing yourself, like bringing the energy back to yourself, and so that can be coming in and of itself. And then I'll sit there in gratitude, because even saying the three gratitudes out loud, or five, or whatever it is, however many you need to calm you down that physically will shift you into a parasympathetic state as well, because you cannot be in a state of fear and gratitude at the same time. It's physically impossible, mentally impossible, and so just having those thoughts shift, you'll start to notice that maybe there's a smile that creeps up, your body feels a lot calmer. So I think it's beautiful that you bring in the visualization as well, but something I might start to do, because it's amazing how powerful our mind is that it doesn't, don't we don't have to be anywhere for us to actually believe that we are like our reality is what we create in our mind. So yeah, so I hope that those are super helpful tips for everybody, something practical you can do right here, right now, even as you're listening to this
Christa 13:27
absolutely and we will put those specific songs in the show notes as well. So if you want to take a listen wherever you listen to music, but yes, again, we hope you found this really helpful, and being able to, on the daily, tap into the rest and digest the calming of your nervous system, because it's so important for the rest of your health. So until next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
