One Thing Everyone Should Know About Their Nervous System

Your nervous system has your best interests in mind, always, even if it doesn’t feel that way!

We mostly notice things that aren’t working in our bodies and in our lives. Our nervous system is designed to alert us to danger, and so the symptoms of activation are noticeable, often unpleasant, uncomfortable and disruptive. You can feel anxiety, racing heart, overwhelmed and jittery. You also may not sleep well. You might feel low and depressed, like you can’t motivate yourself, can’t get out of bed, feel really lethargic, or stuck in your body and in your life. These sensations can feel downright scary, and they give the cue that something is “wrong.”

Of course you want to change this and feel like yourself again. It can feel like your body has let you down. However, this fight, flight or freeze response is designed to keep you safe. I think it is so important and so helpful to acknowledge this because it is a reminder that your body is trying to take care of you in the best way it knows how to do.

Often, your nervous system and these symptoms go into overdrive because your brain and nervous system sees a current situation as a threat when the situation doesn’t actually need an extreme response. These patterns develop from past experiences and traumas. Our brains are really good at identifying patterns and responding to them. You can change your nervous system, your response and your patterns. You can support your nervous system in becoming more resilient and increasing your capacity and becoming more regulated. 

When you have a lot of dysregulation, a history of trauma and strong nervous system response symptoms, it can feel like your body is against you and you need to fight back against it. How do things shift if you recognize that your body is trying to keep you safe? For me, I feel gratitude. It feels so much better to nurture my body and nervous system, explore kind and compassionate ways to gently shift, and support change. 

Interested in learning more? Reach out for a nervous system coaching session.

How to Find Consistency in Your Daily Habits

Consistency, while not glamorous, does help you achieve your goals.

Changes that last come from the slow, consistent things you do. It’s not glamorous and it’s not a quick fix. It’s actually boring sometimes. The same small routines, the same (or similar) movement patterns that, over time, become foundational habits and patterns. These offer your body strength as well as the feeling of being grounded, and they set a foundation for the rest of your life. Once you’ve established your routines, changes to those routines can provide a lot of information about what is working, what feels supportive and what you might want to adjust a bit.

The summer is often full of travel and different schedules and routines. How is this for you? Do you like dropping your regular routine or does your body miss the regularity while you are traveling? Do you incorporate your routines while traveling? When you return home, do you easily integrate back into your habits, or do you find you’ve “fallen off the wagon” and struggle to get back to feeling consistent with exercise, sleep and nutrition? Noticing your patterns is helpful to learn more about you. There isn’t a right or wrong answer!

Recently, when I’ve traveled, I’ve appreciated how travel takes me out of the day-to-day routine. But then, on returning home, I feel so supported by the regular things I do to care for myself. This tells me I have practices in place that really help me feel supported and feel my best. We all have habits that support us. Here are a few of mine which might work for you as well:

• Early to bed, early to rise! I prioritize sleep and it makes my body so happy!

• Start off my day with walking. My dog demands this, but it’s a great way to get the day going.

• Three meals a day focusing on protein, carbohydrates and fat with each meal.

• Connection with friends and loved ones.

• Exercise! I really love all exercise but Pilates is definitely the movement my body enjoys the most.

• Reading.

• Some kind of support for my nervous system and mental health daily. This could be a walk in the woods or a few minutes meditating.

What are the habits you are consistent with? How have they improved your life? Do you miss them if you are traveling?

If you’d like support around changing or creating different habits, please reach out for a coaching session.

Quick Tips to Beat the Heat

Do you love summertime? Or does the heat and humidity wipe you out? It has been especially hot and humid in Virginia this summer, and you might notice lower energy and fatigue from the high heat combined with the high humidity. Here are a few tips to help support your body so you can get the most enjoyment out of summer.

1. Listen to your body! Listening to your body is always the right call, but especially with extreme temperatures, it is important to use your body as a guide. Feeling wiped out after your walk? Want to stay inside and take a nap? What cues is your body giving you and can you listen to them? If you do listen, they can help.

2. Hydrate hydrate hydrate! Guidelines for hydration are ½ of your body weight in ounces of water, but if you are sweating a lot you might need more. Your body will absorb more water if there’s something in your water: a squeeze of lemon or sprig of fresh mint. You might also want to consider adding electrolytes, and I definitely would if you’re sweating a lot. There are lots of good options out there. I like Cure.

3. Exercise outside early in the day. If you’re exercising (or gardening, doing yardwork, etc.), get outside early! You’ll avoid the hottest part of the day and the strongest sun exposure. You might find you have less endurance for exercise. Listen to that. 

4. Nap! If you’re craving that afternoon siesta and you have time, go for it! Use the natural rhythms your body wants as a way to tune into what you need.

5. Find simple and consistent movement practices you can do anywhere—home, vacation, at the pool and in the airport. While you might be less consistent with your regular routine and schedule, if you can find 1-3 exercises to incorporate daily, your body will thank you, especially if you have lots of travel planned. I’m always happy to help you with this, just reach out.

Date, Feta and Red Cabbage Salad

PHOTO FROM SMITTEN KITCHEN

I love Smitten Kitchen’s recipes, this one sounded oddly intriguing and I loved it on the side with protein!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound red cabbage (1 small head or 1/2 large) cut very thinly

3 TBS olive oil

2 TBS lime juice

Salt and red pepper flakes

1/2 cup pitted dates chopped or sliced

4 ounces feta, crumbled

1 TBS flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 TSP well-roasted seasame seeds (I substituted walnuts)

Instructions:

Toss cabbage with olive oil, lime juice, salt and red pepper flakes. Taste and add more as needed.

Add the dates and feta and gently combine, then add the parsley and sesame seeds (or walnuts) and enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings as a side.

This salad also keeps well for a day or two.

Finding Small Pleasures in Simple Moments

I was on my early morning walk along the Rivanna River with Winnie dog recently, and something caught my eye.

It looked like the water was moving in the wrong direction. A closer look showed me that a beaver was swimming upstream. He was swimming with ease, skimming through the water and looked to be enjoying his morning swim. I haven’t noticed a beaver on the river in a while, and it’s always nice to notice animal friends. Away he swam and then dove under to his dam. I noticed how much joy this simple moment brought me.

Tuning into these types of moments is really supportive for the parasympathetic nervous system, the branch of the nervous system that supports rest, digestion and rejuvenation. If you have a history of trauma, it can be especially hard to notice the good as your nervous system is even more primed to be alert for potential dangers and can be quick to activate into fight or flight. Connecting to these small, simple things can support your body in feeling glimmers of good and can be profound in teaching your nervous system how to have more capacity. The more we can stay present, the more we can increase our capacity. Being present with pleasure also helps us hold our pain more easily.

Because of how much I enjoy noticing these small moments, I’m really trying to notice more of them — the bright red cardinal against the gray tree branch, the way the sun shines on the floor of my Pilates studio, the softness of Winnie’s ears and the first sprouts of green of spring flowers.

Will you join me in this practice of noticing small feel-good moments?

I know life is doing its thing, and for many it seems to be particularly hard right now. This practice isn’t to pretend hard things aren’t happening or to try to make them better. This is a practice of tuning into small things that happen every day that bring you a sense of pleasure, support, joy or contentment.

If you try this I’d love to hear how it goes and how it supports you to feel more connected to your body and to your day.