What Is ‘nervous system work’, and is it the missing piece to unlock deep healing and expansion in yourself and your clients?
Do you want to know what is actually meant by nervous system work and why it's so hard to pin down? Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult for people to describe? This blog post is for you. I describe the essence and the mystery of nervous system work in a way you can understand, and share practical tools so you can harness the intelligence already within you and your clients to unlock your full potential as a healer and heart-based entrepreneur, starting TODAY.
What makes nervous system work unfathomable by the mind is that it takes a direct, embodied experience to understand it. You can’t know how nervous system work feels from reading about it. The scientific research and theory will help you understand the mechanics, but without the experiential component, it’s like trying to describe a sneeze to someone who has no nose.
The biology in brief
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the nervous system (don’t worry, you’re not alone), here’s a quick rundown. Your nervous system has three primary functions:
1. Gathering information from your internal and external environment through your senses
2. Receiving that information by the brain (not the mind, they’re different)
3. Sending out impulses from the brain to the rest of the body to initiate an appropriate response
When we talk about nervous system work, we’re referring to accessing the involuntary regulatory processes of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS regulates processes which do not require conscious control to maintain healthy function of the body. Heart rate, respiration, digestion, elimination, temperature regulation are all examples of autonomic nervous system function. These processes do not require instructions from the mind to keep you alive; rather, they are monitored in collaboration between body and brain and cannot be directly influenced by our thoughts.
What we are able to do however, is influence the nervous system patterns created by autonomic functions by tracking information we receive through our senses. It isn’t possible to directly track our nervous system’s response to stimuli, but with a little practice, it’s easy for us to observe our sensations, and they provide information about our nervous system’s experience.
Our nervous system is continually exchanging information between the outside and the inside through our sensory organs - our eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. Therefore, if we observe our sensate responses, we can indirectly track our nervous system’s response. This means we can interrupt unhelpful patterns (behaviours, emotions and thoughts) early in the pattern sequence and while it is still unconscious (autonomic). it’s our unconscious processes which have the greatest influence over our behaviour, and also hold the greatest potential for change.
This is why working on mindset does not facilitate lasting transformation – because it doesn’t impact any of our nervous system processes. It’s at the nervous system level where permanent change takes place.
The ANS is widely known to have two branches:
1. Sympathetic nervous system – responsible for mobilisation and is commonly known to initiate the “fight or flight” response.
2. Parasympathetic nervous system - responsible for immobilisation and regulating our “rest and digest” processes and the “relaxation” response.
Contemporary neurophysiological research reveals that the ANS is a powerful regulator of our energy systems, and as such, has a significant influence on human consciousness, and our somatic, perceptual and cognitive experience.
What is nervous system regulation and how does it work?
Our bodies, and more specifically, our nervous systems, are always looking out for our best interests. Although people with chronic pain, digestive issues, and long-term health challenges may not see it that way, the stress response is biologically-intended as a mechanism to ensure our body’s survival. The function of the stress response is to keep us alive in the face of real or perceived danger. With effective nervous system regulation, we can come easily out of mobilised (fight or flight) or immobilised (freeze) states and return to a healthy state of arousal where we feel balanced, calm, engaged and alert.
We have three primary regulatory pathways which are hierarchically organised in the human nervous system, according to the evolution of nervous systems in multicellular species:
1. The social engagement system
(part of our parasympathetic nervous system)
Safe, supportive social engagement is our most recent and most sophisticated pathway for regulation. This explains why mammals, humans included, are social by nature and their survival depends on their ability to connect and be in relationship with others. Through cues such as tone of voice (prosidy), facial expression (particularly from the upper half of the face), and body language, we understand, on a physiological level, that we are safe and can trust our body to down-regulate any sympathetic ‘charge’ in our nervous system.
2. The sympathetic system
This is our mobilisation system (i.e. our get up and go), which is common to all vertebrates. When the social engagement system fails to down-regulate arousal after a stressful event, the sympathetic system is next in line for the job of restoring homeostasis. The sympathetic branch of the ANS aids us in fighting or escaping a dangerous situation, but it also allows more energy and motivation to flow in pleasant or exciting scenarios. While the sympathetic nervous system is crucial, it is designed as a short-term mobilisation system. Being stuck in sympathetic overdrive creates issues for long-term mental and physical health, and produces symptoms such as anxiety, chronic pain and insomnia. If the sympathetic system is used as a substitute for the social engagement system to down-regulate arousal, it often creates addictive behaviours or a compulsive drive to participate in ‘extreme’ activity.
This is a common pattern in soulpreneurs who are used to (and often sensationalise) the “hustle”.
3. The freeze system
(part of our parasympathetic nervous system)
This third system (found in amphibians) is our most primitive regulatory pathway, and involves a “shutdown” response. Picture a possum “playing dead”. If the arousal is so extreme that the body believes the sympathetic (fight or flight) response will not sufficiently down-regulate, the nervous system will surge into sympathetic overdrive, and when the arousal persists, drop into immobilisation (freeze). This can present as collapse, dissociation or an inability to think, speak, hear or move. Again, like the sympathetic response, it is intended to be temporary and restore balance. However, many people’s nervous systems get stuck in this state as a strategy to stay regulated in the face of continual stimulation and stress. Long-term use of the freeze state causes symptoms such as chronic fatigue, numbness, poor digestion and a compromised immune system.
The bottom line – we are able to regulate our nervous systems and come back into mental and physical balance when we feel SAFE. This is the core of nervous system work.
How do I know if my nervous system is the issue?
Have you ever been in the situation where your body wouldn't let you do something, even though your mind loved the idea? Maybe you wanted to launch a new service but every time you tried, things backfired - self-sabotage patterns re-emerged, health issues flared up, traumas bubbled back up to the surface (particularly around money and “success”), and you started repelling clients but had no idea why.
You might have put it down to your marketing strategy, your launch plan, uplevelling, or Mercury retrograde. Even though the truth is that you have an exquisitely valuable offering and you’ve laid strong business foundations. But when nothing is working, you doubt yourself, lose confidence in your offerings, and start frantically searching for an explanation as to why you’re STILL not attracting your soul clients. If you’re in this position, it’s a BIG clue that your nervous system is out of equilibrium.
Nervous system work is powerful because it gets underneath the thoughts, beliefs, emotions and mindset to the root cause of what's really happening - a dysregulated nervous system.
How can I regulate my nervous system for LASTING transformation?
The first step is to get embodied. Many of us in modern-day society have been conditioned to pay attention to the ongoing internal dialogue of the mind. While this is an important element of human experience, by focusing on the mind, we fail to notice that our bodies are also communicating with us – through sensation. Somatic mindfulness and embodiment training practices can help us become present with these sensations – both internal (interoceptive) and external (proprioceptive) – and to track them to understand how our nervous system is responding in each moment (before our mind has had the chance to hijack the experience).
When we build the practice of embodied presence, we also cultivate an awareness of what safety feels like within our own nervous system. From here, we can FEEL where our edge of contraction is (i.e. in what sensate circumstances our nervous system begins to sense stress) and can intervene before being thrown into fight, flight or freeze. When equipped with practical tools to facilitate this intervention, we can learn to self-regulate and become truly resilient.
In my eBook ‘7 Essential Strategies to Build Resilience’ I walk you through seven different practices, each with several variations, to get embodied and help your nervous system find its way to safety. While not every strategy will suit your unique nervous system, I encourage you to stay curious and experiment with the practices. In doing so, you will begin to learn the specific language of your nervous system.
7 ESSENTIAL STRATEGIES TO BUILD RESILIENCE
I want to emphasise that the practices in this eBook are not intended to be “quick fixes”. They will build a strong foundation for self-regulation through ongoing practice and integration.
It’s popular to think you can “hack” your way to a regulated nervous system through fast, easy exercises you can do on your own; but hacks are counter-productive. I like to think of hacks like the self-closing taps found in public restrooms. Sure, if the plumbing isn’t broken, they provide water instantly, but the flow quickly dissipates. So, if you need to fill up a 2-litre water bottle, you’re going to be holding down the nozzle for a while and expending a lot of energy in the process. Likewise, these quick fixes may stimulate your regulatory pathways initially but they will tax your nervous system over time.
The most effective and sustainable way to strengthen your regulatory pathways and expand your nervous system capacity is to practice regulation under the guidance of an experienced somatic experiencing practitioner, like myself. Why? Mirror neurons.
The magic of mirror neurons
Have you heard the expression, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” or “Your vibe attracts your tribe”?
Do you find this to be true in your own life as you adopt the beliefs, behaviours, sayings, and even facial expressions of your friends, colleagues, and loved ones?
Mirror neurons explain this phenomenon.
Through the process of neuroception, our neurons replicate and ‘mirror’ the patterns observed in another person in order to understand that person’s emotions and actions. Therefore, due to our biological wiring for connection and the miracle of this mirror neuron mechanism, my regulated, expanded nervous system can guide yours towards healthy regulation and expansion.
That's why nervous system work is so powerful and why its full potential can’t be unlocked on your own. Just like the brain, nervous systems are ‘learning systems’, and you need another regulated person for your nervous system to learn from.
For change to happen at such a deep level, I must be always aware and not intrusive, constantly vigilant and yet relaxed, responsive to the subtle shifts in the energy field between your nervous system and mine. Even with years of training, nervous system specialists can’t directly control mirror neurons. However, due to my initiation as a shaman on three separate occasions, along with studying psychotherapy and neuroscience, I have a headstart in being able to track what's happening in the realms of the subtle and implicit. The word ‘shaman’ means to “see in the dark”, and my shamanic training provides a unique insight when tracking changes in the unseen energy field between by our nervous systems.
Once my nervous system knows your nervous system, attunement is established and safety is on-board. Then you get to borrow my nervous system and regulation even when you’re not with me; and as you build capacity to be aware of your own nervous system through our work together, you build the skill to change your nervous system too - it just starts with my nervous system showing yours the way.
If you want to fulfill your big mission but are struggling to consistently attract your soul clients so you can make the impact you know you’re here to make, struggle no more.
If you’ve tried everything to heal what is blocking your connection to Source, self, and your community, going deeper to work at the level of the nervous system clears the path and ensures all those methods you’ve tried before actually start to work!
Read more about the nervous system here.
Learn to interpret the whispers of your body
Create more confidence, clarity, consistency and calm in your nervous system so you can effortlessly expand your opportunities and grow your business.
LET YOUR BODY SHOW YOU THE WAY
When you learn the language of your nervous system and listen to its wisdom, it will show you what you need to be doing so that you are aligned and in flow.
Expansion Training Level I is a 10-week group program for just 12 healers and coaches. You receive a customized nervous system re-patterning program and video practice lessons to digest in your own time. Classes are taught LIVE so you can get help re-wiring and implementing new nervous system patterns in real time. To embed change, your nervous system is shown how to send and receive safety cues and co-regulate with others.