Sensory and Nervous System Regulation as a Spiritual Path ⋆ LonerWolf

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 15 years on the spiritual path, it’s all the meditations, readings, and healing techniques in the world. does not mean stupid if you ignore the body.

Yes, some of them are “top-down” (aka, mind-to-body) technique creates shifts. But many others reinforce and some even encourage dissociation ego inflation and spiritual narcissism (not bidirectional, anyone?).

What I want to emphasize here is that starting with a “bottom-up” approach to treatment (aka, body-to-mind) is a more rational, effective, and rational approach to any form of spirituality or trauma healing.

Why? Because the body is your foundation, Your anchor, your bond to this world. He has more wisdom and intuitive ability than you know.

In the words of trauma expert Peter Levin, quoting the poet DH Lawrence,

“My belief is that the blood and the flesh are wiser than the mind. The unconscious of the body is the bubble of life in us. It is how we know that we are alive, that we are alive deep down, and that we are in touch with the bright places of the cosmos.”

So where do you start with regulating your nervous system (aka, having a calm body and mind), especially if you’re a highly sensitive, deep thinker? Let’s take a look at it.

First, I want to share a little about why and how this topic is important to me:

My experience with being overwhelmed, tired, and bypassing the body’s wisdom

Ironically, for most of my healing spiritual path, I ignored body wisdom in favor of more ethereal and “mental” paths. (Religious trauma that makes you hate the body root causeanyone?)

I wrote about vagus nerve, somatic body workand the meaning of muscle tension before – but it was never something I pursued much or delved too deeply into.

I even received life-changing therapy with a somatic therapist for over a year and trained with a neurologist. … but it never crossed my mind, “Wait, I’ve got to stop this top down healing approaches and shift gears to proactively incorporate this upside down approaching my life.”

This is an example of how mind-body integration can sometimes take so long, especially if you experienced severe dissociation and loss of identity as a child. For me it lasted approx five years to start shifting gears.

When the wake-up call finally comes…

The last “awakening” thing came when I became a parent and started experiencing chronic fatigue despite doing all the usual treatments that “worked before”.

As a very sensitive person, I realized this. it was my nervous system deep unregulated, overflowing, and beginning to burn.

It was juggling parenting, housework, running a business, pumping my son 4-10 times a day, dealing with toxic family members, listening to the news (Deepak Chopra and The Epstein Files, what I mean), grieving the endless lives lost in wars, doing housework, maintaining relationships, and millions of lives every day.

Once I started learning about the “burnout symptoms” I started connecting the dots. That’s when I came across the words of Dr. Claire Plumbly in her book Burn injury, he described it as “in a state of inescapable stress, we stretch to the max for too long and our nervous systems go into survival mode.”

Bingo. I found the missing link. As I began to actively regulate my nervous system, I finally began to regain my strength, vitality and spirit.

20+ Ways to Start Regulating Your Nervous System as a Sensitive (What I Do)

“There is more wisdom in your body than your profound philosophy.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, So said Zarathustra

Stress, fatigue, and existential angst are inevitable at some point in life, especially for highly sensitive people.

As you process, feel and experience life 10-50 times higher Compared to a neurotypical person, you need to care more and make it a major part of your daily life.

It’s not a good regularly. This is a important and non-negotiable part of everyday life for a very sensitive person.

Without learning to regulate yourself every day, stressors begin to rise to the level of physical and mental illness. Without taking care of your body every day and letting it down parasympathetic calmness, As a result, the nervous system is not regulated, it looks like this:

• Brain fog
• Lack of concentration
• Lack of motivation
• Overthinking and overthinking
• Anxiety and nervousness
• A sense of existential dread
• Mood swings
• Emotional numbness
• Fatigue and lethargy
• Muscle tension
• Bad sleep
• Digestive problems
• More disease

Well, where? start regulates your nervous system? Here are some of the things I’m doing right now (not always, but at different times and frequencies):

1. Predictable procedures (not glamorous, but the nervous system likes familiarity)
2. No use of social networks at the beginning or end of the day (I try to use it only for lunch work)
3. A lot of water
4. Healthy, home cooked and simple meals
5. Reading with soft light before bedfor example, a salt lamp or a Turkish mosaic lamp
6. Soft sheets or hand knits
7. Cuddling with pets or loved ones as much as possible during the day (usually the beginning and end)
8. Acceptance a walking slowly in nature
9. Drinking hot herbal tea (I love adaptogens St. Basil or the like digestion like mint)
10. Grounding meditation at the beginning of the daychores/before work
11. Deep breathing meditation for 5-10 minutes, lying on the floor before going to bed
12. Self-massage or acupressure
13. Simple yoga and stretching
14. Orientation To sources of joy around (bird, flower, cloud, picture)
15. Noise canceling headphones when it comes out
16. Journaling by candlelight
17. incense or natural oils such as lavender
18. Listening to the sounds of natureTibetan singing bowls, or chanting
19. Humming or whistling
20. Going places here human contact feels pleasantfor example, a park
21. Playing with fur or human family (board games, shooting, etc.)
22. have days without technology
23. Movable More little by little and less multitasking
24. Create checklists to reduce mental stress
25. Looking at the mirror work After a minute of shower, saying affirmations
26. Comforting the inner child by doing what they love
27. Setting boundaries with others by preparing “scripts”.

I wrote an article about Restoring the soul a few weeks ago and it was a perfect addition to this post (with lots of soothing suggestions). Obviously, there is a lot Here are some other things I could write about. But that list would be fifty pages long, so I’ll keep it short and simple to give you an idea of ​​what’s possible.

Regulation of the nervous system is a spiritual path

Learning to calm, ground, and regulate your nervous system is a spiritual path because the body is your ever-present field of wisdom.

The fire in your belly, the contraction in your chest, and the dullness in your head reveal what you need to know about a person, situation, or inner shadow.

Your body is a thermometer of truth, a transmitter of wisdom and a guide.

As a sensitive person, you are blessed (and sometimes cursed) to experience these physical sensations. improved road

This is one of your greatest gifts. Now it’s time to use it.