Calming your brain.
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So what is stress? I think it's really helpful for us to know that it is literally just a physiological response in our body. So it's the autonomic or automatic, whichever way people say that, nervous system, it's impacted by our environment, so that's outside and inside the body, and all of that stimulation or information will activate in some way or form our ANS.
So whether we're feeling safe, whether we're feeling a bit nervous or anxious or the beginning of a bit of danger, or whether we're truly under threat for our life. All of those things start with information from outside and from inside the body that our nervous system is picking up and responding to.
The ANS actually goes through our whole body, like literally from the top of our head all the way through our body, our spine, down our legs, into our feet, down through our arms up to the head. So anytime our ANS gathers information from inside or outside, there is a piece of our body that receives some information.
Our ANS is always somewhere on the spectrum between safe and life threat because it's a constant monitoring system.
So because of how the stress response impacts our physiology, no matter where it is, it is always going to impact our thinking or our ability to think is impacted by it.
If we don't manage stress, we will end up with health problems. Like it's literally unavoidable because of how the ANZ connects to the different parts of our body. So the key to maintaining our ability to think and our general health and wellbeing is to build the skills that regulate our the nervous system and bring in some calm.
One of my favourite techniques I call focus for relaxation. So there are many ways to do this. even mindfulness is "focus for relaxation".
So this works because we take charge through our attention and intention the information that's coming in from externals and internals, to information and signals that is less activating or stimulating to our ANS system, which allows it to begin to calm down and go back into a closer to safety state.
So you can't just talk or think your way out of stress when you are in the middle of it. We can however change our response to stress or to the things in our lives that trigger the stress response over time by uncovering and then replacing learned thought processes and patterns, but not when we're in it.
Just like you don't try and learn to swim when you're drowning. You know, you get help, you calm down, then you go and get the skills so you're better prepared moving forward, especially for the unexpected.
So I'd love for you to join me now and we're actually going to practice some ANS regulation because this is the first essential skill.
Step one, stop, just pause and breathe. As you breathe, I want you to focus on just the out breath. Okay, that's it. It doesn't matter how deep it is, how shallow it is. All I want you to do is just notice your out -breath.
Now sitting down or standing still for a moment, I just want you to then notice the connection between your feet and the floor and let your out breath go.
As we do that, we're noticing the connection between our feet and whatever our feet are touching. Okay, for most of us that will be the floor through our shoes or maybe bare feet or socks. Okay. So breathe out and notice the connection between your feet and the ground.
Just spend a moment there, we're going to allow our senses to just provide us with information. So is there a taste in your mouth? Can we hear something? Still noticing our feet on the ground, through our shoes or our socks, and the letting go of the breath, that's it.
Notice your sense of touch. So notice something that you're touching. You could touch a table in front of you or maybe your knees. Maybe just touch your other hand. It could be that you notice how your clothes are touching your skin.
Can you smell anything. You may or may not be able to smell something. Maybe if you're wearing perfume, or you might have flowers in your room.
So just noticing the information that your senses naturally gather as you notice your feet on the ground and let your breath go.
What is your eyes drawn to as you look around wherever you are. What do your eyes notice? as you allow your feet to connect to the ground and let your breath go.
This technique will literally interrupt the stress cycle and allow you to feel calmer and to think more clearly.
Although it's a short term in the moment management tool it is highly effective.
Enjoy the rest of your day 😊
If you'd like a longer-term solution, go to www .pampoole.co.nz
Life Coach and Equine Assisted Learning Practitioner. Have a great week. Bye for now.
