Podcast Summary
Exploring the importance of nervous system health through movement and mentorship: Through personal experiences and mentorship, Amanda Smith discovered the significance of nervous system health and now shares her knowledge in the Neuro Somatic Intelligence community, emphasizing self-compassion and ongoing learning.
Understanding and working with our nervous systems is crucial for building deeper, more meaningful connections with ourselves and others. Amanda Smith, a guest on Trauma Rewired, shares her personal journey of discovering the importance of nervous system health through movement and mentorship. Starting as a personal trainer, she was introduced to personal energetics management, which helped her regulate her nervous system and led her to explore yoga and applied neuro. After meeting Elizabeth, the podcast's co-host, online during the pandemic, she joined the Neuro Somatic Intelligence (NSI) community and began sharing her knowledge and skills. Amanda's rich background in applied neurology and traumatic brain injury adds valuable insights to the NSI realm, emphasizing the significance of self-compassion and ongoing learning. By understanding and addressing the impact of our actions on our nervous systems, we can foster healthier relationships and create lasting transformation.
Understanding and addressing trauma through NSI course: NSI course provides valuable tools for personal growth and professional communication, particularly helpful for supporting clients dealing with PTSD, chronic pain, and grief.
Learning from the NSI course is that it provides a consolidated framework for understanding and addressing trauma, behavior change, and personal development. This transformative experience has made the speaker more aware and facile on a personal level, and given her valuable tools for communicating with clients on a professional level. In her work with brain injury patients, she has found the course's focus on permission and intelligent conversations to be particularly helpful in educating and supporting clients dealing with PTSD, chronic pain, and grief. With her one-on-one clients, she now feels she has more language tools to have healthy conversations and help them navigate their emotions and trauma responses. A specific example is an older client with peripheral neuropathy who was struggling with anxiety and isolation during the pandemic and needed to give a reading in San Francisco. By incorporating exercises from the NSI course, they were able to help her prepare and show up confidently for the event. Overall, the NSI course has given the speaker a whole new language and a sense of freedom and availability as a coach.
The power of language in fostering self-compassion: Using kind self-talk activates the left temporal lobe and insula, promoting self-connection, while self-critical language activates problem-solving areas, potentially leading to self-blame. Choose words wisely for self-compassion.
Language plays a significant role in shaping our brain's response to situations, particularly when it comes to self-compassion. During a conversation about helping a client express herself, the importance of having a step-by-step process and self-compassion were emphasized. Self-compassion is crucial for repatterning and behavior change, leading to full self-expression and big life experiences. A study using fMRI scans revealed that self-critical language activates the lateral prefrontal cortex and dorsal anterior cingulate, which are involved in problem-solving and error processing, potentially leading individuals to view themselves as the problem that needs fixing. On the other hand, kind self-talk activates the left temporal lobe and insula, which are responsible for interoception and feeling connected to oneself. By being aware of the impact of language on our brains, we can choose words that foster self-compassion and promote a healthy relationship with ourselves. In the upcoming NSI cohort, self-compassion will be explored further to help individuals cultivate greater capacity for it.
Understanding Self-Compassion as a Tool for Healing: Self-compassion is a powerful tool for regulating the nervous system and healing from a lifetime of critical self-talk and perfectionism through kind words and practical steps.
Self-compassion is a powerful tool for regulating the nervous system and creating a positive shift in our relationship with ourselves. The language we use can have a profound impact on our ability to reregulate and heal from a lifetime of critical self-talk and perfectionism. Self-compassion is not just about being easy on ourselves with kind words, but also about taking practical steps to create safety and regulation in the body through exercises and tools. This can make it possible to start changing the inner dialogue and moving out of protective, obsessive behaviors. Self-compassion may come last in our journey of understanding neurology and the brain, but it is a crucial step towards true healing and freedom. The choice to try a new tool or exercise can be an expression of self-compassion and a way to start creating a new relationship with ourselves. It's not an intuitive process, but with time and practice, the language of self-compassion can become a reality.
The role of embodiment in self-compassion: Embodiment helps us navigate deeper emotions, recognize struggles, regulate our nervous system, and celebrate ourselves, leading to increased self-compassion
Embodiment, or increased self-awareness, plays a crucial role in the development of self-compassion. Embodiment helps us navigate deeper emotional components, such as shame and self-doubt, by providing a new way to feel and process experiences. Self-compassion may not be possible without this awareness, as it requires recognizing when something is difficult for us. By focusing on what is difficult in our day or experience, we can offer ourselves tools to regulate our nervous system and acknowledge our struggles. As we become more embodied and self-aware, we can also celebrate ourselves and process emotional blocks, such as shame, leading to a greater capacity for self-compassion.
Understanding and caring for our nervous system is key to developing self-compassion: Daily practices, emotional regulation, and neurosomatic practices help build self-compassion by regulating our nervous system, allowing us to process emotions and maintain higher order thinking.
Developing self-compassion requires understanding and caring for our nervous system. The speaker shares her personal experience of discovering her limited capacity and the importance of self-compassion. She emphasizes the emotional intensity of self-compassion and the potential need for emotional regulation through daily practices. The speaker also highlights the significance of a neurosomatic practice as a foundation for self-compassion, allowing us to process emotions and maintain higher order thinking. Self-compassion arises from a regulated nervous system, enabling us to shift our internal script towards kindness and self-care. Ultimately, neurosomatic intelligence is essential for coaches, therapists, and healers to equip individuals with the skills to regulate their nervous systems, fostering creativity, productivity, connection, and growth.
Improve self-regulation through body signals and better inputs to insular cortex: Focus on breathing, vestibular work, c fiber activation, mindful choices, relaxation, and self-care to improve self-regulation and reduce impact of complex trauma.
By focusing on our body's signals and creating better inputs to our insular cortex, we can improve our ability to regulate ourselves and stay in equilibrium. This can involve practices like breathing, vestibular work, and c fiber activation, as well as making mindful choices about our energy levels and commitments. The peripheral nervous system plays a key role in this process, as it provides sensory and motor input and can be affected by our stress response. When we're in a state of fight or flight, our peripheral nervous system can contract and compress our nerves, making it important to prioritize relaxation and self-care. A nutritional supplement like AG1 can also support our overall health and well-being, providing essential vitamins and minerals to help us function at our best. By making these practices and choices, we can move towards a healthier, more balanced state and reduce the impact of complex trauma on our lives.
The Peripheral Nervous System: Creating Optimal Health through Clear Sensory Input: Improving peripheral nervous system function enhances bone and tendon health, pain inhibition, and motor coordination. Focusing on clear sensory inputs can benefit individuals with trauma and promote overall nervous system health.
The peripheral nervous system plays a crucial role in creating optimal health by providing clear and accurate information from our body to the brain. This system, which includes nerves that innervate our joints and muscles, as well as our vision, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems, is responsible for relaying various types of sensory input to the brain. When our peripheral nervous system functions well, we feel safe and coordinated, but poor inputs can make us feel cautious and restrictive. By focusing on creating good inputs from our peripheral nervous system, we can improve bone and tendon health, enhance pain inhibition, and increase dexterity and motor coordination. This approach can be especially beneficial for individuals with trauma, as working with the peripheral nervous system may be a safer and more accessible way to begin healing. Overall, it's essential to remember that there are many ways to impact change at the nervous system, and working with the peripheral nervous system can provide significant benefits in a minimum effective dose way.
Improve overall well-being by focusing on peripheral nerves: Focusing on nerves through exercises like nerve glides and mobility work can enhance self-awareness, increase daily capacity, and improve communication with others. Addressing peripheral nerve issues can help fully inhabit your body, allowing for greater presence and effectiveness.
Taking care of your peripheral nervous system can significantly improve your overall well-being and relationship with your body. By focusing on nerves through exercises like nerve glides and mobility work, you can enhance your sense of self and feel more grounded. This can lead to increased capacity for daily activities and better communication with others. Additionally, addressing peripheral nerve issues can help you fully inhabit your body, allowing you to be more present and effective in various aspects of your life. This process doesn't require a significant time investment and can make a substantial difference in your daily experiences.
Connecting with the nervous system for embodiment: Daily practices like vestibular input, proprioception, and breathing help ground individuals and provide relief from suffering by addressing neural function.
Embodiment, or living in a grounded and connected way, is not just about mental practices or visualizations, but also requires addressing neural function. The speaker shares her personal experience of receiving unexpected wisdom to heal, which she now understands as a call to address her nervous system. She emphasizes the importance of daily practices, such as vestibular input, proprioception, and breathing, to help individuals get grounded and provide relief from suffering. The speaker also reflects on how this work has been profound for her on a personal and professional level, allowing her to work more effectively with individuals dealing with brain injuries.
Managing Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injuries: Individuals with TBI can improve tolerance and compassion, leading to better communication and reduced conflict through education and self-regulation.
Traumatic brain injuries can significantly impact individuals' nervous systems, leading to various challenging symptoms such as anxiety, fear, depression, impatience, and isolation. These symptoms create a consistent sensory mismatch in the nervous system, leaving individuals feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope with daily life. However, through education and learning to regulate themselves, individuals can improve their tolerance and compassion, leading to better communication with their loved ones and an overall reduction in conflict. This work not only benefits the individuals but also extends to their home life, creating a positive loop of improved communication and support. Ultimately, this work is crucial for those who have experienced traumatic brain injuries and do not have access to one-on-one coaching, as it provides them with the tools to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Healing brain injuries with Neuro Somatic Intelligence: Neuro Somatic Intelligence (NSI) is a powerful approach for healing brain injuries by addressing emotional and trauma components, regulation, and movement. It equips professionals with a framework and tools to improve brain function and nervous system health, making them experts in their field.
Neuro Somatic Intelligence (NSI) plays a crucial role in healing brain injuries by addressing the emotional and trauma components, as well as regulation and movement. This approach, which was discovered at the right time for the speaker, is highly recommended for those working with similar populations. NSI equips coaches, therapists, healers, and practitioners with a framework and practical tools to improve brain function and nervous system health, creating meaningful change for clients and setting them apart as experts in their field. NSI is taught by industry leaders in applied neurology, somatics, and vagus nerve health. Overall, NSI is essential work that needs to be shared widely to make a positive impact on the world. If you're interested in learning more, visit neurosomaticintelligence.com.
