Podcast Summary
Understanding the role of the nervous system in shaping our experiences: Recognizing the impact of the nervous system on behavior and beliefs can lead to trauma-informed coaching and personal growth
Our nervous systems play a crucial role in shaping our felt sense of the world and our ability to change behavior and embody new beliefs. Elizabeth shared her personal experience of this connection during a neurology training with Matt, where she felt panicked and behaved like her adolescent self due to the stimulation of her nervous system. Understanding the nervous system and its outputs can help us make sense of such experiences and work towards healing and growth. Neuro somatic intelligence coaching, which focuses on the nervous system, can make our work trauma-informed and shift our perspective on mindset, behavior, and well-being.
Understanding the connection between emotions and the nervous system: Gaining awareness of the nervous system's role in emotional experiences can lead to compassionate self-perception and improved interactions with others.
Our mental and emotional experiences are deeply connected to the functioning of our nervous system. Many people, including Elizabeth in the discussion, have gone through their lives labeled their experiences as emotional or psychological responses, without realizing that they are actually the nervous system's attempts to keep them safe. When someone gains awareness of this through education, they may encounter unexpected reactions as the nervous system processes newfound inputs. This understanding can bring compassion to our interactions with ourselves and others, as we recognize that challenging behaviors are often rooted in the brain's efforts to ensure safety. For Elizabeth, this realization led to a profound shift in her self-perception and her work with athletes, allowing her to approach individuals with patience and understanding rather than judgment. This newfound awareness can be a transformative experience, revealing a whole new world and offering a fresh perspective on what it means to be human.
Daily practices for calming the nervous system and shifting perspective: Engage in daily practices that provide ongoing signals of safety to the nervous system and help calm its response to triggers, including self-compassion practices and addressing beliefs shaped by early experiences with caregivers.
Our daily practices play a crucial role in calming our nervous system and shifting our perspective, allowing us to make choices that align with our goals rather than being controlled by our survival brain. Our cognitive mind may want to make healthy choices, but if we're in a state of ongoing threat or trauma, our survival brain will make the decisions, often leading to avoidance, seeking, or numbing behaviors. To break free from these patterns, it's essential to engage in daily practices that provide ongoing signals of safety to our nervous system and help calm its response to triggers. This can include self-compassion practices, which can be challenging to access when in a state of survival brain, as our focus tends to be on distraction rather than self-love. Our early experiences with caregivers shape our beliefs, and when our needs aren't met, we may internalize the belief that there's something wrong with us or that the world is unpredictable and dangerous. These beliefs can get stuck in our bodies and influence our behaviors, making it essential to address them through daily practices that promote safety and self-compassion.
Deep-rooted beliefs and nervous system responses impact our ability to connect: Addressing underlying stress and ensuring safety within our bodies is crucial for effective connection and coaching
Our deep-rooted beliefs and nervous system responses, shaped by past experiences and attunement with our primary caregivers, significantly impact our ability to connect with ourselves and others. When we try to change these limiting beliefs and take new actions without addressing the underlying stress and lack of safety within our body and nervous system, we may experience negative health consequences. It's crucial to work on attunement, regulation, and safety within our own bodies to effectively connect and support others, as our nervous systems play a significant role in our ability to engage fully in relationships and coaching sessions. Without addressing the underlying stress and lack of safety, a 'giant boulder' prevents us from truly connecting with others. This concept applies to all types of coaching work, as the nervous system's impact extends beyond just the physical realm.
Speak to the survival-based nervous system with safe sensory inputs: Consistently reinforce safe perception to help the nervous system let go of controlling mechanisms and bring us closer to others. Prioritize our own regulation and safety to create a safe space for clients, allowing them to go deeper in the work.
When our survival brains are activated, mindset tools may not be as effective because we're operating from a place of threat and survival, rather than our default mode network. To truly make a difference, we need to speak to the survival-based nervous system in a language it understands – the language of safe sensory inputs. By consistently reinforcing safe perception, we can help the nervous system let go of controlling mechanisms and bring us closer to others. Additionally, the container we provide for healing or growth work is crucial. Our own regulation and safety are essential to creating a safe space for clients, allowing them to go deeper in the work and experience fewer negative outputs. As those who hold space, it's important for us to prioritize our own regulation and safety to avoid getting triggered and leaving our bodies, ensuring we can effectively support others in their journeys.
Prioritize nervous system self-care for coaches and healers: Coaches and healers must prioritize their nervous system self-care to prevent burnout, maintain effectiveness, and ensure long-term health and well-being.
As coaches and healers, it's crucial to prioritize our own nervous system self-care and regulation practices to prevent burnout. Constantly working with dysregulated individuals without proper self-care can lead to elevated stress levels and protective output signals from the body. These signals may manifest as exhaustion, disengagement, or even quitting the business. Our nervous system is constantly seeking an escape valve when faced with prolonged stress or threat, and if we don't provide it with the necessary regulation, we risk crashing and becoming depleted. Adaptation, whether healthy or unhealthy, is a normal part of our lives. However, unhealthy adaptations and coping mechanisms can lead to long-term dysfunction. It's essential to be mindful of our behaviors and the potential future consequences of our actions. By prioritizing our own nervous system care, we can ensure that we're not only serving our clients effectively but also maintaining our long-term health and well-being.
The Science of Hope: Neuroplasticity and Personal Growth: Neuroplasticity offers hope for personal growth and transformation, allowing us to overcome past experiences and diagnoses, and empowering us to discover new opportunities through self-discovery and somatic healing.
Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change, is a powerful concept that offers hope for personal growth and transformation, regardless of age or current health. Neuroplasticity is the science of hope because it means we're not fixed or limited by our past experiences or diagnoses. Our brains are always changing based on our inputs and environments, so we have the power to move towards health, greater humanity, and personal growth. This understanding has led to lasting behavior change, improved relationships, and even better business outcomes for many people. The practice of applied neurology and somatic healing empowers individuals to discover and heal by understanding their own responses and developing trust within their bodies. This journey of self-discovery can lead to new experiences and opportunities in various aspects of life.
Understanding the impact of perception on relationships and well-being: Applying neurology to retrain brain responses can lead to healthier relationships and improved mental health by addressing misinterpretations of reality and defensive behaviors rooted in past traumas.
Our perception and interpretation of the world around us, shaped by our brain's response to sensory inputs, significantly impacts our relationships and overall well-being. Applied neurology, a practice focused on retraining the brain's interpretation and response, can help change how we perceive and respond to situations, leading to healthier relationships and improved mental health. Misinterpretations of reality, often rooted in past traumas, can lead to defensive behaviors and unhealthy relationship dynamics. By understanding the role of input, interpretation, and output in our brains, we can learn to retrain our nervous system and operating system to respond appropriately to our present reality, rather than being stuck in past traumas. This is an essential skill for overcoming even lower-grade traumas and avoidance behaviors. Applied neurology offers a valuable tool for individuals to regain control over their reactions and improve their relationships and overall quality of life.
Understanding our emotions and reactions: Learn to recognize the language of our nervous system and brain's protective responses, be aware of emotional undercurrents, and respond differently for positive change.
Our emotions and reactions can be triggered by even the smallest things, leading to a cycle of shame and self-sabotaging behaviors. This can stem from our nervous system misinterpreting threats and our brain's protective defensive responses. It's essential to learn the language of these two different natures within us and recognize which one is driving our thoughts and feelings. Every thought and feeling isn't reality, and we must be aware of the real-time awareness of our body's responses to change behavior. The most beneficial part of this work is the awareness and recognition of these patterns, allowing us to respond differently and bring a healthier way of being into our bodies. Additionally, emotional undercurrents that live in the body can drive behavior, and being aware of these patterns is crucial for creating positive change.
Suppressing emotions can lead to physical symptoms: Expressing emotions in a safe and healthy way is essential to prevent physical health issues
Suppressing emotions can lead to physical symptoms and it's essential to express emotions in a safe and healthy way. The body will find a way to release emotional stress if it's not expressed, and this can manifest as pain, skin conditions, or other health issues. The hypothalamus, a part of the brain, plays a role in turning emotions into physical outputs. Repressing emotions for too long can put stress on the nervous system and lead to damaging health consequences. It's crucial to create a safe environment to process and express emotions, such as through somatic practices, to promote overall well-being.
Suppressing emotions harms physical and emotional health: Suppressing emotions can lead to inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and other negative effects. Expressing emotions regularly in safe spaces promotes emotional and physical well-being.
Suppressing emotions can lead to physical and physiological harm. The brain doesn't distinguish between emotional and physical stress, and when stress and threat build up without release, the body responds with inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and other negative effects. Emotions are a fundamental aspect of humanity, and expressing them is crucial for maintaining both emotional and physical health. However, many people have been conditioned to suppress emotions due to societal pressures or past experiences, making it difficult to fully express them. This can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed when emotions do surface, and the lack of an outlet can exacerbate symptoms of stress and anxiety. It's important to create safe spaces for expressing emotions and to practice healthy emotional expression regularly to prevent the negative physical and emotional consequences of suppression.
Healing from trauma requires effective tools to process emotions: Effective tools like sensory and neuro methods help process emotions and move forward, preventing retraumatization and old patterns.
Healing from trauma involves more than just bringing up emotions and past experiences. It's essential to have the tools to process and discharge those emotions effectively to prevent them from reflecting back and keeping us stuck in the past. Without these tools, we risk retraumatizing ourselves and reinforcing old patterns, leaving us feeling frustrated and unable to change. The use of sensory and neuro tools can help retrain the nervous system, allowing us to leave the trauma behind and move forward in a healthy way. If we don't address the trauma properly, we risk becoming calloused to our experiences, suppressing important sensory inputs, and losing touch with parts of ourselves. It's crucial to prioritize healing methods that help us process and integrate our emotions rather than just reexperiencing them repeatedly.
Understanding the Nervous System for Effective Coaching and Healing: Effective coaching and healing requires practitioners to prioritize their own nervous system health and understand its role in shaping perceptions, emotions, and behaviors to better serve clients.
Neglecting to address and reconnect with our own bodily experiences and nervous system can lead to a detachment from our humanity and hinder our ability to effectively serve others as coaches or practitioners. It's essential for practitioners to prioritize their own emotional, physical, and neurological well-being through education and self-care, as this will enable them to better understand and help their clients. The nervous system, as the operating system of the body, plays a significant role in shaping our perceptions, emotions, and behaviors. By gaining a deeper understanding of the nervous system, we can provide more effective care and support to our clients, helping them reconnect with their bodies and reclaim the beauty and richness of the human experience.
Exploring the transformative power of understanding the nervous system: Understanding the nervous system can help individuals overcome deep-rooted issues, reach their dreams, and find fulfillment in their personal and professional lives.
Understanding the nervous system and how it can be trained is an invaluable investment for individuals and professionals. Regardless of the type of work one does, be it coaching, treating patients, or working with clients, everyone shares the commonality of a nervous system. This neuro material can help individuals reach their dreams and find fulfillment. Listening to experts in this field can provide insights into removing personal trauma from professional, spiritual, and creative paths. To explore this further, consider booking a call or staying tuned for part 2 of this conversation, where a vagus nerve expert and creator of a coaching certification will join. As a neurosomatic intelligence practitioner, Melanie Weller can attest to the transformative power of this knowledge in helping clients overcome deep-rooted issues that hinder their success.
