Your Nervous System Is Probably Overwhelmed (But It Doesn’t Have To Be)
If you’ve ever taken a yoga class with me, or received an energy healing session, or attended one of my workshops, you may already know a little bit about the nervous system. The nervous system is like a network that relays messages between the brain and our other bodily systems.
The nervous system plays a huge role in our stress response. And you may also know that sometimes, our nervous systems can get pretty overwhelmed, which can make us feel all kinds of crappy, ranging from anxious and irritable to numb, bored, or hopeless.
Here’s a little evolutionary neurobiology for you…
You’ve probably heard of fight/flight/freeze in response to stress. The fight/flight response kicks in when we’re in a stressful situation and our subconscious brain believes that we can successfully escape that situation, either through fighting or running away.
The fight/flight response is at play when you feel…
Anxious about saying the wrong thing in a job interview.
Worried that your sick family member isn’t going to recover from surgery.
Afraid that the shadow you saw out of the corner of your eye was someone following you.
Frustrated that your partner once again forgot to load the dishwasher.
Angry that some asshole took an illegal turn and nearly hit you.
On the other hand, the freeze response kicks in when we’re in a stressful situation and our subconscious brain believes that our best chance of survival is to become immobilized and play dead.
The freeze response is at play when you feel…
Stuck on the couch, exhausted, unable to get up.
Zoned out scrolling through Instagram.
Paralyzed, frozen with indecision.
Overwhelmed to the point of numbness and unable to feel.
So anxious that you literally can’t move or speak.
My guess is that most, if not all, of the above situations sound pretty familiar to you. It’s not an overstatement to say that stressful experiences like the ones I’ve just listed are a completely normal aspect of modern life.
And yet… it’s ALSO true that these so-called “normal” experiences—or at least, the way that we typically process these experiences—are burning us out.
Burnout is an intense form of physical and emotional exhaustion that happens when you're unable to keep up with life's incessant demands.
Why is burnout so prevalent these days? Because our brains and nervous systems did not evolve to process stress at the frequency or consistency that we experience stressors in modern life.
We evolved to experience a lot of stress all at once, then to either get mauled, eaten, or… to run away, recover, shake it off (literally) and move on with our lives.
We did NOT evolve to navigate a constant stream of stressors. Our ancient ancestors were not simultaneously juggling family drama, financial troubles, conflicts with coworkers and neighbors, a global pandemic, health insurance denying their claims, being stuck in traffic, seatmates not wearing facemasks on flights, tech glitches, or the entire INTERNET… all in the same day or week.
It’s no wonder that so many of us in the modern world are so damn stressed out and burnt out. Our brains and nervous systems literally did not evolve to handle the demands of modern life.
The good news? We DO have a decent amount of control over how we deal with our own stress.
Our bodies, brains, and nervous systems just need a little bit of specialized support to process that stress, heal our burnout, and come back to an internal sense of balance.
This is exactly why I created Somatic Summer Sessions and Boundaries for Burnout.
Two offerings.
One highly personalized one-on-one coaching experience.
One supportive, intimate, group coaching and teaching container.
Both are designed to help you feel less stressed and overwhelmed, and a lot more relaxed, confident, and capable… so you can actually enjoy this life you’ve worked so hard for.
Get all the details right here.