Is Your Body Trying To Tell You Something?
Rather than asking, "How can I control my body?" experiment with, "What is my body trying to tell me with these tight shoulders, an aching chest, or a knotted stomach?" and then see if you can allow space for those sensations.
The vagus nerve cells are 80 to 90% afferent: they send messages from the viscera, gut, lungs & heart to the brain.
Messages like butterflies in the tummy, an aching heart or a gut instinct are all sent to the brain via the vagus nerve.
Only 10-20% of the vagus nerve fibres run from the brain to body, yet so much emphasis is placed on the brain as a being central command centre having control of the body. The enteric nervous system within your gut (also called the second brain) is about the size of a cats brain! It’s rich in information - yet how often do you use it to guide you?
Learning to tune in to & read bodily sensations rather than trying to reason feelings away using logic, leads to increased emotional resilience.
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It calms down the amygdala when we feel fear, anxiety, anger, stress. This is also called the emotion center of our brains.
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You can stop trying to micro-manage your feelings by over doing, over thinking and worrying about things that may not happen when you recognise and allow sensations.
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You can access greater wisdom from your feelings. Research has shown that better decisions are made from listening to your intuition.
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Feeling in to sensations increases emotional intelligence.
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You can learn to drop the old story: the sensations from the body reconnect us to what is happening in the present moment.
The brain likes to predict that our current feelings of fear mean that we’re bound to fail like we did in high school. This keeps us stuck in patterns and habits. Sitting with feelings in the present just as they are means the story can dissolve.
Research is showing that the brain is more like a logistics warehouse. Learning to tune in to the body with a receptive awareness to feelings can help you to regulate your nervous system.
Ready to learn more & change old habits? Join my upcoming Vagus Nerve Masterclass.
Iāve dedicated over a decade to simplifying complex concepts, and now, Iām here to guide you step-by-step into applying nervous system regulation to your own emotional and physical health, and also if you want to help others do the same.Ā
