Checking in with my nervous system once per day E70
November 29, 2022
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In this episode, I am sharing the importance of having a balanced nervous system. And how you can get messages from the nervous system to tell you if it is balanced or not. If you feel often exhausted or low in energy, if you have a stressful life, then this is the episode for you.
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Before we start this episode, let me, first of all, say that I am not a doctor or an expert on the nervous system. I am going to share with you what I have learned and what role it plays in my life. What I am sharing with you about the nervous system is from my personal understanding and experience.
So why is your nervous system so important?
You can see your nervous system as a big connector and communicator in your body. It is the connection between your brain, your spinal cord, your organs, really everything in your body. And it sends information like a superhighway wherever information needs to go at any moment in time. Our nervous system always wants us to survive, be balanced and healthy. So if it perceives an injury or a threat, it will activate certain functions, chemicals or movements to deal with it.
2 branches of the autonomic nervous system
Now let’s talk about the 2 branches of the autonomic nervous system. We have one branch which is the sympathetic nervous system and that is the fight and flight nervous system. When our nervous system perceives a threat or danger like a lion, then it switches on the fight or flight response. It will activate everything in our body that will help us to survive a lion being close to us. At that moment when this branch of the nervous system is activated, we are in a stress response. At that moment we need the stress to survive. It’s good short-term stress to help us run, hide or fight.
And then we have the other branch of the nervous system which is the parasympathetic nervous system. And this branch is responsible for our recovery and restoration. This part of the nervous system is activated when we feel safe enough to calm down. And it brings everything in balance and order again like our metabolism, digestion, hormone levels, etc.
Our nervous system wants us to survive, thrive and stay healthy
Our nervous system is always dialling one of the branches up and the other down depending on what is happening in our outer world and our inner world. Remember what I mentioned earlier, it wants us to survive, to be balanced and to be healthy. And for it to do that it has to be strong, too. It’s all one big organism that is working together. When we are out of balance, our nervous system is unbalanced. And when our nervous system is not balanced, we are unbalanced. Makes sense?
So why would our nervous system even be out of balance or weak?
I mentioned to you that the fight and flight part of the nervous system gets activated when there is a threat like a lion. But it gets activated as well by a coworker that we perceive as a threat. Or even just the thought of the co-worker can activate a stress response. So we can activate that part of the nervous system through any stressor in our lives or even just the thought of the stressor. So you can imagine that we activate it far too often and keep it activated for far too long. And that’s when it gets out of balance and we are weakening the system.
Too much stress knocks the nervous system out of balance
By having far too much stress in our lives we knock ourselves out of balance and there are many consequences resulting from it. But let’s stay here with the nervous system. If one branch of the nervous system is dialled up too many times and for long periods of time, then the other one is dialled down as a consequence of it. And that is the part that is responsible for restoration and recovery. So if we are spending our attention and energy on stress, then we have no energy left to recover from the stress. Do you see the vicious circle that we can be in and we might not even be aware of it until something more serious happens? For example, a serious illness due to how long our body and our nervous system were out of balance.
It is crucial for our health, our performance and our well-being to have a balanced nervous system. The question is now how do we find out if our nervous system is balanced or not?
HRV is the messenger from your nervous system
We have an indicator that medicine and athletes have used for decades to assess the health or fitness of the system. And that is HRV which stands for Heart Rate Variability. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has been used in cardiac medicine for over 50 years. In short, HRV describes the way your heartbeat varies. Contrary to popular belief, the healthy heart does not beat like a metronome but is constantly changing the time between beats in a rhythmic way.
These changes are driven by the nervous system, constantly trying to find the most efficient way for the body to operate, and to be in balance. When your body is having a hard time establishing balance, your HRV will drop. On the days your body has established balance, your HRV will rise.
You want high HRV because high levels of HRV are associated with resilience, well-being, health and performance. This isn’t to say that having a day where your HRV drops is bad. It just means that your body needs more time to recover from the prior day’s stress.
Take your daily HRV score to structure a balanced life
Taking your HRV daily will allow you to manage your work and lifestyle efforts to perfection. Learn to push yourself on the days you have it to give and recover on the days your energetic resources are low. Do this and you will not only increase your health and productivity, you will become profoundly resilient in body, mind and soul.
I do this daily through the SORCE App. In just 1-minute a day, SORCE measures your nervous system and delivers personalized coaching that maps to your energetic needs. All without a wearable like a ring or a bracelet😉
You simply place your finger over the camera lens of your phone and it measures the health of your nervous system in a minute! You will receive a PUSH, MAINTAIN, or RECOVER day based on that assessment. And the best part is that it comes with a community where you can share your scores, get support, and attend live workshops.
My daily HRV scores help me be stronger and healthier
It has become invaluable to me to take my daily score in the morning as I know how to structure my day in the best way for my nervous system to become stronger and my body and mind to be healthier. And there are times when my baseline drops due to falling sick or having a few stressful days. And that’s ok, I have the tool that will help me to increase my baseline again day by day. Without it, I would not know when to push myself and when to dial back to recover.
*The SORCE App is sadly not available anymore for direct end-users.
Two easy ways to show your appreciation!
If you found value in today’s episode, here’s what you can do to show your support:
First, consider making a donation to the podcast. Every little bit helps to cover the costs of producing and hosting the show. And ensures that I can continue to bring you the latest insights and opinions on the topic of energy and improving your life.
Second, leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. This helps boost the podcast’s visibility and attract new listeners, which helps me create more tailored content for you to enjoy.
So whether you choose to donate, leave a rating and review, or both, know that you’re an integral part of my vision. You are helping everyone who struggles with burnout or high-stress levels to experience how awesome their life can be. So, thank you for your support!
You Might Also Like
- Stop the Push, Push, Push way of living and create balance Episode 74
- Not all days are PUSH days Episode 107
- Connect with your inner SORCE with Jessica Corbin Episode 64
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