How To Go Parasympathetic

I’ve said before that the nervous system’s parasympathetic state is far more complicated than simply whether you feel calm or not. This is because our patterns run deep and stress response can have its own motor patterning, habits, and thoughts. The question is really whether the body is overall dominant in the sympathetic state (fight or flight) or the parasympathetic state (rest and digest).

This is because the body is literally remade from the inside out depending on the dominant state of the nervous system. The positioning of the structure (bones, organs, nerves, etc); the function of hormones, digestion, organs; and functions like hydration, tensegrity, valve function, and vitality—all of these things are impacted heavily based on your dominant state.

It goes without saying that in our modern culture, the fight or flight response is activated excessively and inappropriately and we don’t always shift easily back into parasympathetic. 

So How Do We Orient Towards Parasympathetic?

Let’s talk a bit about how to support your client’s nervous system (and yours!) to navigate toward the parasympathetic state in the hopes of helping their bodies move towards parasympathetic dominance (over time…this takes time and practice). Note that this state is often called “rest and digest” because these are just two of the things the body does not do well under stress response or in sympathetic dominance.

Proprioception is defined as the body’s ability to sense it’s position, movement, and force in space. When we’re able to proprioceptively sense our location in space (in the room we’re in or the place we are outdoors), our eyes automatically feed information to the brain about whether there’s an immediate threat in our environment. The more information we can feed to our brains about where we are (assuming there’s no predator in the room with us), the more it helps our brains know that we can go parasympathetic.

Proprioception relies on having a body map. So another way we can feed the brain information about the safety of our environment is to let it know specifically where we are. We can sense our body’s distance from the left wall, then from the right wall, then from the ceiling, then from the floor. One at a time. Slowly. Or if we’re outside, we can sense in each direction, one at a time.

When I say we can “sense,” I’m not talking about picturing it in your mind. I’m talking about feeling. Not emotions, but sensations. Each direction, one at a time. Making no meaning of it, just sensing. No forcing, just letting the body and brain do it’s thing with the information you give it.

This is a good starting point. Beyond this, we can do even more by giving our brain even more info to help form a detailed body map—giving the brain specific proprioceptive information about where our structure is in space. Where our collarbones are. Where our center line goes as we move. Where our tailbone is. And even how these structures move on the inside as we move on the outside.

For now, though, just begin working with sensing your location in a room and inviting a client to do the same. Be sure to keep eyes open so that the brain gets information about the room.

Nervous System Literacy is the 3rd core principle of The SomaField Approach to Transformational Client Work because I believe this type of work is integral to the therapeutic and coaching process. Keep your eyes out for more teachings from me on this principle. :)