Nervous System Regulation Workshop Insights!

This past weekend I traveled to Calgary with a girlfriend to attend a Nervous System Regulation Workshop with Mark Groves and Sarah Baldwin!

This workshop was fire, with so many golden nuggets.

Sarah Baldwin shared three states of Nervous System Dysregulation (Self-Protection) that are innately wise ways for our body to keep us safe. 

We can't change what we don't understand, so here we go!

The first state that she shared is when our sympathetic nervous system is activated. This state is a way for our body to perceive danger and it looks like the go-go-go energy, working all the time and always on the move. This state can be related to an anxious attachment style in relationships, having thoughts that we can fix things and be doing more. 

The second state that she shared is when our nervous system is in dorsal vagal shutdown. This looks like us leaving our body and disassociating, and it's meant for us to not feel pain. This is also a strategic way for our body to respond to a threat or trauma. This may feel like depression, feeling here but not here, low energy and not wanting to be seen. This state can be related to an avoidant attachment style in relationships, deeply wanting connection but is scared of closeness, so instead avoidance and shut down is the norm.

The third state that she shared is Freeze. This nervous system state is equal parts sympathetic and dorsal vagal shutdown. This may look like "I have to, but I can't". This state can be related to a disorganized attachment style in relationships, one foot in and one foot out. 

The goal is to live from a mostly regulated nervous system state, or in a Ventral Vagal State, while also being able to respond to threats but not staying in that state for long periods of time. This looks like turning on all of your senses and experiencing true love, abundance, growth and beauty, while also being able to respond to threats from the three states nervous system protection when you need to.

So how do you move into a more predominant regulated nervous system state? 

There are many tools out there that can support your nervous system! My favorite one is spending time in Nature! Nature is inherently helping us co-regulate all the time, allowing our nervous system and nerve endings to relax and calm. 

We can lean on others to help us co-regulate, being in the presence of someone who is regulated, allows our nervous system the safety to regulate. Think of children, when they are young, they don't have the capacity to regulate on their own, so they rely on their caregivers for regulation. 

I often hear from guests when I'm guiding stand-up paddleboard experiences that they feel much more grounded in my presence. When I spend all summer outdoors, my nervous system feels so regulated, compared to when I spend more time indoors and on my computer. 

Similarly, when you have a regulated nervous system, the energy that you put into everything is coming from that place. You are sprinkling that regulated energy with everything that you do. However, if you have a dysregulated nervous system, that's the energy that you are putting out with your offerings or the work that you do. 

Now, understanding this is key because our nervous system creates our thoughts. We are needing to tune into the body in order to regulate our nervous systems and change our thought patterns, and belief systems!

And, our nervous systems will choose what is familiar, and if you grew up in an environment that wasn't "safe", your nervous system will continuously choose that same environment. 

Another amazing way for nervous system regulation that I love is BodyTalk! With a BodyTalk session, we are regulating our nervous system by surfacing limiting belief systems, emotions and thought patterns that may be keeping you stuck in a pattern and doing things the same way, even though you are desiring change, abundance, growth and love in your life!

Whatever you choose, I hope that you are able to find healthy tools to support yourself in nervous system regulation, and by saying healthy tools, I'm not referring to quick cortisol hits that you may get from scrolling on your phone. Here are some of my favourite ways to come back into nervous system regulation:

- Time in Nature
- Kickboxing
- Breathing
- Somatic Yoga
- Rocking in my chair
- BodyTalk

What would you add to this list? Reply and let me know, I'd love to add some more tools to my nervous system regulation toolkit!