Session one
Goals:
Goal 1: Understand what resiliency is by learning about how the brain and nervous system work
Goal 2: Learn to navigate your nervous system in order to increase resiliency by learning about how to track your nervous system and how to navigate it
Apps to Download:
The Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system is a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates bodily functions, such as the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal.The autonomic nervous system is a complex network of cells that controls the body’s internal state. It regulates and supports many different internal processes, often outside of a person’s conscious awareness This system is the primary mechanism in control of the fight-flight-freeze in response to perceived threat or danger. It is also our ability to manage our connections with others and to feel safe enough in the world.
.It is also our ability to manage our connections with others and to feel safe enough in the world.
The nervous system consists of two main parts:
• The central nervous system: This consists of the brain and spinal cord.
• The peripheral nervous system: This contains all the neurons outside of the central nervous system.
Within the ANS, there are two subsystems that have mostly opposing effects:
• The sympathetic nervous system (SNS): Neurons within the SNS generally prepare the body to react to something in its environment. For example, the SNS may increase heart rate to prepare a person to escape from danger.
• The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS): Parasympathetic neurons mostly regulate bodily functions when a person is at rest.
Function
The nervous system regulates the internal environment of the body. It is essential for maintaining homeostasis.
Homeostasis refers to the relatively stable and balanced conditions inside the body that are necessary to support life. Some of those that homeostasis regulates include:
• body temperature
• blood pressure
• heart rate
• breathing
• metabolism
• blood glucose levels
• blood acidity levels
• water and electrolytes
• digestion
Emotions/Thinking/fight/Flight/Freeze/connection
• One critical function of the ANS is to prepare the body for action through the “fight or flight or freeze” response.
• It is your autonomic nervous system that is involved in your ability to feel and process emotions and critically influences how our brains function.
• It is responsible for your ability to connect with yourself and others.
1. Window of Capacity/Social Engagement System/Ventral Vagus
Within this window we have an internal experience or container of enough safety. It is from this experience of enough safety that our capacity operates. This is a place of optimism and resiliency where we feel like we can engage in the world and face life’s adversities. An important quality is that we have lots of choice available and a balance of awareness between our internal experience and the external world. For example, I can feel what is happening for me while noticing what is happening for you. Importantly, we have full access to our prefrontal cortex. Finally, it is from within our window of capacity that we process challenging experiences and emotions skillfully. When we are in our Window of Capacity, emotions are able to pass through us and do not have a lasting residue. People in this state experience the range of emotions in a healthy and emotionally intelligent way.
Experiences of being in the Window of Capacity:
Evolved 200 million years ago/Not fully online at birth
‘I am curious about the world and my place in it’
Felt sense of safety
Brain - full access to prefrontal cortex
Emotions - relaxed, calm and alert
Sensation – warm, soft, flowing
Breath – soft often into the belly
Relationships – connect, collaborate, cooperate
The place of resiliency
Able to change and adapt
Able to think and feel simultaneously
2. Hyperarousal/Sympathetic response - Fight or Flight
Hyperarousal is our first response to perceived threat or danger. This perceived threat of danger comes from either the outside world, others, or internal experiences. It is important to remember that social rejection is one of the threats that we are most attuned to. Hyperarousal is a mobilising state that moves us toward action, in a form of either fight or flight. It is a survival response. Because of this survival response, we have a reduced capacity to make choices and we start to lose awareness of anything other than the threat. This can lead us to a complete state of automatic response. We are now in survival response where the brains and nervous systems resources are directed to survival not exploration. The pre-frontal cortex is less accessible and/or unavailable.
Other experiences of hyper-arousal include:
Evolved 400 million years ago/online at birth
‘I can!’
Perception of threat. Contraction of nervous system
Brain – limited access to prefrontal cortex
Emotions – irritation, anxiety, fear, worry, anger
Sensation – heat, edgy, tension, racing
Breath – fast, quick, upper chest
Relationships – out of sync and defensive
Survival mode – no learning can take place
Closed to new information
3. Hypo-arousal Parasympathetic - Freeze
This is our oldest response to a threat and danger from an evolutionary science. When fight or flight are not workable and or we become trapped, we resort to freeze. This part of the nervous system is all about immobility. The experiences of the emotions becoming numb and unavailable, and we are waiting out the danger. This is all about survival so we now have little to no prefrontal cortex available and our internal experiences often blank and disassociated. Importantly, when we are in freeze our experiences remain unprocessed and suppressed and can have long term impacts on us.
Other experiences of hypo-arousal include:
Evolved 500 million years ago/online at birth
‘I can’t’
Brain – limited to no access of prefrontal cortex
Emotions – numb, blank, disassociated
Sensation – cold, frozen, numb
Breath – holding breath in, shallow
Relationships – withdrawn, avoiding connection, defenceless
New learning is not possible
Right Brain Left Brain
Left Brain Overview
It tends toward judgment and analysis with no felt sense of being with another. The left brain is: verbal, analytical, order, reading, writing computations, sequencing, logic, mathematics, thinking in words, linear thinking.
Prefrontal Cortex:
The prefrontal cortex is the newest part of the brain. This part of the brain is responsible for a wide variety of executive functions. We have full access to our prefrontal cortex when we are in the Window of Capacity. Executive functioning is responsible for many skills including:
Organizing, planning, and prioritising
Starting tasks and staying focused on them to completion
Understanding different points of view
Self-monitoring
Problem solving
Pre-Frontal Orbital Cortex:
This is the only cortical structure with direct connections to the limbic (feelings) brain and amygdala.
The Pre-Frontal Orbital Cortex Develops Fibers/Pathways Used for: • ANS regulation development • Emotional regulation • Response flexibility • Impulse control • Insight and self-awareness • Sense of Values and Morality • Connection to Self and Others.
Right Brain Overview
The right brain is more holistic and non-linear taking everything in at once in a receptive way. It is specialised for perceiving and processing visual and intuitive information. It is the centerpiece for social understanding.
The right brain is responsible for: Emotional Processing • Self & Co-Regulation • Modulation of Stress • Origin of body-based implicit self/sensation • Regulates the autonomic nervous system • The Core of the Self sits on the right side: the human unconscious.
The Right Brain Processes: • Sensory and affect systems • Facial expressions • Melodic tone of voice/inflection/prosody • Posture, movement and gestures • Safe Touch • Proximity • Gaze/eye contact • Tempo/timing • Prosody/rhythm
Amygdala:
The amygdala continuously sweeps the environment for signs of danger. This could be dangerous words, phrases, faces, voices, sounds, movements, postures and smells. The amygdala does not stop to analyse whether the threat is real or imminent, it just sounds the alarm. When the brain is flooded with high emotion from the amygdala the prefrontal cortex becomes disabled, sending all it’s resources to survival. The amygdala regulates arousal, fight flight behaviors of survival and internal drives connected to the Hyperarousal/Sympathetic response.
Neuroception
Neuroception is the way that our autonomic nervous system takes in information. Neuroception unconsciously scans for cues of danger and safety from the outside environment, inside our bodies, and between people.
Skill Building
Tracking
This is the skill of noticing what’s happening in our body. Our primary focus is on sensations because this gives us the best information about the state of our nervous system, how we really are. Sensation may include: buzzy, silky, sharp, soft, itchy, sticky, contracted, tight, tense, dull, fluttery, warm.
Resourcing
This is building our capacity to comfort and support ourselves. It’s connecting to anything that helps us feel better. Bringing attention to resources can expand and grow our capacity to be in our ventral vagal nervous system - to enter into the Window of Capacity. Some examples are: looking into your dog’s kind eyes, receiving a hug, having your hands in the soil, remembering your favourite beach, watching your child as they sleep, smelling a beautiful flower, listening to a Tūī sing, . You can be really creative.
Because we have a negative bias, it is a lot easier to connect to negativity than to what resources us. Trying to stay with a resource is like catching water in a sieve. It is vital that you not only identify your resources, but, fully connect to how it influences your nervous system. Drink it in like it was medicine. Resources bring balance to our nervous system. Resourcing is not avoidance – we are always going to move in and out of it. We want to use our resources to grow our sense of safety, using it as a foundation and a place that we can return to.
Resourcing can be another tool to apply the brakes. For example, you may be feeling anxious then bring to mind the resource of being at your favourite beach, which can restore your Window of Capacity.
At any point during the week that you are practicing these skills and you feel overwhelmed, or stuck - stop your practice. Please feel free to contact me. I am happy to offer you support as you are learning.