I get it! Once you understand that healing your nervous system will alleviate your chronic health issues, it’s tough not to want it to happen overnight. I’m sharing this with you because I’ve been where you are! I made so many mistakes, and I want to save you the time, frustration, and heartache!
Mistakes I made when healing my nervous system:
- Forcing my nervous system into a state of regulation: Attempting to regulate the nervous system through forceful techniques or quick fixes can lead to further dysregulation. Healing requires patience and a gentle, gradual approach.
- Healing on a timeline: The nervous system thrives on slow, steady progress. Trying to rush the healing process or expecting immediate results can hinder progress and overwhelm the system.
- Using the same intensity to heal that made you dysregulated: Applying the same intense approach (hello type A’s) to healing that contributed to nervous system dysregulation can perpetuate the problem. It’s important to adopt a new, more nurturing approach to allow for true healing.
- Forcing my body to feel: Pushing yourself to process and feel certain emotions or sensations before you’re ready can be counterproductive. Healing involves honoring your body’s natural pace and allowing emotions to surface in their own time. This was key for me!
- Focusing more on what I was doing rather than the state and energy I was in: It’s easy to get caught up in a checklist of healing activities without paying attention to the underlying state of being. True healing involves cultivating a sense of inner peace and balance.
- Using fear to motivate my nervous system healing journey: Fear-based thoughts or expectations about healing can create additional stress and dysregulation. Instead of focusing on external outcomes, it’s important to cultivate self-compassion and trust in the healing process.
- Trying to heal in isolation: The nervous system requires co-regulation to heal. It necessitates connecting with other like-minded individuals, feeling seen, loved, and supported along our healing journey. I tried to heal in isolation, and it significantly slowed my progress.
- Trying too hard to heal: Ever caught yourself thinking, “How on earth do I heal if I’m not actively trying?” Well, turns out, the brain science behind it is pretty tricky. No matter what we do, even if it’s something as beneficial as meditation, a breathing exercise, journaling or the very act of trying keeps our bodies stuck in a state of threat physiology. Why? Because our bodies reflect who we are BEING, not just what we are DOING. So, if we want to signal healing and safety to our nervous system, we’ve got to switch up our state of being, not just our actions. Now, this doesn’t mean that you can’t DO, but you have to check your state of BEING any time you’re DOING. Remember, your state of BEING is made up of your thoughts and emotions. This “energetic state” is what your nervous system is constantly responding to, not what you’re doing. Oh, the power of this!
Stressing out about stress: Once we realize stress is the big bad wolf keeping us from healing, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. We become hyper-aware of all the things in our lives contributing to our stress levels and therefore our chronic health problems. Naturally, we want to avoid them, but here’s the kicker – when we resist and stress over stress, we end up creating even more stress. And oh boy, the obsession over healing? Totally been there! The more we hyper-focus on doing all the things (including anything that stresses us out!) to heal, the more stress we create, ironically sabotaging the very progress we crave.
I would have given anything to have these little gems on my journey! 😊
Nurturing the nervous system is less about constant doing and more about embracing a state of being. It’s an approach that requires a shift in mindset; otherwise, our self-deprecation and relentless focus may signal a threat to the body.
What’s crazy is that, yes, while the nervous system most likely took years to become dysregulated, so many would think that healing overnight may not happen. But what’s also true is that once you stop making the mistakes above, healing can actually happen fairly quickly. It did for me once I finally moved my body into a state of perceived safety.
