What is Nervous System Regulation?
Our nervous systems are designed to know how to flow, but sometimes — they get stuck.
Stress and trauma impact our bodies on a cellular level that disrupts our nervous system’s innate knowing of flowing. When we’re in flow, our nervous systems can seamlessly shift from states of moving+mobilizing, resting+digesting, and socially connecting.
However, when the overwhelm of stress or traumatic shock are experienced, our nervous systems can become stuck in physiological patterns of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn — AKA nervous system dysregulation.
And, if our systems stay stuck, symptoms* can show up:
Physical: Digestion issues, difficulty sleeping, chronic pain, muscle tightness, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, difficulty breathing, feeling collapsed, frozen, or numb, somatic dissociation, etc.
Emotional: Hyper-vigilance, difficulty feeling emotions, panic, anxiety, defensiveness, anger, shame, overwhelm, fear, etc.
Psychological: Rumination, low self worth, self blame, memory challenges, difficulty concentrating, etc.
Left stuck, this can also lead to syndromes*, such as:
Migraines, vertigo, rapid heart rate, heart arrhythmias, POTTS (rapid heartbeat and fainting), regional complex pain syndrome (CRPS), fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), asthma, and certain auto-immune conditions.
And…
Somatic Experiencing can help with getting unstuck, supporting our nervous systems to return to their innate knowing of flowing — AKA nervous system regulation.
*While nervous system dysregulation can be a result of stress conditions and trauma, a medical professional should always be consulted when experiencing such symptoms or syndromes to rule out other possible causes or influences.