Somatic First Aid for Stress

Let’s talk about Stress and Our Nervous System

Based on studies of Dr Stephen Porges and Dr Peter Levine

We all have a nervous system to help protect and defend us from harm

We have a most basic shutdown conserve mode and a mobilise fight/flight mode

The NS is always searching and assessing our environment for danger, this is happening without us even being aware and then our brain interprets these signals eg loud noise could be a gun shot

When the NS is in a shutdown or defensive state, it’s basically stress

This is how your body can be a detector of stress and if you ignore the signals of stress then it leads to ever increasing illness and burnout

When we talk about burnout from the NS perspective we’re talking about a situation where the organs are not getting nourished, and nourishment of our nervous system is sociality and co-regulation

We are a species that has evolved to use sociality to regulate our NS, we will assess safety with others and if there is no safety our body and mind suffer but if we can safely socialise then we grow and restore, this is what we do for our children

We need to turn back to a deep respect of the body’s nervous system in the form of felt sense if we are to manage our stress, we have been taught to override or ignore these feedback loops that tell us we are in shutdown or overwhelm

When we experience stress, we have feelings and sensations, these are what we call sensation-based feelings and they are the gateway for rediscovery and change

Rather than see stress as something imposed on us by external circumstances, we could rather acknowledge our NS as being destabilised, this is something that’s in your control unlike people, you could think instead - if I don’t address this, I will destroy the feedback loops that enable me to be healthy

There will always be challenges and the NS will get activated to shut down or mobilise but managing stress is about addressing the duration and recovery, when we overload the system for too long or without any down time, it spills out in unhealthy states and reactions, like yelling or feeling hopeless

If we listen to the messages our body gives us, we can prevent overwhelm, we can recover more quickly and we can build greater resilience

We can employ tools to restore our homeostasis with somatic exercises and practices, like allowing the breath to slow down or going for a walk

Somatic healing starts with the body, we begin by reacquainting with the body, exploring our felt senses, to guide us in changing habitual patterns, restoring a sense of safety, joy and ease

We need to listen without judgment, just a desire to care for ourselves and find a way back to balanc