Soothing your inner dragon trigger monster

Dear One,
 

How well do you know your nervous system?

Chances are, your nervous system overheats on a regular basis. Whether your stress comes from work, relationships, politics, your health, or your own traumatic history, your nervous system gets triggered to respond to threat in one of 3 ways : fight, flight or freeze.

That moment you feel your hackles going up? That's FIGHT mode.

That moment you want to just get the hell out? That's FLIGHT mode.

That moment when you draw a complete blank and lose your words? That's FREEZE.

Here's the thing : your ability to fight, get out, or play dead can be a life saver when the threat is real.

But when the threat is a critical email, a thoughtless comment, a setback, a life change, or any other "normal" vulnerability of living, your nervous system may still interpret this as life threatening and trigger you. And engaging with the world from a triggered mindset is damn stressful because it heightens the stakes of every. little. thing.

So what to do? Answer : Teach your inner old dog new tricks.

Yoga, meditation and mindfulness helps you re-educate your nervous system. To help it realize you're safer than it thinks. To be able to over-ride the trigger response and cool down more quickly when you overheat.

I'll be offering a nervous system cool-down this Saturday 5/20 from 2-4pm at JP Centre Yoga : Radically Restorative Yoga. This workshop is an embodied exercise in getting grounded and accessing your inner surfer dude. The gentle yoga postures become ultra relaxing with the addition of hands-on support, offered by 4 different bodyworkers. It teaches your nervous system to be in the present, receive support and to embody self-compassion.

Then of course there's yoga therapy if you're seeking 1-on-1 support, and professional yoga therapy training with me in Vermont in June/July if you want to soothe nervous systems for a living. See below.

But even if we won't be practicing together, I hope you'll get to know your nervous system better. Start to recognize your FIGHT/FLIGHT/FREEZE symptoms. Figure out what helps you cool off when you overheat. Practice NOT engaging with the world from your triggered state. Read Buddha's Brain. Be the change you wish to see in the world by overriding your inner dragon trigger monster and radiating physical, mental and emotional safety into the world. We need it.

I'm practicing right alongside you.

May you thrive, 
 

~Alex