These days I’m feeling a bit like a jellyfish —a floating nervous system, exposed, anchorless —and I think it’s important that we acknowledge the full spectrum of emotional responses that people are having to this pandemic. Though this morning I am okay; yesterday I was not. I experienced symptoms of panic that I haven’t felt in a really long time —racing thoughts, tightness of chest and pounding heart, dry mouth, upset stomach. I tried to rationalize that nothing very terrible was actually happening to me in the moment, but my nervous system wasn’t getting the message. .
In times of stress, our survival mode kicks in —we fight, or flee, or freeze —and the physical manifestations of these responses are beyond the rational mind: the pre-frontal cortex responsible for rational thought developed much later in our evolution; SNS responses are primordial, deep down in the limbic parts of the brain.
Now I say this often: yoga is not about physical strength or flexibility or doing poses “correctly”. It’s about understanding the connection between body, mind, and spirit and how we can use that knowledge to make our nervous systems more resilient. So when you’re feeling moments of anxiety, one of the best ways to feel calmer and more grounded is to get out of your head —bypass the rational mind, bypass language —and go straight to the tactile and visceral sense of being embodied.
Starting with the surface of the skin, notice the temperature of the air in the room. Notice the texture of fabric on the skin. Notice the variations in the weight or pressure of the different parts of the body touching something solid. Cultivate your sense of interoception by scanning the body, part by part, from head to toes, diffusing your awareness back into yourself instead of expending your energy focusing on external sensory stimuli.
I hope to see you on your mat virtually. We’ll practice getting out of our heads and into our bodies.