REDESIGN (WEEK 1)
DAY 5: SELF REFLECTION
On Day 5 in your workbook, mark times in your day when you would feel comfortable taking a long deep breath.
DAY 5 MICRO-SCIENCE
Vagus Nerve
In each one of our nervous systems there is a very important nerve called the vagus nerve, which acts as a liaison between the gas pedal (sympathetic nervous system) and the brake pedal (parasympathetic nervous system) in our bodies. The vagus nerve is one of the largest nerves in our body and is critical in helping the body calm itself down. There are multiple ways to activate this nerve naturally, but the easiest way is through our breath. 80% the vagus nerve is afferent, meaning it communicates mostly from the body to the brain. This means that in times of stress the easiest way to calm our minds down is to calm our bodies down first. So often we try to talk ourselves of the ledge mentally, but with only 20% of the vagus nerve talking to the body this is somewhat of a useless task. It turns out that if we turn our attention to calming our body down first, the brain will quickly follow.
- FACT: When you speak your vocal cords activate the vagus nerve
- TAKEAWAY: Talking about your problems with another person, doesn’t always directly solve the issue, but it does calm you down by activating your “rest and digest” system. Then with a calm mind your problem solving abilities improve.
DAY 5 MEDITATION
Breath Work
You have probably been told since you were a wee little person that breathing helps calm you down. However, remembering to breathe when you are all worked up is hard to do. In addition, even when you do remember, most of us just take one deep breathe and expect that to do the trick. Disappointed with the process, we forget to stick with with the breathe a little longer until its benefits can kick in. The brain, especially when it is in full freak out mode, doesn’t care about small stimuli and will quickly disregard one breathe. The brain does, however, care about stimuli that stick around and will eventually start to pay attention to that snarky breath if you keep it up long enough. So to truly have your breath help get you out of a jam, it’s important to consistently practice using your breath as an anchoring point in many different situations.
- FACT: When you breathe “in” you activate the sympathetic nervous system (gas pedal). Only when you breathe “out” is the parasympathetic nervous system(brake pedal) engaged.
- TAKEAWAY: They seldom teach this, but the out breath should be held longer than the in breath if your intention is to try and calm down.
DAY 5 MEDITATION
DAY 5 MOVEMENT
Remindful Art
We tend on average to breathe about 20,000 times per day but many of those are not conscious (intentional) breaths. The more we “choose” to breathe the more relaxed our brains become. It is often said that if you “steady the breath, you steady the mind.” However, since we are so busy in our hectic lives we forget to those deep breathes that help us to make better decisions. So the best gift you can give your body is to put little reminders up around your house or work place that remind you to take a moment and “just breathe.”
- FACT: You have 500 million avaloi at the base of your lungs, these tubes connect your lungs to your bloodstream.
- TAKEAWAY: Most of us take shallow chest breathes, but taking a deep belly breath is way more effective in cleaning out our system. Chest breaths have to pick up our rib cage so your lungs have to work harder. So next time you take a deep breath, focus your breath towards the base of your lungs because that is where all the important stuff happens.
DAY 5 MOVEMENT
Put a sticky note on one spot you go past every morning with the word “breathe” on it. The note can be on your bathroom mirror, close to the handle of your fridge, or next to your bed, etc. Now every time you see the note your brain will automatically take the deep breath it deserves.