When life gets intense and our wounds are triggered and it’s hard to feel good in our own skin, we need basics that help soothe and support our nervous system.
Here are three powerful approaches to caring for you and your nervous system:
CONNECT:
- When we are emotionally triggered, when wounds are reopened, when we feel unsafe – it is common to isolate or to default to an “I can or should cope with all this myself.” Please don’t. Reach out to someone you trust and share what’s going on. Get support. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and connect with others.
- VULNERABILITY + SAFE COMMUNITY = HEALING
GROUND:
- On the best of days, it can feel hard to stay connected to your body and feel centered. When life feels unstable, scary or rage-inducing, it’s even harder. Find what grounds you and do it: NATURE, MOVEMENT, BREATHING, WATER (bath or swim or drink water) (come on over the Nourished Woman Nation – we talk a lot about nourishing practices there!)
SOOTHE:
- When we are stressed, our cortisol and adrenalin (stress hormones) levels rise. We shift into sympathetic nervous system activation – FIGHT or FLIGHT mode. Fight or flight (or flee) mode makes it hard to be the person we want to be in every day life. We can become volatile, depressed, anxious, irritable and more. We can help our body shift out of sympathetic nervous system activation by supporting PARA-sympathetic nervous system activation – rest and relax mode. What soothes you? MUSIC, BEING UNDER A HEAVY BLANKET, CONSCIOUS BREATHING, SOUP, TEA, MOVIE…
If FOOD is the primary way you ground and soothe yourself, we might want to talk.
And one more tip if you’re ready for it…
ANGER!
- There are so many things in our world right now that deserve our anger and our rage. So many things that need to be said LOUD and CLEAR, so that our voices are heard and our bodies are safe. If you’re ready (or almost ready) to let your anger be heard PLEASE SPEAK UP! GO FOR IT! It’s much more helpful for your nervous system and your soul for your anger to come out instead of being stuffed down.
What else helps you support your nervous system? Come on over and share here.
Want to read my poetic essays? They’re right here.
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Nina Manolson, MA, NBC-HWC, board certified Health Coach, Psychology of Eating Coach and Certified Body-Trust Provider, believes that every woman deserves to feel good in her own body.
She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life! She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and The Nourished Woman Nation.
She helps busy women feel good in their own body.. She specializes in working with women over 40 who have tried other diets and approaches but are still struggling with their body and food.
She’s the creator of the BODY-LOVE MAP and the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
To get your F.R.E.E. ebook: HOW TO BE A WOMAN AT EASE IN YOUR BODY click here.
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.
Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.
