Stress Less

Right now think of that thing, you constantly have on your to do list that would feel so good to accomplish. Say, write or text it right now to yourself.

My guess is, it’s still on your list because all the other things you need to do daily take up your time.

So how do we do it? How do we keep up with all the things we need to do and still have the energy and time to tackle that thing we really want to do? Do we hustle harder, get up earlier, work later or get more focused and determined?

Truth is a stronger mindset and work ethic isn’t the trick. This may work in the short run, but eventually we get run down, lack motivation, become moody and other areas of our life begin to suffer.

What we need is a bigger window of tolerance. We need to be a able to tolerate more in our days and to become more resilient from what we already normally do daily.

For expert guidance on this topic with solid scientific proof. I turned to Nervous System Strategist, Michelle Grosser. CLICK HERE for Michelle’s website and resources. CLICK below for her full podcast episode on the “It’s About Time” Time Management Podcast with Anna Dearmon Kornick

Here’s the 8 min version with action steps:

As humans, our nervous system runs the show on productivity and stress management.Your nervous system is basically your body’s control center. It’s a network of nerve tissue that includes your brain, spinal cord and nerves.

It’s how you take in information from your environment and take actions. by transmitting electrical and chemical signals throughout the body, it controls everything from breathing and heartbeat to complex processes like thought, emotion, learning, and movement.

If our nervous system is overwhelmed, things take longer to get done AND we have a smaller window of tolerance.

Here’s a 3 juicy facts to remember about your nervous system:

1. The nervous system is NON-VERBAL. It does not speak a language. You can’t talk yourself ( or anyone else) into a less stressed state. We must SHOW the body through movement, sound and touch.
2. When your mind is overwhelmed, you become “dysregulated” which often leads to the survival state of FREEZE. Freeze means we don’t go anywhere, you’re stuck. It’s a survival response to keep you safe. The thing is we no longer freeze from tigers, holding still in the brush, now we freeze with mindless, routine habits that make us feel safe (scrolling social media, checking apps and email, mindless eating, mindless driving, mindless organizing). Basically we “check out” AKA Dissociate.
3. Dissociating is a normal survival coping mechanism. We do this when our brain cannot differentiate between a real threat and perceived threat. You have dissociated when you:

• Arrived somewhere and don’t remember the drive
• Someone says ” did you hear what I said?” and you can’t recall their words
• Pick up your phone and scroll for no particular reason
• Snack mindlessly
• Stay on small household tasks that are not urgent
• Read and can’t remember what you just read
• Procrastinate on a project

How do get out of a dysregulated state that is not serving us?

Take action with one of the three below action steps:

• Move: Body shaking is great! Don’t make this a big deal, just jiggle yourself around.. could be on the floor or on the couch even. Or take a brisk short walk, skip, jump, dance
• Play: Think of what you enjoyed as a kid. Maybe coloring, drawing, singing, playing with legos, cars, throwing rocks etc..
• Stillness: stillness settles the mind. stay in one place, breath in through your nose slowly and twice as long exhale. Stay with yourself without bringing in any added information for at least 90 seconds.

These non verbal modalities shift us out of freeze (dissociation) and into a calmer state that allows our nervous system to become regulated so we can take action and move forward.

Here’s a few more important facts to know about your human nervous system:

1. We cannot think or talk our way out of dysregulation or dissociation 80% of the nerves in our body are “Afferent nerves” They run from our body up to our brain. That leaves only 20% of messaging from your brain to your body. This is why saying “calm down” or “get going” is not very effective. Mindset work is helpful but it’s 1/5 th of the battle.

2. We must show the body we are safe to shift out of dysregulation We do this by first noticing where our confused energy is and then moving it. “Anxiety is just un-managed energy”

3. When we are “Regulated” we are opening and relaxing our nervous system so the body goes out of FREEZE state and starts working with the brain to take forward action.

Once you implement stillness, movement and play you will more easily tolerate more things daily AND want to do more. We need to accept that making ourselves slow down will dramatically speed you up in the long run.

Let’s break this down so you can start today!

1. Become Aware “We cannot intervene in a world we cannot see”. Stop every 1-3 hours and notice what is the feeling in your body: Is it jumbled, frantic, chaotic, hard, soft, heavy, tired?
2. Gather information : AKA this lesson on productivity and your nervous system. Take it in fully
3. Take Action = Don’t just listen to this education. Pick a step to take action with and do it!

It’ the DOING of things that work with our body that widens our window of tolerance. Once you say “Hey Body! I feel you and I’m going to work with you”. That’s when your window of tolerance widens and you can literally handle more.

Just remember to keep checking in with your body and shifting gears with movement, play or stillness daily.

For best results: 10/10/10

Ideally 10 mins of movement, play & stillness daily:

10 mins of stillness let’s your body’s high survival state turn off, decreasing the primal reptilian brain that makes mistakes.

10 mins of movement : Move stuck nervous energy through the body.
This does not mean a workout, you could shake out your body, roll on the floor, dance.
Anything where you are not interacting with words (no information is coming in)

10 mins of Play! Think of what you enjoyed doing as a kid, riding your bike, coloring, dancing, singing, throwing rocks. After doing this research, I remembered I loved fiercely playing my violin as a kid, I pulled it out of storage last week and reached out to a teacher for lessons.. it’s been 26 years since I last played it.