Body-Brain Alert Messages

Have you ever brought all your awareness to the sensations in your body? Perhaps there is tightness in your stomach, your hands, your lower back. Maybe your jaw is clenched, your head has pressure, your shoulders are lifted.

Our body functions as a very effective alert system for our brain. If our body is clenched it tells our brain that there is danger, our brain in turn tells our autonomic nervous system (ANS) to be in a survival state. When our ANS is perpetually alerted to be in a survival state we experience symptoms such as chronic fatigue, adrenal deficiency, perpetual irritability, trouble with sleeping, digestive issues, mental health challenges and the list goes on. Over time more serious illnesses can arise from an over-used alert system.

Holistic approaches to wellness that incorporate body-based therapies get at the root of these issues and begin turning down the dial on our ANS so that we can live longer, healthier lives. I resonate strongly with the following analogy: Consider the car you own or lease - Do you take your car in to get it’s oil changed? do you put air in your tires when they are low? If the engine is broken, do you repair or replace it? how much more should you be attuning to our own body’s health. After all, we just get one life!