Hacking your nervous system

Quick nervous system hack... Big meeting? Job interview? Public speaking? Performance review with the boss? Tough conversation? 

This is for you...

The nerdy bit... when you switch from your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS aka your 'Cool as a cucumber' state) to your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS / Fight or Flight) you turn down the pre-frontal cortex (executive functioning) of the brain (or the 'wise owl' as I like to call it). The pre-frontal cortex is the part of the brain that provides clear thinking, focus, attention, impulse control, problem solving etc etc.

Why the switch? The aperture of your mind has become laser focused on survival, blood moves from your 'Cool as a cucumber' system to your 'Fight or Flight' and preps muscles ready to run, heart rate and sweat output increase, you may flush or feel hot (you've undoubtedly felt all or part of this response before), non-essential functions are downregulated (digestion, immune system etc) - you are now ready to 'escape' the proverbial saber tooth tiger.

Whilst your boss may or may not be a tiger... you definitely want the executive functioning of your brain online with you when you go to those important meetings! Right?

Here's how to regulate your state back into 'Cool as a cucumber' in those crucial moments via a process called physiologic sighing...

Step One: Inhale with two sniffs of breath through your nose
- the first breath is a large, deep sniff
- the second, will be a smaller sniff, designed to inflate the lungs fully

Step Two: Take a mindful, slow and long sigh as you exhale through your mouth

That's it... one or two breaths should do it!

A recent study by the Stanford University, has shown this to be the fastest switch back to Cool as a cucumber. You can also use this as a preventative practice, at a dose of 5m a day which has been shown to have the best benefits over a 24hr period when compared to meditation and other breath practices.

Homework! Try it and report back 😊

Once you have your own, direct experience of how good this is, spread the word, teach your colleagues, teach your kids... your breath is a tool that is always with you!

Kerryelle