Our Biological Warfare
By using the term biological warfare, I am referring to the war going on within your own body in your autonomic nervous system. The culture of chronic fear we are inundated with and its effect on your nervous system and body is worse than any pandemic will ever be!
All of this has created an epidemic of negative mindset. And an enormous number of people who are more focused on the inner chatter of the mind than on the world around them.
Stress (including the incessant chatter) hijacks the thinking part of your brain. And leaves it at the mercy of the emotional brain and unconscious behavior.
Years ago, the World Health Organization had already declared that Stress is the epidemic of the 21st Century.
Chronic fear keeps you locked in the fight or flight response and this adversely affects every system in your body – including your immune system.
Your body is not designed to experience stress for an extended period of time. The consequences of extended stress are severe.
There is a saying that a ‘picture is worth a thousand words.’ Here is an image that lists just a few symptoms caused by chronic fear and the stress it creates.
So, how do we manage this fear when it feels like we are being bathed in it everywhere we go these days?
Let’s start by looking at the ‘software’ that runs your autonomic nervous system.
Understanding the ‘Software’
The main ‘software’ that runs your stress or calm response is the autonomic nervous system, which is divided into what we might call two ‘programs’. The calm, rest and digest program is your parasympathetic nervous system. The fear and stress program is your sympathetic nervous system.
This image might be an illustration of the state of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in most of us.
The figure weighing down the scale in the foreground might represent the chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Some days feel like this little guy is jumping up and down on his side of the scale!
The other figure trying to get a foothold might represent the parasympathetic system trying to bring the autonomic nervous system into balance.
The truth is – the autonomic nervous system is never in balance!
It’s like standing on one foot, without holding on to anything for stability, and trying to stand completely still and in balance. It just doesn’t happen in most people!
There is always a little bit of movement that constantly adjusts the stability of your body as you stand on one foot.
Try it and notice what happens. If you want to have even more fun with this, try standing on the other foot. You might notice that each foot has a different level of stability.
It’s the same thing in the dance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Even though it may never be in balance, it can be in harmony.
How do we create harmony in our nervous system?
A constant state of heightened activation of the sympathetic nervous system shuts of access to your thinking brain. Ongoing scientific study is confirming that your heart sends more information to your brain than your brain sends to your heart.
That’s a good thing! Harmony, peace and calm are sparked by your heart – not your brain.
Creating Harmony in the System
It is absolutely essential to have a collection of tools and techniques that can bring you back to the present moment and reconnect you to the calm and inner peace at your core.
Sound is food for your nervous system. And like food, we know that there is junk food, good food and super food.
It’s the same with sound. There is junk sound that stimulates more stress. There is good sound – like nature sounds – that feed your nervous system with calm and healing. And there is super sound – those special sounds that feed your soul.
I recommend that you create a playlist of nature sounds to use when you are feeling fearful and stressed. And then, to create another playlist of sound and music that feed your soul.
To be healthy and well, you need to have both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems engaged. It is also essential to consciously and regularly intervene with tools and technique that help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.
These unprecedented times also offer us a great opportunity.
As we find ways to be present to the calm and inner peace within, we open our hearts to resilience and compassion. Compassion grounded in inner peace will transform our world.
In reality, you were created as a whole being and will always be whole. We create a disconnect with reality when we PERCEIVE ourselves as fractured, or less than whole.
Sound and music, since time immemorial, are activities that remind us of our wholeness. The natural healing ability of your being is stimulated by reminders of your wholeness.
When you create wholeness within your being, you amplify the wholeness of our planet.