Hello everyone and welcome to the Awaken Together podcast.
I'm Jen and I'm Kat.
And today we are going to be tying in some concepts that we have previously reviewed
on the podcast all about the nervous system.
So what I really wanted to paint the picture of for this episode is that all this work
on the nervous system is really to tie it into your spiritual journey or spiritual practices.
So today's going to be nervous system and spirituality.
Are you ready, Kat?
I'm ready.
Let's do it.
So to paint the picture first of the nervous system, if you haven't heard our previous
episodes where we have discussed this topic, I wanted to paint the picture one more time.
So our nervous system is really our mind to body connection.
It's our mind sending signals to our body to let it know how to move, what to do.
And the problem is, is when you have had high levels of stress, so whether that's because
of your current environment or you just grew up around really high stressful environments,
or if you have a history of trauma, your nervous system can really have some dysfunction and
actually being able to regulate itself back down.
So you have two branches of the nervous system.
You have your sympathetic and your parasympathetic.
The sympathetic is known as the body's fight, flight, freeze and fawn mode.
This is our response to stress.
And the other side of the nervous system is our parasympathetic, which is responsible
for regulation, rest, digestion.
It regulates our temperature, our hormones.
Like it is great when the parasympathetic comes online.
And previously, science used to really believe that the autonomic nervous system, these two
branches could not be influenced or affected that these were things that just happened
automatically.
But now we really have the research to know that there's a lot of work that can actually
be done with these two branches.
And it's really looking at getting out of that constant chronic stress mode and knowing
how to bring yourself back down into a deeper sense of calm.
And I think we can get so addicted to those stress hormones, it can feel really tough
to ever actually let ourselves rest.
I think signs that we are in sympathetic mode more often than we should be is just that
inability to ever really rest, that inability to actually turn inward because you're so
focused on what's going on, what people are thinking about you, what people are seeing,
what's going on in your environment, just crazy hypervigilant mode.
And it takes time and retraining to get out of that chronic mode because at first when
we feel restful, it's going to feel extremely boring.
It's going to feel really like withdrawing.
It feels like you're being taken away from something, but over time when you can learn
to really find ease and more of the slowness, not that life's still not going to give you
ups and downs, but knowing how to bring it back to that again and again is what the work
is.
So we've talked a lot before about me and Kat's spiritual healing and how much more
we've been able to get out of communicating with our guides, hearing from higher beings,
higher source, connecting to our inner knowing and just knowing that we are taken care of.
A lot of that comes with this surrender that once you know how to integrate into deeper
presence, you also then can start perceiving so much more that's happening.
So instead of just taking in the five senses, the more work we do on the senses, the more
we can feel into that sixth sense, the more we're going to notice when something is trying
to come through, the more we're going to hear intuition when it's trying to talk.
And this might be little hunches, it might be little visuals, it might be sensations
across your skin, but you just slowly really start to realize that there is so much more
than what is being perceived.
So well said.
And as Jen was mentioning before, this can be hard to kind of transition into if you're
not used to it.
So if you're somebody who previously or currently craves drama and excitement and always being
in the know on everything, you're someone who loves novelty and stimulation, then calming
the nervous system might feel like a foreign concept to you.
This is me.
That's why I say that.
Yeah, same.
Same.
Right?
And as you said, Jen, I think that was a good point of like, this might feel boring at first.
And so some people might avoid it because when there is this sense of calm and stillness
and peace, there might be some stuff that gets brought up or it might just be a lot
of silence.
And yeah, the system doesn't really like that at first.
So it's healthy though.
It's really, really healthy.
It's good for us.
So trust us.
It might not sound very appealing at first, but when you're able to really arrive at that
place of groundedness and carry that presence into the rest of your life, you're much more
open to being a channel, a channel for everything that Jen just shared of being open, receptive
to spirit.
And I once heard this beautiful metaphor that I like to think about and the hollow piece
of bamboo, right?
What we're doing with our nervous system when we are calming it and regulating it and coming
to our meditation and breath work and yoga and all these practices that help that we
are cleaning the bamboo so that our channel can become more clear and receptive to all
that we need from the ground to the earth, to the heaven above.
It's just receiving and letting that flow.
Yes, Kat, what you said with when you bring down your nervous system, other things can
start to come up.
I think that's also so important to bring awareness to.
Often when we get out of that hypervigilance mode, that mode can almost make us numb where
we are so, we're in like survival and fight mode.
And even though the fight is not, you know, what our original bodies were designed for,
like attacking, you know, if an animal attacks you running away, it's our body's same response
to get out of danger so that we don't die.
That is the instinct that is happening inside of our bodies.
And when you wind down from that, a lot of the emotions that were never really given
the time to process can come up.
So one mode that can happen is it feels really dull and really boring.
And you want to go back to your baseline of high stress and you see yourself constantly
wanting to create chaos around you.
Or the other mode is when you calm down, a lot surfaces, pain surfaces, a lot of crying,
a lot of anger.
This doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.
It means you're actually giving yourself space to feel.
And our parasympathetic mode is really about release as well.
There's a lot that can come out when our heart rate's not up so crazy and we're in this mode
of just fighting.
And so it's also important to remember that that doesn't have to mean something is going
worse.
It could be exactly as it should be.
And we're meant to be feeling our stuff as we go along.
But unfortunately, some of the times we're in the highest of stress, we just don't really
have the safety to be able to feel things in the moment.
Like giant lash, lash outs at the office just aren't super smiled upon.
I know, you know, it would be nice if I could shift a little bit like, OK, just getting
some stuff out.
But it's just not we're not there yet.
We're not there yet.
But it's important to do this.
And I want to say one other thing with the nervous system at its basis is I think a lot
of times when you don't have these regular practices to be retraining your nervous system
and eventually getting to a point where regulation becomes easier to get back to.
A lot of times we take this out on people around us.
This can look like all of a sudden dumping 10 years of repressed emotions onto your partner
for something that doesn't match the circumstance at all.
These are these are things that can happen when we're not taking that intentional practice
with ourselves.
A lot of it can end up spewing out and coming out at times that doesn't feel good either.
And then what what you can feel after that can also feel equally shitty because we don't
want to take things out on people that we care about.
But it takes having intentional practices.
And I honestly deeply believe that with how busy our society is now, I don't think we
can really compromise these nervous system practices.
I honestly think this is something we all need to have in our toolbox to do very regularly
because we're just built up a lot busier as human beings now than ever before.
It's so true.
I hate it.
The truth, man.
God, yeah, I feel like by this time of year, right, it's it's Black Friday.
It's November.
We're all pretty there, right?
It's like September and October are such a sprint after coming back from the summer that
by this time, I think we're all so ready for a break.
So that's why we wanted to share this episode with you all now.
I know that I myself am pretty much there.
I'm like exhausted from work and just all the things and a little break sounds really,
really appealing.
So something I'm doing right now is taking a little break from social media.
I am not on Instagram, which is pretty much like the one social app I go on Facebook,
you know, every once in a while to keep up with family.
But I'm taking a two month break.
Sorry, two weeks, got two months.
That would be life changing.
I'm still very proud of you.
Thank you.
Last November, I actually did one week and this November I'm doing two weeks just to
see how it goes.
And I'm not being super strict with myself because I find that when I am really disciplined
with something, I go into all or nothing mentality.
And then it's like, oh, once I break it, it's gone, it's done.
I shouldn't have even tried in the first place.
Right.
So that perfectionism comes in.
So, yeah, I have been back on it like once or twice or maybe three times already, but
it's for like a minute and then I'm back off and my two weeks continues.
Yeah.
And the point of that is, is you're just giving yourself a break from having constant, I mean,
our phones dump.
They affect our brain chemistry for sure.
We're just taking in really high stimulation.
It's like crack for the brain.
And so yeah, that over time, your threshold for what you're going to need to feel content,
it's very Attica.
You have to watch and stay on top of that.
And I think social media has tons of benefit to it.
But it's also really important that when we're being stimulated that much, that we also know
that the practices are non-negotiable that bring us down.
That is that can deeply affect your sleep, your ability to be able to eat correctly and
digest because the parasympathetic is in charge of that stuff.
And if you are constantly and give me, give me, give me, give me, give me mode, it's not
going to, it's not going to be able to just wind down where you're digesting.
Great.
You're sleeping.
Great.
You feel calm and happy.
You know, we have to stay on top of this stuff.
So true.
I think I'm going to start calling social media brain crack.
Thanks to that.
Oh, I haven't been on brain crack for a couple of days.
Just a quick little hit.
It's bad.
But it's also, you know, I don't think the technology is going anywhere.
So that's another reason why I say I don't think we have a choice in these practices
anymore.
And it's, I think we so much like want to paint this picture of like, how long do I
have to do it for?
Like maybe like two months, then I'll be good.
Like, no, this is your body needs you.
Your body is the only thing you got.
You need to spend time connecting with it.
And that can, we've given so many resources throughout this podcast.
We're going to share a few more.
But one other aspect of the nervous system we've talked about now, it being linked to
spirituality because it helps enhance your sixth sense when your nervous system is online.
But another cool thing I want to share with the nervous system is the fact that when we
are regulated in our body, so we're doing this hard work to be able to be more present,
less, less on crack, the more we actually feel like we can be that beacon for people around
us.
So science has been able to show this again and again, that when groups are together,
syncing up in song and in dance and in any form of kind of just like creative release,
doing yoga together, doing meditation in large groups, there is a sync up that happens.
So when one person is regulated, you can really be a beacon for people around you to regulate.
They've studied this a lot with mothers and their babies, how the baby just knows what
to feel based on what the mom is feeling.
There's just a lot of sync up in our connection as human beings.
And I think it's important that even though this work sometimes can feel unnecessary and
you can come up with excuse after excuse to not do it.
And there's endless, there's so many distractions you can go to that can pull you out of these
practices.
These practices can get boring and you feel like maybe I don't need them anymore.
I've done the work.
We are trying once again, the goal of this podcast, me and Kat's life mission, what
we care about and what we want society to care about is we are trying to make the world
a better place to where we are not repeating these patterns of making people have to go
into repression, feel alone and what their deepest darkest feelings are.
We want people to know that there is inherently connection amongst all of us and that we are
all a part of the same thing.
And to be able to do that is so much, you know, all it takes is you working on you and
what that can radiate in your inner circle and just the people around you.
I think we are never fully understand the impact of it, but it's definitely much bigger
than I think what we can see.
Yes, sister.
Yes, definitely.
I feel that.
Love you too.
That's why we're here to awaken together.
Right?
Yes.
Oh man, I feel that it's like I remember the first time that I really felt that I was working
in like two jobs ago as a sales trainer, and I remember some of my favorite people just
being like, oh, I love our meetings, not just for like what we talk about and like how you
help me with my job, but also because you're just a grounding presence.
I was like, really?
Oh, thank you.
And that was a time that I was really, really focused on my meditation practice.
I was practicing yoga like three, four times a week.
I was just really grounded and rooted in my rituals for regulation.
And yeah, it's literally that.
It's like if you can show up as your best, most common centered self and have that be
authentic, when others are around you, it's going to rub off on them.
It's an energy.
It's so energy.
It's contagious, right?
And it's like once that moment happens and you've created that 10, 15 minutes of them
to just like take everything down a notch, then they get to go in the rest of their day
and share it with others then too.
And it's the ripple effect, right?
It's like how we change the world.
One calm, overactive nervous system at a time.
Yes, I love that.
And yeah, when you start getting compliments on your energy, you're doing it right.
You know, I just love your aura.
I love your aura.
Yes, that is the compliment.
Yes.
And yeah, one other component to paint, I feel like the more work you're doing and because
obviously there's circles through social media and your community where you can let all of
this out, right?
You find your spiritual people.
You hear people talking about these subjects, but there's also places where you don't hear
any of this being talked about and you can look around and just feel like you're a part
of a different universe because of how much you have shed and gone through.
And then being around people that are just on a completely different level in conversation,
what their concerns are, just it can be tough.
But I definitely think it's important instead of that making you feel more alone, which
is very valid.
It can feel very lonely.
And I went through so much time of loneliness originally in my journey, feeling like I wasn't
going to be able to find people that cared about the same stuff as me.
But I think if we remember that our energy is speaking louder than words, and that is
one part of it.
And I do think you start super attracting the people for you when they're actually getting
to meet the authentic version of you because it automatically advertises for you.
But another aspect is we need to be able to hold these practices and be able to stand
in them even in uncomfortable situations.
So I do think that when we're in spaces where this is just completely foreign, instead of
looking around, just feeling like no one's getting you, just remembering to that, even
just sharing your perspective and your take, even if it's not met with receptiveness,
I do think there's so much importance.
And if you're in a place where you can do that without it causing dysregulation, it
helps to plant seeds of deeper connection.
People inherently, no matter how far they seem from this, our essence is to come to
this sense of mind, body and spirit work.
It just is.
It makes so much sense when our body literally functions 100% better when these practices
are in place.
It's not just a suggestion, it's true fact.
And people are craving connection, whether they want to ever admit it or not.
And when you can stand there, you might be labeled as this, that or the other.
But I think when you can stand there in your own and be unaffected and also not having
to go quiet necessarily about your opinion, you don't have to say your opinion to prove
anything to anyone, but own who you are at all places, because I think we definitely
need that to go out to and playing the game of what you're going to say and not going
to say can take us right back into those dysfunctional dysregulation patterns of needing the external
to validate something for us when in reality we validate it for ourselves.
Yes, your story is your power.
No one else's story is exactly like yours, but others might see themselves in what you
share.
So just recently, I was telling Jen before, but I had an experience, maybe some mushrooms
were involved.
But I was in a place with some close people where I was just getting deep.
And I was getting deep on some things in life.
And I wasn't necessarily met with the same level of deepness.
And then I got in my head a little bit after, and I was thinking, gosh, maybe I shouldn't
have shared so much.
Maybe I overshared.
But then the voice of my higher self came back and was like, no, you shared about who
you are and your life.
And don't you love when others do that?
And that kind of just brought me back.
Yes, how could I feel bad if I shared my truth?
This is me.
Take it or leave it.
And of course, I did so in a respective way.
There wasn't any putting down of anyone else in it.
So I wasn't hurting anybody.
I was just sharing my story, my truth, my life.
And that's really what life's all about, isn't it?
If I can't get deep on mushrooms or just any other time in life, what am I doing?
Right?
So, so right.
And so I hope this kind of paints the picture a little bit more that the nervous system
is not just to heal from trauma.
It's also where we get to strengthen our communication with our higher guides, our higher beings,
our higher self, and also really start to spread a higher depth of connection, which
is the goal.
So we wanted to share a few practices with you for nervous system regulation.
We've shared a lot of different meditations on this that you could refer back to throughout
the podcast.
We've also shared a lot of talks about yoga and how to implement some of that.
Both of those have extensive research on activating the parasympathetic, our rest and regulation
mode.
But I wanted to share, I put this on TikTok a lot.
Me and Danny do co-regulation and kind of sensory nights.
And this is not a regular thing.
We really do it more when we're starting to feel like really out of tune, like where we're
both in the house and just so busy doing our own thing, which I love that we both have
that hyper independent side.
But we also sometimes like get, yeah, we're both on crack, like as we said in it, you
can feel it.
And I'm like, okay, I feel like we need to like come, come together and just kind of
wind down.
And I know I can't do it alone because right now I'm feeling just like hyper, you know,
and it helps so much when you can, when you have a friend or a partner that can do it
with you, it can be really nice to have, I think at first.
And I do some practices by myself and I do some with Danny.
And so what we will do is we will set a timer and we'll hold a hug.
We'll set a timer.
And this is usually like two to three minutes for each one.
Then the next practice will be taking turns talking, letting Danny share anything that's
on his heart while I am just there to listen and vice versa.
That takes off the pressure of communication where, you know, every single thing you're
saying creates a response.
It can make you feel a little bit more relaxed in that way.
You can kind of share stuff that might even surprise you out loud.
That's happened to me so many times.
And then, yeah, we also will take turns even just staring into each other's eyes.
That one is always very scary, but also it's beautiful just to let yourselves be seen without
all the distractions.
There's a lot of studies on regulation being done.
What that does to the nervous system as well.
A few other things that I've done as with the partner is me and Danny will take turns
drawing on each other's backs, just doing some pictures or writing some words.
And then another fun one that we like to do is to both put in our headphones and we play
songs for each other.
So we give each other like a little music tour of like two or three songs.
And these are just like fun ways where we're not just like watching TV or on the phone
and doing stuff like that together.
It helps us like do stuff that's a little bit more vulnerable, but also helps us actually
feel calm.
And then we can wind down so if we're ever both like really hyper later in the evening
and I'm like, how am I going to get to sleep being this awake?
That is one of the times I will pull out some of these practices.
Want to share some more, Kat?
Yeah, so many great tips there.
Love it.
Kyle and I have a little thing we do together too.
We just call it creative time.
And we will each have like a little creative project that we're working on.
For me, I haven't lately had like one project.
So I've just been whipping out my adult coloring books.
And just like beautiful mandalas or animals and take out my colored pencils.
And then Kyle lately, he's been creating these Gundams, which I don't know if you guys know
what these are, but they are like Japanese action figures.
And so I am sharing one of Kyle's nerdy little secrets here, but I don't think you'll mind.
Both of our guys have a lot of nerdy little secrets.
They sure do.
I love it though.
I'm actually looking at some right now.
He has them on his desk where I record this podcast.
We'll have to post one on the story.
Oh yes, definitely.
You'll know exactly what I'm talking about then.
Like little action figures that look like robots.
It's so funny.
There's like stories to them and everything.
So he'll do that all color and then we'll play a podcast in the background or listen
to an audio book together.
And then we'll occasionally pause it and just like talk about what we heard.
If it brings up some conversation points, like we've listened to the Man Enough podcast
where we'll talk about like gender roles or right now we're listening to this book called
The Baby Decision and that is a whole thing itself.
I love it.
So yeah, it's just like fun little conversation time.
That's no pressure.
We're just doing our own thing, creative time together.
But yeah, it's a nice way to like wind down at the end of the day.
I love that Kat.
And yeah, just to share some individual practices.
So going on your yoga mat, doing breath work, even just going on to or going outside and
getting into nature, that is so syncing up for our nervous system.
The trees are talking to us, everybody, just in case you don't know that.
They are literally helping us to feel calm.
Literally nature is giving us energy that is a go to 100 percent of the time if you're
just really needing that reset.
I am going to be doing a 30 day reset regulation program with Oriana Barger, who we've had
on this podcast, who shares the background with physical therapy, yoga and trauma work.
And we have put together 30 days worth of videos to do January 1st through the 30th.
The videos are going to be sent out every day and just be about 15 to 20 minutes long
so that you can actually do 30 days of getting true examples of what regulating your nervous
system looks like and how to do it.
So if you want to sign up for that, that's on my website, Senseful Wellness dot com.
So awesome.
That'll be great.
You all should definitely check that out.
And with it being Black Friday, we had a couple ideas that would be great for gifts that aren't
material objects, kind of like our last episode, just a little piggyback on that.
So one, do Jen's retreat, gift it to a friend, family member.
Two, of course, we have a little list here of ways that you can help somebody who you
love, a friend, a partner, a family member, anybody, calm their overactive nervous system.
So Jen mentioned a couple of them with yoga.
You can get a gift card to a local yoga studio.
Meditation.
I also have a meditation club.
If you're curious about that, I'm also leading a workshop on New Year's Day.
If you're local to Denver, can follow me on Instagram for more information about that.
It's going to be at Nurture and it's $44 for dynamic meditation, intention setting for
the New Year, all that good stuff.
So a couple, couple fun workshops we have coming up.
Spending time in nature.
So this could be real low cost where you plan a hike with somebody and you plan like a little
picnic after.
A massage gift card for that is always a great idea.
Essential oils, aromatherapy can really help calm the nervous system.
Acupuncture.
This has been huge for me lately.
It helps stimulate points in the body associated with relaxation.
So gift card for that.
Any herbal supplements like lavender, chamomile, valerian.
So many good things out there that aren't necessarily like material objects.
Some of them might be, but more so experiences just to help promote that gift of calm.
Yes.
Love it, Kat.
So we also wanted to share with you all that we are running a giveaway.
So we are going to be sharing this really now you get to know, but starting December
1st.
So just in a couple of days, we have our holiday giveaway and the similar to the last one that
we ran in case you're familiar with that.
But we are going to post on our Instagram and we're asking for you to share that post,
tag two friends in your story or more.
Follow us on Instagram and then be sure to follow us wherever you stream this podcast
to be entered to win one of four awesome prizes.
Ready for the prizes?
Yes.
Number one, birth chart reading with Jen.
These are amazing.
Seriously.
Jen is the astrology baddie, as you all know, and her birth chart readings are such a gift
and so insightful.
We get real deep.
Oh yeah.
Next up is virtual Reiki.
So awesome option in case you have never received it or you are looking to receive it and don't
want to leave the comfort of your own home.
Jen can do that really, really well.
And then another option is the healthy pantry makeover.
So this is a one hour guided tour of your kitchen or help you come up with different
healthy alternatives, notice food trends and really put on your food detective hat and
find secret little tricky ingredients that are hiding in your food.
And then nutrition baddie.
And then the final one is three months to my meditation club.
So we meet virtually on zoom every Monday.
I lead you through a guided meditation and there's some journaling prompts and awesome
community connection.
So we will announce one winner on December 30th, 1230.
So you have about a month to enter this, tell your friends, and then we'll announce the
winner then.
We're excited to see who wins and we really appreciate you guys continuing to help us
grow.
Definitely.
Thank you all so much.
We love you.
And for just a little bit more added value for this episode, something that you can return
to whenever you want, I'm going to lead us through a pretty short but effective five
senses meditation.
And I love this meditation.
It's one that my therapist actually would do with me often whenever I was just like
working on EMDR, some heavy stuff would come up and I needed to ground again.
So it's amazing for grounding, amazing to return to and just have in your tool belt
for any of those anxious times, whether you're with family during the holiday season or something
else is coming up in your life that really could use a little bit of that grounding presence.
So go ahead and get comfortable.
If you are in a place where you can sit and close your eyes, that's probably what I would
recommend doing.
If not, that's okay.
I know sometimes we listen to this driving, please don't close your eyes if that's you.
Just get comfy.
Feather your nest.
Let your sits bones root down to the surface underneath you.
Relax your jaw.
Soften your eyebrows.
Relax your hips and your belly.
Just let your shoulders fall away from your ears.
We'll take a few rounds of breath just to settle in.
Take a deep breath in.
Let it all go.
Two more like that.
Breathe in through your nose, fill your belly all the way up.
Open your mouth and send it all out.
One more time, just like that, breathe all the way in, fill your vessel with fresh air.
Exhale through your mouth, let it all out.
Now if you close your eyes, simply open them back up for just a moment and look around
you.
Bring your sense of sight, name five things that you notice.
You can count them on your hand.
Just call it what you see.
Water bottle, pencil.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Close your eyes if you feel comfortable and safe doing so.
If not, simply find a soft gaze over the bridge of your nose.
And we'll tune into the sense of touch, what are four things that you can feel?
This might be your shirt on your skin, the chair you're sitting on, your feet on the
floor, anything like that.
Next we're going to move into the sight of sound.
What are three things that you can hear in this very moment?
Maybe my voice, maybe a fan.
Next what are two things that you can smell?
Two things that you can smell.
And if there's nothing that is coming to mind right now, you can think of two things that
you like the smell of.
Don't need to overthink it, just whatever comes to mind first.
And finally moving into our final sense of taste.
What is one thing that you can presently taste?
Remember one thing that you like the taste of.
Take a deep breath in.
Feel that breath out.
Whenever you feel ready, you can begin to return to your body, opening your eyes, returning
to the room in which you're inhabiting.
And know that this practice is always here for you.
We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and we will be back with you on December 30th
for our final episode of the year.
ат yogаggа