NEUROCEPTION
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A term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges in the early 90’s, NEUROCEPTION is our BODY’s ability to detect risk outside the realm of our own awareness, and triage our organ function, and nervous response, accordingly.
What!?.
Yep! Our body is constantly assessing and detecting levels of risk in our environment, in spite of whatever cognitive or perceptual experience the conscious mind is having.
Whats even more fascinating is that the body’s risk assessment system will then send information back up into the brain and impact the PSYCHOLOGICAL experience!
Put in a different way: Your neurological response to stimulus, based on your own developmental and life experiences, is ADAPTIVE, and what this means is that every single person on this planet may have a different physical response to the exact same stimuli.
For example, for someone who has had a past traumatic experience, hearing a specific vocal range from a total stranger may trigger a series of internal, unconscious, physiological responses (including breath and heart-rate response, but also vagal and digestive tone).
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The body, on it's own, will chose to distrust the completely well-meaning stranger - EVEN IF THE MIND KNOWS THAT THE PERSON IS OK. The lining of their gut, the funcionality of their internal organ systems, and particularly their autonomic nervous system, will shift around that stranger, a person who may even become a "friend"or "co-worker" to the conscious mind, but a threat still to the body.
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This is not a cognitive response from the person in any way, its NEUROCEPTION. The neural circuitry makes the call.
The whole process occurs underneath realm of the person’s awareness.
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What’s even more interesting?
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Your autonomic nervous system, primarily regulated by a large-and-in-charge nerve called your Vagus nerve, transmits information BI-DIRECTIONALLY.
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This means is that your body's choice to react calmly, defensively, or shut down, IS INFLUENCED in a “downward” direction as well, from your thinking, into your body.
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You do have the power to shift a nervous response, back into a safety and calm response. But it will take a lot of self-awareness, insight, the company of people who genuinely care about you and impact (calm) your nervous system positively, and practice.
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The quality of the thoughts circling your mind, the softness or tension in your forehead, the presence of music or sounds that are pleasing to your nervous system, and the work you do to stretch and strengthen your body — all these factors influence your body’s risk assessment system and affect your body's response to stimulus.
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Overworking yourself more, will definitely have the OPPOSITE effect and jam you deeper into your body's defense mode (anxiety).
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Whats more, it has been shown that anxious or defensive states are PHYSIOLOGICALLY INCOMPATIBLE with states of compassion and creativity.
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** Being in extremely stressful, judgemental, neglectful or downright abusive environments WILL short circuit your capacity to respond deeply or compassionately PRECICELY BECAUSE these circuits require you to come out of a stress response in the first place**
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Amazing no!? (and political too?)
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>>>> Over time, neuroception is one of the ways that stress impacts our organ and gut health, our outlook on life, and how being in stressful situations, over years without rest, can seriously impact a person's immune response - especially if there is any form of childhood trauma or adverse circumstance. Even if its as simple as being in a stressful job for a long time and never doing the work to "down-regulate" from the fight or flight response in the body. <<<<
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STRESS rewires your entire body and mind!
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the good news is, so does rest and restoration :)
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I teach multiple yoga classes a week in Sacramento that leverage the latest research. The way I share in my classes specifically aims to speak to your BODY and nervous system to learn to release conscious and unconscious anxiety, and enable your body to remember and strengthen its capacity to experience safety, potential and wholeness.
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Love,
Natasha
