The Human Nervous System
This is the super computer of your entire system, yet it is simply two parts; your brain and the brain stem.
The CNS takes all of the information that is sent from the Peripheral Nervous System, organizes it and creates your entire perception of the world around you. It is responsible for your emotions, your ability to plan and think as well as your awareness of what’s around you.
Your CNS in a lot of ways is where your reality is formed. In fact the CNS on its own has no idea what the outside world is like at all, it is entirely reliant on forming reactions based on what the peripheral nervous system (PNS) sends it.
For example: If it is receiving information that the outside world is stressful, it in turn sends out all the signals for the body to run on high alert to be ready for anything thrown its way. Or if it gets signals of calm, it knows to relax because all is well.
In somatic work we use physical and mental exercises to support the accurate flow of information between the PNS and CNS. It is not about always staying calm, it is about keeping this connection healthy so we can have the appropriate feelings, thoughts and actions in the right moment.
Interesting fact, the brain stem is what allows you to react without thinking. Ever notice when you are startled your arms may pop up to block danger, or your feet may stomp or run, or you even scream, all before your brain can completely realize what is happening? It all happens in a split second, but your brain stem knows every second matters and it jumps into action while your brain itself gets caught up on the input it is receiving.
Your Vagus nerve is attached directly to the brain stem, this is why vagal toning is effective!
Central Nervous System (CNS)
This side is all of the nerves outside of your brain and brain stem, the Vagus nerve being the main highway.
These nerves collect all of the information and send it to the CNS, as well as receive information back from the CNS and send it to the rest of the body. It runs a constant communication loop. This is everything from breathing and swallowing to walking or picking up a pen.
The PNS is made up of 2 main divisions that work together:
The Somatic Nervous System
This handles the voluntary movements (kicking a ball, picking up a pen…)
Sensory input from outside the body: smell, sight, taste, touch & sound
The Autonomic Nervous System
This handles the things you don’t actively think about like breathing, heart beating and digesting food
It has 2 more subdivisions, and these are what you likely have heard the most about:
The Parasympathetic Nervous System
This is the rest and digest side. This is where the Vagus Nerve lives, this is the side that helps your body to slow down, digest your food properly, be present and in the moment.
The Sympathetic Nervous System
Fight or flight side. This side activates any and all resources it can if it senses a need to activate. This area uses all the information it can to decide the best course of action: run away, fight it off, or even try to be invisible. *And it will do this not just if a bear is chasing you, it will also do this to help you meet a work deadline, or get the 478 tasks done for the family that need to be done.
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Everything!
Now that you have a basic idea of how all of these parts of the nervous system work, from emotions to physical movements, we can see how they all intertwine, work together, and are each affected by the others. As we are just living our daily lives, all of these functions are capable of running on autopilot.
BUT, we can also see that we can have influence on these functions.
Our somatic system handles sensory input and movement right? And this system communicates up the line all the way to our main computer (the CNS) where our thoughts and emotions are created…right? We can choose how we breathe and move, which would change how and what information is sent up the chain to our thought center…right?
Why would we not utilize this information super-highway to create our best reality, our best life? If we allow it all to run on autopilot, then we are allowing ourselves to live in a reactive life, constantly overwhelmed at the flood of information sent to our CNS.
In somatic work we are proactive, we don’t allow ourselves to run purely on autopilot. We use specific & intentional movements, visualizations, frequencies and even words to influence how all of the external information we take in gets processed in our nervous system. This keeps us living in the moment, which keeps us safer, keeps us balanced and open to our best reality.
What does this have to do with somatic work?