What is your super power?

What is your super power?

You already know how to BREATHE in an effective way, and how to be aware of sympathetic nervous system responses that are ON in your body. If you missed any of those articles…follow the links and then come back. (Or keep reading and follow the links later)

When you learn to recognize how it feels to be in a stress response (fight or flight, sympathetic nervous system response) and you know what it feels like when your body comes out of that stress response (rest and digest, parasympathetic nervous system response); you can start noticing other activities that get your body to make that switch.

Signs that your body has mad the switch to rest and digest:
• Slower heart rate
• Slower, deeper breathing
• Gurgling digestive system (your digestive system turns back on, digestive secretions flow again and the muscles start contracting to move what your body needs to digest or eliminate 💩😉)
• You might need to use the bathroom, number 1 and 2
• Your muscles are less tense (sometimes as your muscles relax, you begin to notice some aches and pains that were previously guarded)
• Your vision goes back to normal

I spend a lot of time noticing when people’s body switch into a parasympathetic nervous system response. When I notice that someone has made that switch, from an outside position (as a massage therapist and self care guide), the first thing that I notice is the gurgling of the digestive system. Sometimes I notice a change in breathing and sometimes I notice almost a jolt in the body as their muscles relax.

In my experience, this switch happens anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes into a massage. I practice workplace massage, where I go into an office or workplace and give 20 minute massages during people’s break time at work; 12 minutes is the time that I hear the stomach gurgles start most often.

Now that you know the signs, breathing, massage, meditation, and yoga are great ways to get your body to make that switch. In all of these practices you are consciously changing your breathe to help your body relax.

There are ways to get the relaxed effect in your body without consciously focusing on your breathe. When you do things that you love, your body tends to be in a more relaxed state.

For me, when I sit down to read, I notice my body begin to relax.

Exercise is something that you can do to help your body relax. Initially during the exercise your heart rate might get faster, as do your respiration to get enough oxygen for your working muscles. The effect that exercise has on your body after you exercise is what helps your body get to rest and digest.

What are some other activities that make your body switch into rest and digest??

I am VERY interested in this subject and SERIOUSLY want to know what you do each day, week, month, and year; to help your body rest and digest. Please comment on this article to tell me your practices.