ACTIVATING YOUR PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
Yoga has become synonymous with wellness.
Everyone starts a yoga practice for different reasons: maybe you saw a cool trick in a video or want to get bendy, maybe your doctor recommended it or you’ve been reading about the benefits of meditation and yoga. No matter how you ended up on the mat, everyone experiences the same benefits (which are starting to be noticed by the scientific community too!), and everyone who starts chooses to continue to roll out their mat because it makes them feel good physically, emotionally, and mentally. Yoga postures give you more than a stretch or workout: you’re actively changing your neurological platforms (aka how you experience the world) while moving your body.
In today’s episode, I’m joined by Marlysa Sullivan! Marlysa is an Assistant Professor of Yoga Therapy and Integrative Health Sciences at Maryland University of Integrative Health, a physical therapist and yoga therapist, researcher, and author. Maryla’s co-authored book on yoga for pain is available now. Her next book: Understanding Yoga Therapy: Applied Philosophy and Science for Well-being, co-authored with Laurie Hyland Robertson is to be released this year!
TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:
What is polyvagal theory and what is its significance for physical, mental, behavioral health and physical therapy
What is yoga therapy and how does it intersect with polyvagal theory
Physical “alarms” and emotional “reactions” are messages
Everything is connected (surprise!): identifying and labeling messages can help influence their outcomes.
You can create an inner experience that will positively influence your external experience
Everyone experiences discomfort - it’s about learning how to respond when it comes knocking at your door.
Yoga helps build physical, emotional, and behavioral resiliency (more than your muscles become strong when you practice)
Yoga and PT modalities widen your lens of tolerance through safe mobilization: you experience a physical or emotional activation while simultaneously maintaining a state of safety and calm.
Sexual function also works on these same processes!
How do physical therapists utilize these ideas and techniques in their clinics
In today’s episode, Marlysa will also share a top down and bottom up regulation which can help shift how you react to experiences and situations. You can use this technique at home to activate your parasympathetic state (which is the rest and digest mode that makes you feel light, relaxed, and released.) There are two ways to active the parasympathetic state with this technique: mentally or physically.
If you’re in a lot of pain or experience physical aches, discomforts, or annoyances, your path may be to use a top down approach which starts in the mind to affect the physiological state.
You can activate the parasympathetic response by visualizing an image or memory that is soothing to you.
If you’re anxious, stressed, or have a lot of chatty thoughts that you can’t get rid of, your path might be to start in the body to affect the mental and emotional state.
You can activate the parasympathetic response by finding slow and rhythmic movement or utilizing a breathing technique that gives you a sense of calm.
By using these two paths to activate the parasympathetic state (and you might flip-flop between using one path and then the other!), we create an experience and feeling that you can easily recreate in the future. When you feel anxious, have sweaty palms, and feel like your heart might burst through your chest, that’s what it feels like when your sympathetic state is activated. When you feel like your chest is floating away, your jaw relaxes allowing your teeth to part, and you feel all gooey on the inside, that’s what it feels like when your parasympathetic state is activated. Throughout our life we’ll experience different neural platforms, but by having these tools you can always return to a state of calm. By learning what it feels like to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, you can teach yourself how to flip a switch and turn it on whenever you want.
Using this top-down and bottom-up regulation technique at home helps you learn more about the systems of your body, the help of a trained health professional can help you apply this new knowledge to things like persistent pain or flare-ups. Your body’s responses to stimuli (onset of pain or your heart racing during an anxious moment) is automatic. A health professional can help you to challenge your body’s learned beliefs and natural physiological and emotional response (like pain or anxiety): you need an activation to retrain your systems that everything is “ok”, and that the autopilot response is unnecessary. It’s not just about “retraining” the mind, it’s about exercises that retrain the autonomic nervous system!
Check out the book! Yoga and Science in Pain Care
You can connect with Marlysa on Facebook or reach out to her via email with any questions!
This information is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a healthcare professional with any questions you may have regarding treatment, medications/supplements, or any medical diagnoses. This information is intended for educational purposes only and is in no way to substitute the advice of a licensed healthcare professional.
