Body-Focused Stress-Relief Strategies for Navigating Overwhelm with Chantal Donnelly • 335
Feb 13, 2024
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Learn how past experiences shape reactions to stress, and master the art of finding calm in a stress-inducing world. Discover the importance of rewiring survival patterns, decoding stress languages, and using somatic tools for stress relief. Explore the impact of transgenerational stress and debunk water intake myths for improved well-being.
Body-focused stress relief strategies for navigating overwhelm
The podcast episode discusses various body-focused stress relief strategies for navigating overwhelming situations. The speaker shares their personal experience of struggling with stress management and the importance of realizing that the brain and body work together to respond to stimuli. They emphasize the need to decipher between feelings of threat and uncomfortable feelings trying to communicate something. The speaker mentions the significance of integrating body-based tools like gentle exercise, somatic massages, and cranial nerve stimulation to provide new data points to the brain and build capacity for stress regulation.
The role of the stillness seesaw and miscommunication between the mind and body
The podcast delves into the concept of the stillness seesaw, which highlights the miscommunication between the mind and body. The speaker explains how the sympathetic nervous system (movement system) and the parasympathetic nervous system (stillness system) can sometimes be confused or imbalanced, leading to feelings of either frenetic stress or immobility. They discuss the importance of discerning between genuine states of calm and states of collapse or freeze, highlighting the need to embrace and work with the body's signals rather than ignoring or avoiding them. The speaker suggests incorporating somatic tools and cranial nerve stimulation to help regulate and navigate the stillness seesaw.
Building body awareness and tools for stress relief
The podcast episode emphasizes the importance of building body awareness and adopting various tools for stress relief. The speaker encourages listeners to prioritize self-care by attending to basic needs like sleep, hydration, nutrition, movement, and breath. They explain that by listening to the body's signals, individuals can develop fluency in understanding their body's language. The speaker also introduces specific body-based tools such as TMJ massages, humming, gargling, and sternocleidomastoid massages as ways to stimulate cranial nerves and establish communication with the vagus nerve for stress regulation. The episode emphasizes the value of integrating body-focused approaches alongside mindset techniques for a more holistic approach to stress management.
The Impact of Trauma: PTSD and CPTSD
Experiencing multiple incidents of trauma can lead to Complex PTSD (CPTSD), which can also manifest as empathic confusion even by reading about other people's traumatic experiences. CPTSD can result in physical and emotional reactions similar to PTSD. The body's stress response can cause symptoms like insomnia, weight changes, aches, pains, headaches, and digestive issues. Understanding the signs and effects of trauma helps in identifying and addressing them.
Transgenerational Stress and Epigenetic Changes
Research on transgenerational stress reveals that trauma experienced by previous generations can affect the DNA expression in subsequent generations. For example, the offspring of Holocaust survivors showcased changes in DNA related to stress hormone receptors, making them more sensitive to stress. This suggests that stressful events like wars, racism, or famine can have genetic implications, altering receptivity to stress. However, rewiring the nervous system through various techniques allows individuals to manage and overcome these inherited stress responses.
How stress hijacks your body's responses, and why even your MIND can't save you from it.
How to hit pause and rewrite your survival patterns.
How to master the art of reaching calm between the seesaw of stress and shutdown.
Do you ever reflect on something and think, “why did I do that”? Or why can’t I seem to keep my cool in those situations? Why did that trigger me so badly?
The truth is, your reaction is less about the trigger and more about your past. Our past experiences leave invisible imprints on our lives. They affect the way we interact with the world, make decisions, and even respond to stress, which has a direct effect on our happiness levels now.
So today, we’re learning all about that process and what to do next. Our guest is Chantal Donnelly. She is a physical therapist and author of the Amazon best-selling book, “Settled: How to Find Calm in a Stress-Inducing World.”
She is also the owner of Body Insight, a wellness company designed to help people reconnect with their bodies and improve their health.
