In our modern world, stress is never far away. A noisy neighbour, a traffic jam or an argument with a partner triggers the same series of stress responses as an animal being chased by a predator. A physiological response by the sympathetic nervous system, often known as the ‘Fight, Flight, Freeze’, follows. When this happens on multiple occasions throughout the average day, it’s no wonder many of us feel chronically tense and anxious and our physical and mental health is impaired.
By rebalancing the nervous system, Somatic Coaching can be likened to a ‘factory reset’. When an antelope escapes the jaws of a lion, it picks itself up, gives itself a good shake, and then carries on munching grass as if nothing had happened. Scientists now believe that this behaviour provides a vital antidote, which switches off the animal’s emergency response and returns it to a relaxed state, known as ‘Rest and Digest’. Humans, however, often lack the ability to switch off again becoming more and more tense in the process. We can’t always control difficult life events, but the after-effects don’t have to stay locked in our muscles.
Somatic Coaching is an easy way of moving our bodies out of the 'flight, flight, freeze’ response and into the calming parasympathetic nervous system where we are able to release tension once again. With the body back in balance, healing can begin to take place. No longer wasting energy with stress responses means that resources can also be released for other functions such as releasing emotional blockages trapped in the body memory, better decision making, time and space for reflection, fresh insights, better immune health.
“We live in a world where everything is constantly changing, inside and outside of us. Our survival, wellness and happiness depends on having a flexible autonomic nervous system that regulates us in order to respond appropriately to changes in our environment and our own organism.”
Stanley Rosenberg
Somatic Coaching, Awaken the Wisdom Within
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