Re-wiring for Resilience
Starting in infancy, our nervous system is wiring in response to our environment. The younger we are, the more support we need from caregivers to handle dysregulation that comes along with discomfort, stress, and emotions. This is called co-regulation: someone helps another person to address dysregulation, soothe stress hormones, and shift back to a state of steadiness and connection.
You can’t avoid stress, or protect children from ever experiencing stress. Actually, the goal isn’t to be in a state of regulation and calm all the time - the goal is to develop a resilient nervous system, that knows how to move in and out of stress states when needed. It becomes a problem when we become stuck in a stress state for longer than necessary.
Each of us has unique wiring in our nervous system, and some are more resilient to stress than others. Some of us have naturally more sensitive nervous systems that are more easily stressed or more impacted by negative events than other people.
In our day-to-day lives, our nervous system shifts between different states depending on whether we feel safe or in some level of threat.
The hope is that we will most often be in a state of safety, connection, and wellbeing. When we need to, we can shift into a stress mode and utilize the change in energy to handle a challenge. Then, once the challenge has been addressed, we should shift back to the state of safety again, living there most of the time.
If you’re able to do that, it means your baseline is in a state of ease and safety.
Introducing the stress states. In an activated state, stress hormones send extra energy throughout your body to help you move into “fight or flight” defense. If your baseline is in activation, you may often feel anxious.
If your system doesn’t think that fighting or (literally) running away from the situation will help, or if you’ve been in state of activation for too long, it will shift to an approach of conserving energy and shutting you down. This is also called the “freeze or fawn” defensive state. If your baseline is in shut down, you may have a tendency to feel more depressed.
Sometimes, people experience a mix of activation and shutdown, feeling anxious and depressed at the same time.
Your baseline - or your level of resilience - may have shifted over time based on all sorts of life experiences, stressors, and relationship dynamics. One of the great things about SSP is that you do not necessarily have to understand why your baseline is in a stress state in order to shift it. Or, if you think you would benefit from doing some additional processing about your life experiences, SSP can be very effective when paired with other therapies.
Is your baseline somewhere outside the green zone, or do you often swing into or get stuck a stress state? Thanks to a concept from brain science called neuroplasticity, we understand that patterns that have been wired into your nervous system can change throughout your lifetime. SSP can help your nervous system become more resilient.
Your SSP listening, combined with new practices to nurture your system, can help you re-wire old patterns. And for children and teens, SSP can support resilience in their developing nervous system - a gift that will benefit their wellbeing now and in the future.
Reflect
The above image contains words that are often associated with the different states.
Photo credits: Disney Pixar
Think about your own experience shifting between ease, activation, and shut down. What words, emotions, or bodily feelings do you connect with in each state? Are there certain images or colors that help you visualize your own unique experience of each state? You can use this as a starting point to visualize the states in a way that makes sense to you.
I also love this version with characters from the Pixar movies, Inside Out and Inside Out 2. If you haven’t yet seen them, I highly recommend watching. The way they portray the emotional experience of humans is so relatable and pairs so well with the work you are doing through SSP and learning more about your brain/body partnership.
Having an image like this handy for kids can help them connect with their own experiences in the different nervous system states.
