Welcome to our 15. Day of the Natural Highs Academy!

HOW TO RELAX IN A CRISIS

How do we relax in a crisis?

How do we find a sense of grounding when everything feels uncertain?

To be honest, the Stone Age Brain that we all still have is not doing very well with uncertainty.

For millions of years, uncertainty for humans meant potential danger.

To this day, our brain reacts in very stone-agey ways to uncertainty and unpredictability.

Often, we just go into a fight/flight/freeze response: We want to run away, we want to fight or we want to freeze which can look and feel like depression, anxiety, not wanting to get up in the morning, or just wanting to dissociate, ignore, or go into denial. All of these reactions are human, they are our biology and they worked very well in the Stone Age to keep us alive. Unfortunately, they don't work very well at all right now. Today, they cost us a lot of energy, they cost us our aliveness and they are not productive. So we end up spending all of our energy and we don't get anything back in return - besides feeling exhausted, anxious and depressed.

You have probably noticed that it is very hard to fight against these reflexes in our nervous system. Trying to push yourself out of feeling exhausted when you have no energy feels impossible.

Today, I want to share some neuroscience tools with you to help us get out of the place of exhaustion. Much smarter than fighting against our biological reflexes is to learn about them, understand them, and work in alignment with them.

The nervous system state that gets triggered when we feel threat, overwhelm or danger is the Sympathetic Nervous System. It is our Crisis State that kicks up our Stone Age Survival energy when we feel threatened. Unfortunately, our current situation can trigger it too much without any tangible outlet. In order to be able to relax and return to a sense of grounding, we need to help our brain move into the Parasympathetic Nervous System where we feel safe. Here is a video that explains the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic reactions in more detail:

What does this mean for our current situation?

How do you calm yourself down during this current crisis?

How do you work with your own mind? Your body?

If we cannot fight against our biological reflexes how can we get smart and creative and work in a way with our nervous system and brain to help return to a state where we can relax and rest in order to get our energy back?

I would love to hear ways how you are working right now with yourself to find moments of rest and relaxation.

I recorded a guided meditation for you that uses all the biological mechanisms that I have learned over the last 30 years to help our nervous system to return to a place of safety, relaxation, and rest.

Feel free to check it out here. Use the coupon "coronarelief" to get it for free during these times:

https://www.naturalhighs.org/product-page/guided-meditation-journey-to-your-inner-sanctuary

This Guided Meditation is especially helpful when people experience anxiety or trouble sleeping from stress and racing thoughts. It helps access a tangible sense of safety that our brain needs to move from the Sympathetic Nervous system to the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

TODAY'S ACTIVITIES:

- Check out the video and see how these biological mechanisms play out in your life right now - Check out when you notice yourself being in a Sympathetic State and when in a Parasympathetic State - they are both valuable - it is just important to not get stuck. - Feel free to try out the Guided Meditation to find a state of relaxation and rest during these times. - Feel free to use the attached Worksheets to help you map out what signs you notice in yourself for each nervous system state and which resources help you move back into a place of rest & rejuvenation. The first Worksheet is an example, the second is for you to personalize with words and/or art.

Also, feel free to check out the Natural Highs Google CALENDAR with daily Natural Highs activities for TEENS: 

Teen Calendar of Online Events

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=83gi6m9jfn9j2noao4gac5adlk%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FDenver If you have joined the Natural Highs Academy after March 30, you can find all the previous exercises and worksheets that you might have missed on:  & Materials

Feel free to share any of these resources with anyone - teen or adult - who you think might benefit from daily inspiration and structure during these times. I so look forward to have you be part of the Natural High https://www.naturalhighs.org/post/welcome-to-the-natural-highs-academy Want more Natural Highs Resources? Now, everything in the Natural Highs Store is available for FREE with the Coupon: "coronarelief": Community. We can support each other to make the best of these times Stay strong & inspired ❤️ Avani