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SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OUR OBESSESSION WITH BUSY

January 29, 2020/0 Comments/by Susan Scollon

LISTEN TO YOUR GUT

Hearing your Teddy Bear Belly through the Mind-field of Dietary Doctrines When my stomach is most happy it reminds me of a TEDDY BEAR BELLY. Lovely and round. Hanging out in a relaxed manner. Empty pockets between the stuffing, allowing for intuition and guidance to appear. But with the overload of DOGMATIC FOOD ADVICE, we […]

January 29, 2020/0 Comments/by Susan Scollon

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SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OUR OBESSESSION WITH BUSY

January 29, 2020/0 Comments/by Susan Scollon

Uncategorized

LISTEN TO YOUR GUT

January 29, 2020/0 Comments/by Susan Scollon

SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OUR OBESSESSION WITH BUSY

“Are You Busy?”, “Have you had a busy day?”, I recently caught myself saying this to my dentist and a cab driver. I’m not sure why I care if these people are busy or not. Or why people say they have been “SOOO BUSY”, when they’re actually not. Do they want a reward for it? People also like to be seen as being busy. It makes them feel important. For sure when the heat is on we need to ride the tiger and fit a lot in to a tight schedule. But we don’t need to exist in this state all the time.

When in our “busy” mode, we are mostly operating from our sympathetic nervous system. This is one half of the Autonomic Nervous System. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our FIGHT OR FLIGHT response. This necessary survival mechanism, allows us to call on our body’s resources to execute an explosive power charged response. A genius function if we were faced with a tiger or bear. The blood vessels open wider allowing more blood flow to our limbs to either run or fight. Lingering in this state however, is not necessary for day–to-day life. Stress keeps us here. After a while our body adapts (GAS – General Adaptation Syndrome) eventually leading to exhaustion. A common presentation in the clinic is people that have been constantly operating from this mode as a defence mechanism.

Every aspect has an opposite. The other half of the Autonomic Nervous System is the Para-Sympathetic. This is our “REST” and “DIGEST” mode. When in rest mode our resources can return to our vital organs. The body attends to important digestion and reproductive functions. Such processes cannot be in use whilst our Sympathetic nervous system is dominating. Hence why so many suffer from gynaecological and digestive complaints. The body has not been given the chance for maintenance in this region.

Speaking in Chinese Medicine terms, we could say that the Sympathetic nervous system is our Yang state and the Para-Sympathetic is our Yin. Often people’s yang aspects are in overdrive. For example the back of the body is Yang. This area is usually hardened and stiff in most people, whilst their front region (Yin aspect) is respectively atrophied and weak.

There are certain activities that allow us to re-set our nervous system back into the Para-Sympathetic. MEDITATION returns the body to an energy conserving state. It is an activity that requires effort but does not consume energy. SLEEP promotes parasympathetic functions like digestion. During sleep blood can return to the heart where it is housed and can regenerate.

ACUPUNCTURE drops people straight into their Para-Sympathetic Nervous System. It makes me happy when I hear gurgles and rumbles from patients tummy’s during their treatment. This tells me “rest” and “digest” is the dominant state. Some patients fall asleep straight away, indicating their true state as extremely tired. When one has needles in, one does not have the urge to move. It is rare that we get the chance to rest in this way. The body simply CORRECTS ITSELF and restores balance if given the right conditions.

The original purpose of the Fight/Flight Response

LISTEN TO YOUR GUT

Hearing your Teddy Bear Belly through the Mind-field of Dietary Doctrines

When my stomach is most happy it reminds me of a TEDDY BEAR BELLY. Lovely and round. Hanging out in a relaxed manner. Empty pockets between the stuffing, allowing for intuition and guidance to appear.

But with the overload of DOGMATIC FOOD ADVICE, we seldom hear what our bodies are truly asking for. Cooking shows, cookbooks, food blogs. Restaurants and cafes on every corner of Melbourne. Our obsession with food is sky high. Of course there is much to love about food. As a good friend pointed out “we have a mouth”, so we need to figure out what to put in it. And it’s pleasurable for a reason. But why so much emphasis? What of the other pleasures in life, like learning about the universe. Or are people not having enough sex?! Perhaps we are too time poor to sit under a tree and rejoice in the blossoming season.

The aim of food advice is trying to achieve a balance or “middle way”. But if we are so strict on these boundaries we become stuck. Life is irregular in nature. The breath is not naturally the same tempo. A tightrope walker may lean out of center one way to re-establish balance. But the mind tries so hard to control. If I eat this, cut this, do this, I will be balanced. Um…i don’t think so. Let’s allow ourselves to swing in and out of this “perfect balance” and RID OUR MIND OF CONCEPTS.

Food is also just plain old fuel. The head-wreck is trying to find the most functional food that we can also enjoy. The truth is, WE CAN GET BENEFIT FROM ANYTHING WE CONSUME, depending on our attitude. If we have a policeman like mind that says, “this food is bad”, or if we feel guilty when consuming, we block any available nourishment. Have you ever had something “bad”, that has made you feel a million bucks without any detrimental effects.

Recently I felt alive after having a coffee and a piece of cake. Through NON-JUDGEMENT and free-flowing satisfaction, i was nourished by something i previously had thought of as “bad”. My body also tells me it now “loves” leafy greens. I am feeling more nourished from these beauties than ever before. A different effect from my repulsion to greens as a child.

So what would your belly say if you were to have a conversation with it? “Please don’t keep eating, when i have CLEARLY had enough”, Or “water, water, we love water”.

Whatever the case it’s time to let go of mind control and start choosing in each moment with our teddy bear bellies.

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SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OUR OBESSESSION WITH BUSY

LISTEN TO YOUR GUT

SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OUR OBESSESSION WITH BUSY

LISTEN TO YOUR GUT

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SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OUR OBESSESSION WITH BUSY

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