This week we’re going to be looking at the different states of the nervous system; sympathetic; being fight, flight or freeze, and parasympathetic; being rest and digest.

Living with active chronic illness can continuously activate the sympathetic nervous system, without the counteraction of the parasympathetic nervous system, meaning that you’re living in a near-on continuous state of fight, flight or freeze.

Trying to heal under those conditions is extremely hard, and could contribute to you finding yourself dipping in and out of flares on the regular.

The work we’re going to be doing over the coming weeks will ask you to look deeper into things that you’ve perhaps distracted yourself from as a protective mechanism.  Always with the caveat that you take your own lead, only going as far as you feel comfortable, you might find some of that stuff challenging, revealing and uncomfortable.    

Knowing how to activate your parasympathetic nervous system is a tonic which will protect you from those challenges and moments of discomfort aggravating your chronic illness, and will also create a healthier healing environment.

Today we’re going to practice a super simple method of activating your parasympathetic nervous system - which you’ll have available to you at all times - called coherent breathing.  You’ve likely practiced it before; it’s the simple act of steady, even, in and out breaths.

Guided meditation.

When you’re ready, take a seat or lie down.  Close your eyes if it feels good to do so.  You can place one (or both) hands on your stomach, and one on your heart if you like.

Relax your body and take some deep breaths to begin with, releasing any tension or pent up energy through the mouth with a sigh.

I want you to breathe in through the nose and out through pursed lips (almost like a whistle), for the count of 4 each way.  I want you to pay attention to feeling the breath travel up through your nose, as it expands your chest and your stomach, and then as you exhale, releasing it in reverse.  We’re going to do it for 3 minutes, and you’ll see how quickly you can enter that rest and digest state.  I’ll count to begin with and then I’ll leave it to you to settle into your own rhythm.

Now return to your natural breath.  Begin to feel into your hands and feet, give your fingers and toes a little wiggle, stretch if you need to and slowly blink open your eyes.

This is a practice you can return to at any time, whether you’re feeling stressed, anxious or notice any symptoms arising.

Creating a sense of inner safety, calming your nervous system and resting in a parasympathetic state will help you grow comfortable in sitting with yourself and your feelings, so that you don’t default to distraction and abandonment.  It’s something you’ll gradually develop and deepen over this programme, but today was about giving you a set of really sturdy tools to call on now and as the weeks progress.

Here are some others that you might like to explore;

• Slow down - move throughout your day 10% slower

• Coherent breathing (which we did today)

• Singing & humming

• Practicing being with yourself without distraction 

• Cold water therapy - showers, swimming, splashing your face with cold water

• Nasal breathing

• Laughter therapy

• Time away from media 

Chronic Illness can be a lonely place where you end up playing a lot of stuff over in your head.  It’s good to get it out in the open, use your voice!  If you find yourself ruminating or overthinking, say what you’re thinking - a quiet whisper to yourself, a recording into your voice notes - out loud, or keep a journal handy; the notes in your phone, scrap pieces of paper, any place to write feelings that do come up.