Co-Vida 20

I transfer from the medicinal herb forum…

Supporting the nervous system is scientifically known to allow the immune system to work better. We have instinctively understood that physical distance implies to find other ways to give each other support. Support can appear through help, but it is something else. It is given through spending time together, art, spirituality, hobbies, talking, even drinking or smoking together…
But it is underneath, and now time to be enlightened and seen for what it is better, so that we can do it better. It is a special “together”.

As I have somatic training in this field, I have shared several times about what has to be modified in most advices: you cannot impose any exercise on the body, as the effects have to happen alone. So instead of saying anything like "relax" and induce a relaxation by dropping shoulders etc, instead of doing something voluntarily in an intent to modify what is involuntary, I suggest changing for more indirect ways: they are more efficient. The best tool is ATTENTION. If you give your attention to where in your body you are not relaxed, it will change alone. You want an autonomous change so that it stays.  

I have published a text in english about this here, and it is public: https://www.facebook.com/soazicxisca.nicolas/posts/2783517201764340
I have chosen to illustrate with a yawning sloth... as yawning is a sign of spontaneous relaxation.

Image:
what do you do to help toddlers calm down? Give your attention or leave them alone? Just give your attention or order them to change behavior? Though we have learned to self-regulate, we still need to pay attention to the process, so that we are more than coping. Coping is not enough for the immune system. We need to give ourselves – and each others -  the same sort of attention as we give to children.
So you can use your mind and your thoughts, but leave your body adjust at its rhythm, it will make a big difference. If change and relaxation does not happen alone, there are tips so that it does, like also focusing outside the body too, with your senses, and noticing what is pleasant to you.

You can act voluntarily on those points. For example:

- Use a nice natural fragrance
- Listen to soft music you like
- And whatever your senses guide you towards.
- It can be noticing a glimpse of a sun ray
- You might all of a sudden notice birds were singing and you had not paid attention, and you might feel the change, like going on with a sigh!

Instead of just thinking “I feel better”, ask yourself “Where in my body? How do I know I feel better?” Then you might notice something else changing, and new parts of your body relax too. There are many different somatic signs, often not noticed, like gut gargling, even burps, sighs, yawns, shivers, and we can even start to laugh without knowing why!

I invented "Co-vida" because our technical word in the somatic field is "Co-regulation", something we do all the time and that would make people grin if they had to use a technical term for just relating to each others! Except that if we had any doubt we need "contact", we are left with fewer doubts...

We know we can regulate others or each other, but it works better if we 1st SELF-regulate. You can control your attitude and hide your stress, but actually it will not fool the nervous system of others. You just CANNOT regulate a child as well when you are not yourself regulated, grounded, anchored.

Image:

Give a hand to somebody and help come out of a hole: you are of no use if doing so makes you fall in the pit too.

I insist on this topic because we have all learned to force the upper lip, the fake smile, coping to go through the day. It does not regulate what you need to have a good immune system, a good digestion and a good rest. And those days, we all need some extra strength, so that we can better give a hand to support those who vacilate in the storm. You might also want to regulate MUCH FASTER than by a 1-hour yoga session!

Just another image...

Make a pendulum balance and it can start straight at a fast speed. Now try to stop it by putting your finger in the way, and it will jump in the air because you block its residual energy. Same for us. How does the pendulum stops nicely? By wasting the residuous energy in oscillation. We need the same, at physiological level, and it happens better if we give the process mere attention.

Here is a little practice:

Make a nice noise, like on a tibetan bowl, something that resonates during some time. Then listen to it until you are sure it is finished. It is very probable that your attention will shift away from it and you have to come back listening on purpose. Try to practise by using pleasure and not "making an exercice", and it will work better. Also see if you do it with ease and not with crispation and tight will. You want to feel a sense of expansion in your body, same as the sound expands...

And this is exactly how our body manages any stress (to not stay in sympathetic activation more than needed), while not forcing the parasympathetic state (as forcing might result in a fake calm state with the activation/steam coming out from elsewhere. This explains phenomenas like anxiety etc).

So you can use your thoughts and human brain to channel your attention, but the rest must happen alone. Induce it, but do not "make it". Give yourself time.

I started writing mainly to answer you Roberto, because you are right, and I wanted to add a few things, because yes we can control, but we cannot relax with our will power, and our mind can just influence the spirit. It is so much more efficient to do it this way! When traditional cultures spoke of "bad spirits", they were putting words to their somatic feelings of what we have called the autonomic nervous system (and kundalini matches the vagus nerve!)

Indeed it is not purple at all, as you say Roberto, but we can not only feel it, it is scientifically studied. It is more than positive thinking though, because we have forgotten some of what tradicional cultures used: the FELT-SENSE. We have a non thinking intelligence in our nerves. Our mind is powerful if it includes also the body inner wise. And if we do not have a strong felt-sense, we cannot be as efficient to give support to those around us who need it. We need to increase our vibration so to say!

Roberto pokachinni wrote:

For all pathogen-based diseases, stress can certainly play a role, but I'm talking about people who otherwise lead much healthier lifestyles than I.  So the point about looking at the bigger picture is relevant here.    

I think that stress is my primary source of getting ill.  There are a lot of different things that amount to stress: mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual.  Many studies have documented the correlation between stress and illness.   So, one major thing that is in our power to do, is to reduce our stress.  Do things that make yourself happy, fulfilled, and purposeful.  

Many, if not all, traditional cultures associated illness with evil and bad spirits.  It is super important to keep our spirits up, even if we are ill, and/or even if we feel that we are not recovering well or fast enough.  

Keeping our spirits up is not some airy super-purple idea; it is just a matter of trying ones best to think positively, to pick yourself up, and to not allow stress to the factor that is controlling our health.  We are controlling our stress.  We are largely if not completely, controlling our health.  

I believe that our minds are far more powerful than we commonly believe, and I further believe that the power of positive thinking and affirmations, like prayer and placebo, have a massive potential impact on the health and well being of ourselves and our communities.  I'm not saying that this is the magic bullet that kills Covid 19, but it can play a huge role if we affirm within ourselves that we have the ability to heal ourselves.  

In that regard, I propose that this song take on that role.  It is a sing-a-long round, and is catchy, and it is certainly brought forward wonderfully by this vibrant soul.

So, remember, you got this, relax and do your best to increase your health and wellness, and if you can, do the same for others in any way possible.  I can't imagine how many kids are stressed out, and nervous, and scared, and tense right now.  Those things can all be helped.  We can help them.  The same is true of adults.  

 

So I listened to this little song, it is good, I then clicked and it went on YouTube, and this woman has the same type of autism as I have, nearly invisible. This is probably why she chose this carreer of neurology using music...

So if you listen to this song, and sing it, then I advise to go further and pay attention to the body feelings and the changes coming from singing. It enhances the results by feeling better the relaxation and the sense of expansion felt in the body, so that it can expand even more. It is necessary to let it happen at its own rhythm, and to not force a relaxation.  I have used analogies to explain why. I really wished more people would pay attention to this side of influencing health, because it is at play anyway, and we can make it happen better by doing it more consciously. We need to embody the feeling of the words we sing, and let it happen by repetition. The result will be felt by noticing the first signs, and the rest will follow like dominos.

Singing is also good because it naturally make us breathe better. Singing is better than just breathing exercices. Even humming. The difference is in the pleasure of singing, and in the VIBRATION in the throat, because it stimulates the VAGUS nerve. By the way, self-support by vibration is also the reason why we moan, or sing in the shower when the water is cold! This is scientific knowledge folks, and one that we can really experiment and test for ourselves!