Toxic busyness and constant overstimulation

We live in an overstimulating world. Toxic busyness is rampant. The pressure to keep up and do it all is overwhelming. Social media perpetuates this. There are so many responsibilities, duties, pressures, goals, expectations, and needs weighing on most people; and this is one root cause of being stuck in threat physiology.

Toxic busyness has a profound impact on our biology as the body gets stuck in the stress response, which is ultimately trauma (too much too fast, or too little for too long).   When you're caught in this, your body spends excessive time in your sympathetic nervous system, "fight-or-flight", and your stress “bucket”  fills up then eventually explodes.

We are designed to be active, productive and engaged, but there must also be time for rest, recovery, reflection and processing.  Without any or enough time spent in our “rest-digest-connect” state, our system gets over-loaded and the chronic rushing and over-functioning will take its toll. It often forces a wake-up call. It will show up in a variety of ways in the body and/or mind; gut issues, chronic pain, inflammatory conditions, heart problems, anxiety/depression, hormonal imbalance, poor sleep, lowered immunity, altered memory/decision making/attention/emotional control.

How to ease out of toxic busyness, striving and constant overstimulation:

• Slow down, make space and practice presence: schedule in time for somatic exercises (see other posts) to step out of tendencies of rushing and urgency.

• Set boundaries: with others and yourself. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Prioritize the things that truly matter.

• Examine the roots of your behavior patterns, beliefs and thoughts driving the need to always be busy, and distracted, aka your nervous system state, and start to educate yourself.

• Evaluate what you are consuming and re-adjust; lower input from social media, news, TV, even music. Or find new sources of input that support slowing down like soft, gentle music, nature sounds or listening to an audio book. Try going for walks or driving without listening to anything

• Find your worth and value in the Lord, not the world and its toxic expectations and ways of living trying to prove yourself. Rely on God, not yourself. Seek His will not your own.

• Rest and Recovery: Don’t underestimate the importance of true rest. Schedule in relaxation and downtime

Tending to the Body

God made us in His image. Our bodies are miracles. Only the Creator of the heavens and earth could have designed such brilliant, complex, sophisticated vessels. He asks us to steward our bodies well, for His glory and honor. Just like eating healthy and being active, tending to our nervous system, is part of our good stewardship.

Somatic tools for nervous system regulation are body-based practices used to promote balance and capacity within the nervous system. These tools work directly with our biology, which also drives our emotional and mental states. These are very simple tools that work with God’s brilliant design of our bodies. Here are several somatic techniques that can be used to help support the nervous system:

Orienting to the Present

• helps bring your attention back to your present environment. Open your visual field by slowly exploring what is around you. Engage each of your five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste) to reconnect with the here and now. Best to do this while also being aware of how your body is connected to the ground or a surface (such as a chair, floor, bed). Can also do this while on a walk.

  
  

Tension/Release Exercises

• involves intentionally contracting muscles and then relaxing them to release physical tension that may be stored in the body due to stress or trauma. You can gently clench your fists, tense your shoulders, or contract your entire body. Hold the tension for a few seconds, then release it and feel the contrast between tension and relaxation.

  
  

Body Scanning, Somatic Tracking

• involves scanning through each part of your body, from your toes to your head bringing focused awareness to bodily sensations, observing them without judgment, and gradually shifting perceptions of pain or discomfort. Its goal is to learn how to be with and allow different feelings and sensations in the body through a lens of safety. By accepting and observing sensations without fear or judgment, the body can gradually release its protective responses and allow for healing. 

  
  

Self-Soothing Touch

• Touching, tapping or gently stroking certain parts of your body, such as your arms, chest, or neck, can help activate the body’s relaxation response and release tension. Just like you would rub or tap a child’s back, this form of self-touch can create a sense of containment and therefore calming effect helping the body feel safe.

  
  

Gentle Movement and/or Dance

• Gentle movement, stretching or dance can help shift the state of the body and release tension or emotions. The idea is to move freely without judgment, stay present with sensations and follow your body’s impulse. This type of unchoreographed movement helps reconnect to the body in a safe, non-threatening way and can restore ease and peace in the nervous system.

These somatic tools help release tension, overwhelm, and emotional overload. They reorganize our biology back to the regulated and healthy state God designed us to primarily live in.   Regular use of these techniques can help keep the nervous system in a balanced state, promoting emotional resilience and mental well-being.

The invitation of your symptoms

Chronic illness and dis-ease often develops when your body is unable to self-regulate and complete a stress response, therefore leaving your body “stuck” in a state of fight, flight or freeze. Anything incomplete stays...meaning, it gets stored in your body.  The accumulation of stress in the body causes internal chaos and symptoms appear as a protective alert to the perceived danger.

Reacting to symptoms with fear, frustration, trying to fight and fix and obsessively searching for answers keeps the body stuck in a survival and perpetuates the chaos and therefore symptoms.  

Its impossible to be healthy or heal when locked into such a state of threat. God designed out bodies brilliantly and we are intended to live in survival primarily. The physiology of prolonged threat leads to poor digestion, impaired detox, lowered immune response, chronic pain, inflammation, anxiety/depression, negative thinking, increased heart rate/BP,  and so many other possible “mystery symptoms". This fearful obsession of fixing the body becomes all-consuming and keeps you on the healing hamster wheel but gets you nowhere.

The huge first step forward for me was understanding how much my relationship to the symptoms, and how I was reacting and approaching them was fueling the dysfunction. This was all nervous system driven. It started to shift when I stopped trying to fix and fear the symptoms and instead understood them in a new way….the symptoms are like the tip of the iceberg and there are deeper aspects of self that needed tending to….nervous system dysregulation, core wounds, suppressed emotions, thought patterns, self-image, unresolved traumas and/or hurts/regrets, beliefs.

So the best thing to do when experiencing a chronic symptom is to be neutral about it, notice, observe and allow it without judgement. That’s a first step in calming the danger response that’s keeping the cycle going.