Reset Your Nervous System

During a recent yoga class I taught, my music app was not working through the studio speaker. I let the students know that it was a wonderful chance to practice quiet joy and being in stillness. “Just you and yoga. No need to fill it with sound in an already noisy world.”

After 10 minutes, anxiety hit me like an Olympic-size snowball.

My mind raced: Is everyone okay? Should I start to wax poetic for the next hour? It’s too dang quiet in here. Maybe I can just play music off of my phone even if the sound quality will be poor. Are the students bored?  Or how about I use the Tibetan singing bowl and do a mock sound bath? Why am I so worried? 

My anxiousness was a withdrawal symptom from the stimulation that was usually there. 

I reflected on this experience and wondered how much we rely on external stimulation in our daily lives.

Quiet joy and stillness are necessary for our nervous system and mental health to function well. 

A constant need for stimulation is not sustainable for our well-being.

In today’s world, stimulation is easily available from our devices. Ask yourself, “Am I addicted to stimulation, and do I get this from my phone?” Oftentimes, that stimulation feels like a hit of adrenaline— whether it is good news, bad news, something funny, cute, sad, shocking, gossipy, upsetting, or not wanting to miss out. The tech industry thrives on our society's dependence on our universal need to feel, to be seen, to relate, to be heard, and to know.  

Phone (and technology) addiction leads to:

• more reactivity, less emotional regulation

• increased anxiety, decreased groundedness

• greater impulsiveness, less taking time to think/feel things out

• more impatience, less understanding

• more hypervigilance, less calm

• heightened tension, less relaxed

• increased insomnia, decreased time for your body to rest

• more numbing, less connection

• relying on the external vs. resourcing yourself internally

To reduce your reliance on external stimulation, here are some practical steps you can take: 

• Delete or limit notifications on your devices.

• Delete or limit social media apps.

• Have better boundaries of how much time you are online and when. Maybe it's once an hour, once every 3 hours, or not when you are at the gym.

• Unfollow people/news on your social media.

• Leave your phone off when you are out, or in a different room if you are at home.

• Choose what you fill your energy with.

• When you are addicted, it may ‘feel worse’ before it starts to feel better. Ride out the withdrawal symptoms of anxiety, restlessness, and boredom with mindful activities: spend time in nature, do art, meditate, volunteer, etc.

By taking small, mindful steps, we can regain control over our mental health, and create a more balanced, fulfilling life. It is imperative.