In the last newsletter, we looked at how our environment and particularly our lifestyle can affect which of our genes gets turned on or off. In this article I’d like to explore a little more in detail of what the connection is between our life experiences and our nervous systems and how NeuroStructural Care has an impact on that connection.
Being able to adapt to any situation or stress requires a certain amount of flexibility. This is true when it comes to our thinking as well as when it comes to our nervous systems.
The nervous system, the brain, spinal cord and all nerves, modulate the experience of stressors by tensing or relaxing. When the nervous system is relaxed, the quality of the tissues resembles a cooked spaghetti noodle. When the nervous system is stressed and tense, the consistency is more like overcooked squid, hard and rubbery. Stressors can be physical such as reacting to cold temperatures outside, or over a longer time period where we sit at our desks with a certain posture. Stressors can be emotional and/or mental in that we may be experiencing our own emotional rollercoaster or someone else’s. We’re also very good at thinking about and creating all kinds of scenarios in our minds which can create emotions.
The tension in our nervous systems accumulates and over time, creates so much tension that the spine starts to pull itself out of alignment in order to reduce the tension on the nervous system. The spinal cord itself will pull on the spine where it attaches to it inside the spinal canal. These points of attachment and increased tension are at various levels of the spine including the occiput (the back of the head), Atlas (1st bone in your neck under your head), Axis (the second bone in your neck, C5 (the fifth bone in your neck) and then your sacrum (tail bone) and coccyx (the very tip of our spines).
And depending on the level of the spine where the tension accumulates, you’ll not only have associated tension patterns throughout the body for each level of the spine, you’ll also have mental/emotional perspectives of consciousness associated with each level as well.
What do I mean by mental/emotional perspectives of consciousness?
| Level of Distortion | Wound | Gift |
| C1 | Fear of Uncertainty | Trust in the Universe |
| C5 | Fear in Relationship | Trust in relationship |
| Apex of Sacrum | Lack of Sense of Self | Identity |
| C2 | Emotional Disconnect | Passion |
| C2/Apex | Feeling Less Than for One’s Culture | Prosperity |
| C5/Coccyx | Feeling Not Enough for the World | Prosperity |
So as we develop tension in these various spinal levels, our experience of life becomes increasingly narrowed, limited and stressful.
With NeuroStructural Care, through the entrainments, we are able to release tension from these areas, allowing our bodies to also reorganize the associated tension patterns in the muscles, fascia and connective tissue. And we’re able to experience the gifts rather than the wounds.
What’s really fascinating is that once the body can physically reorganize and realign, our experience of life becomes increasingly less stressful and expanding; We no longer react the same way to old triggers, we are able to feel and integrate much more of our unconditioned selves into our daily lives. This I believe is the path to healing ourselves, our families, our communities and our world.