Use Your Mind for Better Health.

The Autonomic Nervous System: A Key Aspect to Health & Healing

Your Perception Shapes Your Reality

Joel Goldsmith, author of The Infinite Way, breaks it down with this analogy: Imagine you’re at the beach. The sun is shining, the waves are gently rolling, and you feel completely at peace. Then, you see something that upsets you—a piece of trash on the shore, a loud argument nearby, or a reminder of a problem in your life. Suddenly, the entire experience of being at the beach changes. The same sun, the same waves, and the same ocean remain, but now your perception has altered the way you feel about it and that past experience or future fear turn the beach into hell. Is that real?

This is exactly how our autonomic nervous system (ANS) works. The external world JUST IS, but our perception of our environment determines whether we shift into a state of  stress (sympathetic activation) or ease and healing (parasympathetic activation).  Understanding how to control this shift is key to living a healthier and more balanced life.
    

The Two Branches of the Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): The "Fight-or-Flight" Mode

The sympathetic nervous system is your body’s built-in alarm system. It kicks in whenever you feel threatened, whether it's real danger, everyday stress, or our perception of a threat. When this happens:

- Your heart rate speeds up
- Your muscles tighten
- Your pupils dilate so you can see better
- Your digestion slows or even shuts down, think of all the ways your body depends on digestive function.
- Your immune system takes a backseat, hmmm is fear helpful to our immune system? Remember how scary covid was.

This response is designed to be temporary, giving you the energy to react to danger. But in today’s world, stressors like deadlines, financial worries, or even negative thought patterns can keep your SNS stuck in overdrive (McEwen, 2007).
    

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): The "Rest-and-Digest" Mode

The parasympathetic nervous system is your healing and recovery state. When this system is active, your body can:

- Slow down your heart rate
- Stimulate digestion
- Reduce stress hormones
- Boost immune function
- Repair and regenerate cells

This system activates when you feel safe and relaxed. The more you engage it, the healthier you become (Porges, 2009).
    

How Perception Triggers These Systems

Your brain doesn’t always know the difference between real and imagined threats. If you constantly replay a stressful memory or worry about the future, your body reacts as if the threat is happening now, activating the SNS (Sapolsky, 2004).

The good news? You can train yourself to shift out of this pattern by changing how you perceive situations. When you reframe challenges and focus on feeling safe, your body responds by activating the parasympathetic system instead.
    

The Effects of Chronic Sympathetic Activation

If your SNS stays switched on too often, your body never gets the chance to recover. Over time, this can lead to:

- Weakened immune function, making you more prone to sickness (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004)
- Digestive issues, like bloating, constipation, or acid reflux (Furness, 2012)
- Chronic inflammation, which is linked to pain and disease (Miller et al., 2009)
- Hormonal imbalances, causing fatigue and mood swings (Chrousos, 2009)
- Anxiety and sleep problems, because your nervous system stays stuck in alert mode (Walker, 2009)

Living in chronic stress mode is a habit and contributes to nearly every major disease. But you can retrain your nervous system to create balance and it is really not hard, you just have to do it often.  Like more often than you spend subconsciously stressing about things that might happen.  You have to consciously decide to do this in the same way that you would choose to eat healthy, or choose to exercise.  This aspect of conscious cultivation of health is not talked about enough. When this consistent practice is combined with a healthy diet, exercise, rest, and play it creates powerful shifts toward health.
    

How to Activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System

1. Deep Breathing

- Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.
- Hold for 7 seconds.
- Exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds.
- Repeat for a few minutes and feel your body relax.
    

2. Cold Exposure

- Splash your face with cold water.
- End your shower with 30 seconds of cold water.
- Place an ice pack on your neck for 30 seconds.
    

3. Humming, Chanting, or Singing

- The vibration stimulates the vagus nerve, helping activate the PNS.
- Hum your favorite tune or chant "Om" a few times.
    

4. Gargling Water

- Take a sip of water and gargle for 30-60 seconds.
- This stimulates the vagus nerve and helps reset your system.
    

5. Visualization & Perception Shifting

- Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a peaceful place.
- Picture your body softening, your breath slowing, and your heart rate calming.
- Now think of a stressful situation and visualize yourself handling it with ease.
- This practice trains your brain to react differently to challenges.
    

Rewiring Perception Through Metaphysical Study

Every Thursday, I host a Metaphysical Study Group at my office. This is an exercise in rewiring the brain, learning to perceive life in ways that don’t trigger chronic stress responses. We explore ways to see the world differently, making it easier to stay in a restorative parasympathetic state rather than a reactionary sympathetic one.
    

Final Thoughts: Take Control of Your Nervous System

You don’t have to be at the mercy of stress. By understanding and consciously working with your autonomic nervous system, you can improve your health, reduce anxiety, and live with more ease.

Start today by practicing one of the exercises above and notice how your body responds. Healing is within your reach—it’s simply a matter of asking yourself, if you’re worth it, then decide that you will let yourself have it then just tuning into it. It’s easy, and life really does want this for you. Get some.
  

Works Cited

• Chrousos, G. P. (2009). Stress and disorders of the stress system. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 94(6), 1753-1760. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2009-0582

• Furness, J. B. (2012). The enteric nervous system and neurogastroenterology. Experimental Physiology, 97(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1113/expphysiol.2011.063677

• McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.03.013

• Miller, G. E., Cohen, S., & Ritchey, A. K. (2009). Chronic psychological stress and the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines: A glucocorticoid-resistance model. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 23(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2009.03.005

• Porges, S. W. (2009). The polyvagal theory: New insights into adaptive reactions of the autonomic nervous system. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.06.009

• Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). The influence of social hierarchy on primate health. Nature Immunology, 5(11), 1100-1106. https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1204-1100

• Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 601-630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601

• Walker, M. P. (2009). The role of sleep in cognition and emotion. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156(1), 168-197. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04416.x