Biodynamic Massage & The Nervous System

Stress and the Nervous System

Many of us are living with very heightened states of stress and arousal.

When we are subjected to events in our day to day lives that spike our sympathetic nervous system we may feel a little more anxious and stressed. Whether these events are microaggressions, deadlines, financial pressures… If we witness violence towards others - as we are witnessing a genocide on our screens. Being worried about things like climate change that can feel utterly overwhelming when so many decisions are taken for us that affect our future. Having our rights up for debate or taken away from us. If it’s the stress of looking after small children and the overstimulation that this often brings.

Phew. It’s a lot.

When we experience a stressor, at some point, our parasympathetic nervous system will activate to recalibrate our system. With the activation of this system (the rest and digest system) I may feel able to speak to someone about my financial situation or ask for an extended deadline. I may be able to take some deeper breaths if my child is having a meltdown and respond appropriately. I may have the clarity or energy to write a letter to my MP or join a local group to advocate our collective rights and humanity. I may be able to reach out for help when I feel overwhelmed or to understand what my body needs - deep rest, movement, connection or support. I may be able to carefully put down what isn’t mine to carry, or hold.

I may be able to both restore and down regulate or, do something, if needed.

Yet when these stressors keep coming, or, indeed, build up or become louder then the parasympathetic nervous system also goes into overdrive. We end up with both branches of autonomic nervous system way up - both the SNS and the PNS are in overdrive. If this goes beyond a certain point then I may feel totally overwhelmed and panicked.

It is absolutely no wonder that sometimes we may feel burnt out, overstimulated or unable to regulate. The goal isn’t to be ‘calm’ all the time - that’s not the point of yoga or biodynamic massage either. We want a nervous system that appropriately responds and is able to respond to what’s going on around me.

One of the most important things that is, often, utterly fundamental is touch. Touch can ‘put us in touch’ with the ‘non verbal’, something deeper, more profound, that can’t be explained or analysed or thought out but that speaks to something very deep with inside of us.

Touch and Connection

There are so many ways in which touch can help with overwhelm, stress and anxiety.

Kathryn Stauffer highlights some studies that have shown that one of the main factors in influencing how severely someone may be affected by stressful or traumatic experiences seems to be the quality of their social network, and their sense of being connected to other people.

I think this is why touch in so many ways can be so profound. Respectful, quiet, attuned touch is a form of contact that so many of us may be longing for or missing in our daily lives. It can be one of the most profound ways to meet you, exactly where you are.

Indeed, when both branches of the ANS are high and in overdrive, often one of the most helpful things we can do is to simply meet you, and the body, where it is. The key is to not force the body - if you aren’t comfortable lying on your tummy, for instance, then we go with what suits you in the moment. If you’re feeling scattered, fragmented or overwhelemd it may be helpful to lower the SNS and practice simple holding techniques for the body to gain a sense of itself - of your own boundaries. And to be held and supported by another too.

We may never have been supported or truly ‘met’ by another - attuned, respectful touch through something like biodynamic massage may be one of the first times we have been held or contacted in such a way.

One of the reasons that I have trained in Biodynamic Massage is because it is a psychotherepeutic form of touch and that it is rooted in Body Pschotherapy. Attunement, awareness and where the focus is on the client and their process - rather than something that is ‘done’ to you. It is invitational, a gentle, kind and definitely ‘less is more’ approach to touch and massage.

I have found it, personally, to be utterly transformational in helping me with day to day stresses as well as ones that my body has held for many, many years.

If you’re interested in Biodynamic Massage and would like to come for a taster session please do drop me an email info@alexnewtonyoga.com.