Vagus nerve reset exercise and finding your place in collective action

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This is a Stereo Forest production from StereoForest

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.com.

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Information, resources and opportunities to support the show

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and connect with others are available at StereoForest

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.com slash Daily Reconnect.

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This podcast is for informational and educational purposes

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only and is not a substitute for medical

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advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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If you have specific mental health concerns, please

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consult with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Now, on to the show.

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This episode includes a vagus nerve reset exercise

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and then continues with some motivating words to

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help you find your place within collective action.

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Welcome to the Daily Reconnect.

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It's March 21st and I'm your host Janda

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Han.

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This short moment together will help anchor you

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to the present when you might be feeling

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detached or disconnected from the world.

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Together we'll reconnect with this messy reality and

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after our time together we'll discover some energy

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to move into our day and continue through

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this challenge that is modern life.

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Let's use the practices that speak to you

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during the session and you can change or

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you can improvise with anything that doesn't resonate

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with you.

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This moment belongs to you so make it

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whatever it needs to be.

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In today's exercise we'll practice a vagus nerve

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reset and it's specifically designed to calm your

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nervous system down when it's being activated by

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the news cycle.

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When we're constantly being exposed to really overwhelming

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information our nervous systems can become sort of

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stuck in a state of heightened alert.

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It's kind of like that fright flight thing

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going on.

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So today's exercise it works directly with your

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vagus nerve and this is the main pathway

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of your parasympathetic nervous system and that system

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helps you calm down after stressful things happen.

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So let's begin.

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Find a comfortable seated position or a walking

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pace and take a few deep breaths.

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Start by gently placing one hand on your

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chest and one hand on your belly.

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Feel the rhythm of your breath beneath your

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palms.

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The vagus nerve it runs through your chest

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and your diaphragm and conscious breathing is one

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of the best ways to stimulate it.

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Now begin to extend your exhales so they

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become slightly longer than your inhales.

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This extended exhale pattern signals safety to your

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nervous system and that activates your vagus nerve

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to dampen the stress response that things like

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that news overwhelm can trigger.

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As an example you could breathe in for

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a count of four and out for a

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count of six.

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So I'll guide you through three sets where

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we inhale for a count of four and

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then exhale for a count of six.

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But feel free to adjust this for your

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own capacity or try a different pattern afterwards

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to see if it works better for you.

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All right so let's do our first set.

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Inhale three two one and exhale five four

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three two and one.

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Now return to your natural breathing.

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So as we continue this same breathing pattern

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bring your attention to your face.

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This is where many branches of the vagus

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nerve are located.

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So gently relax your jaw letting your teeth

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part slightly and soften the muscles around your

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eyes and let your forehead become smooth with

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that relaxation.

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All right so let's repeat this pattern a

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couple more times.

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Inhale three two one.

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Exhale five four three two one.

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Inhale three two one and exhale five

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four three two one and inhale three

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two one and exhale five four three two

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and one.

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And now return to your natural breathing pattern.

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So remember that your body doesn't distinguish between

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immediate physical threats and threatening information that you

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either read or you watch.

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News that you read can also trigger some

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of the same survival responses as like these

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immediate physical danger things.

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So this vagus nerve practice it reminds your

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body that in this moment you're physically safe.

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So now let's move on to some motivational

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words.

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So let's build on some of what we've

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explored together in the previous episodes this week

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and this is how systems deliberately isolate us.

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How they attempt to break down our spirit

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and how we can maintain some of our

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inner control our inner autonomy despite all of

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these intense kinds of pressures.

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So today we're going to take the next

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step where we connect our individual resistance to

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collective community action.

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So even when we're facing systems that are

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as powerful as capitalism and fascism even the

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strongest personal resilience that we might have it

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sure has some limits.

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Our individual choices they matter for sure but

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those alone can't effectively create large scale structural

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change which is really something that we need.

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For that we need movements we need organized

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strategic efforts that unite all of our separate

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unique strengths all of those towards a single

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shared goal because no one it seems is

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coming to save us or fix this.

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So many of these movements they already exist.

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People in communities across the world they're organizing

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huge strikes and large scale boycotts.

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Many countries around the world for example are

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all boycotting American products on like a massive

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scale right now.

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People are working to protect water sources or

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create mutual aid networks or resist fascist mobilization

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or even building like co-op alternatives to

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some of the you know capitalist structures.

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You don't need to create something new because

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like all on your own because joining existing

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efforts it multiplies the impact in ways that

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fragmented initiatives rarely can achieve.

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Sometimes they do but a lot of times

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they don't.

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So large coordinated movements can apply pressure at

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multiple points simultaneously.

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It can sustain a momentum through a whole

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bunch of setbacks.

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We're going to have setbacks and you can

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take advantage of professional or historical knowledge needed

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for really effective action.

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And there are so many ways that you

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can participate and each person is valuable and

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necessary to the greater whole.

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The key is finding where your particular circumstances

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such as your access, your skills, your capacity,

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how that lines up with what's needed out

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there.

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For example I have very limited physical access

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to a lot of things but I have

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background in organization planning tech and this is

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all crucial work too even if you can't

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be at a place or in a movement

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in person.

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You can coordinate communication or campaigns or research

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or use your tech knowledge or you might

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be able to provide emotional support to people

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on the front line or other forms of

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facilitation that involves your personal or professional skills

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or even your financial resources if you have

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them but you don't have the time.

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If you have physical capacity and availability of

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course showing up in person at protests or

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community meetings or defensive actions or political education

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events all of this creates the visible mass

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that demonstrates the movement.

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So consider not just how you can help

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but ask others where the current needs are

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and how those two things can intersect with

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whatever it is that you can offer.

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Successful movements have included people across a spectrum

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of involvement.

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Some people they devote their entire lives to

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organizing.

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Other people they contribute in smaller but very

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consistent and sustained ways while they balance their

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other responsibilities or capacity.

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That changes too but every single one of

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these roles matters.

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You matter.

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Every contribution connects and strengthens the collective whole

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and we really need it right now.

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The inner sovereignty that we've been discussing this

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week is about finding that shared purpose.

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The system that so many of us find

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ourselves under is designed to divide us.

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Those systems are powerful but they are not

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stronger than all of us together of our

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capacity to recognize each other to organize each

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other to use our intellect and our strength

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to build the world that we need.

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You belong in this work exactly as you

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are how you are and together in our

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different capacities from all of our different locations

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we can form a diverse and sustained resistance.

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One that could be strong and large enough

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that no system however entrenched against us it

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might be can permanently withstand.

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So that's it for today Friday March 21st.

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Thanks so much for joining me here and

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let's connect again next week.

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Thank you for listening to The Daily Reconnect.

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Episodes are released on Monday, Wednesday and Friday

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every week.

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This show was created, written, hosted, edited and

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produced by Jen DeHaan.

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Links to contact information, ways to support the

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show, transcripts, the free newsletter and our community

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discord can be found in the show notes.

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This is a Stereo Forest production.

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