THE WORLD WE PERCEIVE EMERGES FROM OUR COLLECTIVE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Lana Kristine Jelenjev
Community Alchemist, Speaker, Healing-centered engagement and HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) facilitator, Safer and Brave Space Designer, Author “What’s STRONG With You?”
The past few days I have felt deeply activated.?
I akin the sensations and emotions swirling inside me like waking up from a deep slumber. The past three months after my emergency scare have been a period of grieving and securing myself back to safety. My body needed to feel secure again.?
My nervous system needed time and space to recover from such a shock to the system.?
Yet a string of events started the shifts that I am feeling.?
A part of me feels hopeful.
A part of me feels wary.
A part of me feels excited and energised.
A part of me feels trepid.?
There are all these different parts with different needs surfacing, and unlike the past few months, I feel resourced in tending to them rather than being in?functional freeze.
One of the reasons why I am excited is how I am satisfying my need for learning. I am committed to learning more about my nervous system which is why I signed up for Luis Mojica’s?Finding Safety inYourself?Recover From Stress And Trauma Through Somatics & Nutrition.?
Nowadays I am unpacking and processing how I respond to situations happening inside of me and outside of me. More and more, I am realising how deeply embedded these responses are in my nervous system. A couple of years ago a dear friend, Michel Bachmann, mentioned the line, “relaxing my nervous system”.
At that time I got piqued with what that entails. These days, “relaxing my nervous system” is a daily if not moment-to-moment practice.?
COLLECTIVE SETTLED BODIES
In a previous post, I wrote?Settled Bodies, Settle Bodies. As I learn to relax and regulate my nervous system, I also get to practice and appreciate co-regulation. This multilayered interplay between our behaviors, our biology (through our nervous system influencing our sensations, perceptions, hormones, thoughts, and feelings) and?our history?(personal, generational, and cultural) is fascinating and mind-blowing! Not to mention how co-regulation adds another dimension to how these interact and inform our actions.?
When I think of it this way, I see how we are all one nervous system regulating and co-regulating each other. How we trigger or relax our nervous system are deeply connected with our personal, familial, communal, and cultural histories. In this space we bring in elements of the past with both the strengths and sufferings. Our practices in the present moment, how we choose to respond, behave, and engage, form the patterns for the future generations.?
How we perceive the world from the impulses and signals we pick up on, to how we process information and make impressions,?all of these come from our collective nervous system.
This speaks to what?Sufi leader Cheikh Bentounes thinks of humanity - as one unique body. In my mind, I picture this dynamic expression of?interbeing. “Interbeing” is a word coined by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), to explain the interconnectedness of all things in the universe.?
INTERBEING
Our lives are entwined
With the shadows of the past
The hope for the future
The emergence of the now,
Our beings are connected
To the granules of the earth
To each root and each vein
To the cosmos and the stars
Our hearts sync
In beating with our nerves
In each breathe
In each stride
In each sound
In each stare
And the connection goes on
Amidst time and space
For that which we inherited?
Through our lineage
Through our elders
领英推荐
Through our culture
Reside in what we take In
what we keep?
In what we stay alive
And the connection goes on
beyond our bodies
beyond mortality
To our partners
To our kids
To our friends
To those whose lives we serve
Forward to generations ahead of us
As every thought
And every choice
And every part of our being
That we share
Are parts of the vastness
That resides in each one of us
Leaving imprints
Leaving memories
Leaving Legacies
Of the lives we lived
Of the causes that stirred us into action
Of the people that filled our hearts
Of the lives we touched with our presence.
If in some ways the reflection questions stir deep grief, frustration, or anger, I do hope you can give yourself grace to let these emotions flow.
I am curious to know how your nervous system is after reading this piece and going through the reflection prompts.?
If you find this process enlightening or stirred deep reflections for you, feel free to connect and share with me. Words of affirmation are my love language, and it deeply nourishes me to know that my work has contributed to stirring insights, change, or transformation.
If you are inclined to explore how understanding our collective nervous system can support schools, teams, communities, and organizations, feel free to reach out. It is a pleasure to guide leaders, founders, change catalysts, and visionaries to promote healing-centered ecosystems.?
Hiraya manawari,
Lana
?? Bridge Builder
2 个月This put a new dimension to the term "emotional work". -> ?? Andee Scarantino, Rajkumari Neogy
Co-Founder at Legacy17 cooperative association
2 个月Inspiring (as usual). I also think of theories of social diffusion: how our energy has the greatest impact when we choose to work with people with similar values, rather than beating our heads against the walls of 'opponents'; and how such a gradualistic approach actually spreads faster than trying to reach 'everyone'. Holding heart space for others while reaching out to those near us.
Change Wizard. Playful Experience Designer for Growth * Game Design * Boosting Creativity & Aliveness * Out of the Box Expert * Process Alchemist * Teacher * Works in Nederland & Europe
2 个月I see many awarenesses point to this realisation, the integral worldview, ubuntu, Dao or Taoism, Buddhism, and more and more even sciences, as they learn they can't understand one thing, without understanding it's relationships. (though many keep trying to find the one thing that needs to be acted upon to change everything, so that one thing can be monetised). I think it does help to frame principles that can elevate this understanding, like: - Contribute to the whole, and you'll help yourself grow too. - Self awareness and self actualisation only start to matter when it is to enhance all your relationships. - Without a living community we are wounded. We all need a community to see us. We all need to see others (including the beauty of nature) and such things.
Embodied Leadership Performance Coaching and Training. 400+ leaders and entrepreneurs, 30+ companies. Follow me for Peace in your mind, Freedom at work, and Love as the new normal.
2 个月Very nice Lana Kristine Jelenjev. We are indeed all one. Although that premise seems to very rarely makes it's way to the level of the actions we take as individuals or collective. 100% agree that there is a collective-ness to what our nervous system is doing, and also, having worked with so many people on emotional release and nervous system healing, it's clear to me that every one of us has a completely unique configuration. Which needs individual attention to be unlocked.
Neuroscience for Coaches, Educators and Leaders | Growth Mindset, Emotion Regulation & Human Systems Intelligence | Mindset Neuroscience Podcast |
2 个月The title of your article instantly resonated. I ,over your phrasing “settled bodies, settle bodies”. Some people have a hard time imagining how we could have a collective nervous system… it comes down to the fact that each persons internal state is manifested outward int the form micro-signals, frequencies and movements (which can include the taps and clicks on a screen, where our eye muscles move our eyes, etc.) all of these micro-movements and signals are passed on through families and communities and expand outward as we engage in social systems online and in person. we all need to have the presence of others who are settled, who can sigh and release… I have personally experienced the benefit of that and enjoy being someone who can offer that to others. (I actually call that a Super-Regulator ?? thank you for sharing this.. I will share it with my audiences as well! here’s to co-regulating as best we can …