Nervous System Expert: "If Your Body Does This, DON’T Ignore It! — It Means You’re In Survival Mode"

1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:00

   As you well know, we don't see the world as it is, we see the world as we are.

2. JMJonny Miller0:06

   Mm-hmm.

3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:07

   What are some signs, in your view, that might indicate our nervous systems are a little bit out of whack which may color the way we view the world-

4. JMJonny Miller0:18

   Mm

5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:19

   ... and change the way we experience life?

6. JMJonny Miller0:22

   Yeah. I mean, that's beautifully said. I view the nervous system as a, as literally a lens through which we experience reality. And I think our state of our nervous system and the degree to which we're in a mode of reactivity completely dictates our experience of life. So some signs would include, um, f- forms of reactivity. So if you're, like knee-jerk anger is obviously a clear one, or if there's a sense of fatigue or lethargy or, um, sleep is obviously a huge one as well. That's a big symptom of nervous system dysregulation.

7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:58

   What, that we can't sleep?

8. JMJonny Miller0:59

   That we or, or, or wake up, struggle to fall asleep, struggle to kind of downshift at the end of the day without kind of using substances. And also, I, I think challenge in relationship is a huge one that I see in my students. So whether it's kind of conflict in different areas or challenges with creating a sense of connection with people that are close to you. There's a lot. Early symptoms of burnout is another one as well. Um, so I, I think about it in terms of like feather, brick, dump truck, and in the beginning maybe your, your nervous system is, is telling you, like, almost like tickling you with a feather of, like, maybe you're going a little bit too hard, maybe it's time to take a bit of a break. And then there's maybe a brick which could be, you know, you wake up feeling exhausted, maybe you're, you've got brain fog, maybe you, you can't really perform at work. And then for some people it takes a dump truck which might be, um, maybe it's like an intense breakup or it's like a health crisis. Um, and it's often unfortunately the dump truck which gets people to really tune in, but it's really just the body giving you feedback.

9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:02

   Yeah. It's interesting. Those symptoms you mentioned there, some of them, you know, being overly reactive, relationship struggles-

10. JMJonny Miller2:08

    Mm

11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:08

    ... maybe anxiety would be in there-

12. JMJonny Miller2:11

    Yeah, for sure

13. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:12

    ... you know, for many people.

14. JMJonny Miller2:12

    For sure.

15. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:12

    These are very, very common these days.

16. JMJonny Miller2:15

    Mm-hmm.

17. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:16

    And it's kind of interesting as I sort of think about your work, I think about this idea that I often say on this show that when people are not eating well in a nourishing way-

18. JMJonny Miller2:27

    Mm-hmm

19. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:28

    ... and they've never done it before, they don't know how good they can feel.

20. JMJonny Miller2:31

    Mm. Yeah.

21. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:32

    Right? So until they actually go through the process of having just whole unprocessed foods for two weeks, they have no idea just how much their processed food diet is affecting them in terms of-

22. JMJonny Miller2:43

    Mm

23. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:43

    ... energy, vitality, and how they experience the world.

24. JMJonny Miller2:46

    Mm.

25. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:46

    And I kinda see a similar thing with the nervous system.

26. JMJonny Miller2:49

    Yeah.

27. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:50

    Right?

28. JMJonny Miller2:50

    Totally.

29. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:50

    Many people are walking around with these kind of, uh, tight and wound up nervous systems-

30. JMJonny Miller2:56

    Mm

Episode duration: 1:43:18