Week 3: Befriending the Nervous System

Welcome to Week 3 of Stillness Activism. The past two weeks, we have created a foundation for engaging in mindfulness practice, working with the polarities and fluidity of being and doing, as well as stillness and movement. This week, we turn our attention to the neurobiology of mindfulness and how we can work with the nervous system in healthy and supportive ways.

The nervous system is an ancient system that evolved to keep us alive and able to respond effectively to threats. In an age where most of our stresses are not actually life threatening, we still often experience the intensity of a heightened nervous system as though our lives are at stake. The experiences of chronic stress, and the impact of social stressors over the long term have a huge impact on our health and wellbeing.

This week, we will look at how we can use mindfulness to work with negative emotions and experiences, and to listen to the wisdom of our nervous systems. When we can listen with more openness to the stress, anxiety, fear and overwhelm that is actually present, we may start to respond in different ways to our own wellbeing. There is a resource guide, an audio recording, and a guided meditation working with the breath to support your exploration. Enjoy.

Week 3 Resource Guide: Befriend the Nervous System

This week’s resource guide provides an overview of the basic functioning of the nervous system, how the stress response impacts us, and mindfulness practices to soothe our stress responses. There is a mindfulness practice, journal prompts, poems for inspiration and extra resources to explore.

Audio Recording on Befriending the Nervous System

In this week’s audio recording, there is an exploration of basic science of the nervous system and how mindfulness can be a tool to befriend the wisdom of the nervous system. There is a 15 minute guided meditation included in the recording.

Download the audio recording here – Week 3 Audio Recording: Befriending the Nervous System

Breath Meditation to Work with the Nervous System

This is a short guided meditation to use the breath to help regulate the nervous system. The recording will guide you into a meditation that you can continue for as short or as long as you’d like. The same steps can be used in a stressful situation or context to help the breath regulate a stress response in the nervous system.

Download the breath meditation here – Guided Breath Meditation

Community Calls

This week’s Community Call took place on Wednesday, October 14 from 9-10:15am |12-1:15pm ET | 5-6:15pm BST.

The recordings from the live call can be found here:

WEEK 3 Community Call Recording AUDIO
WEEK 3 Community Call Recording VIDEO