Nervous System Toggles

I'm running by the water just absolutely drenched with sweat, head-to-toe. Sorry. There's really no other way to say that.

It's bright and beautiful, so I'm trying to remind myself to look up.

There's this one stretch of the path where I run that's a straightaway along the shore between two mini peninsulas. It creates a sort of cove. Instead of sand, it's lined with these thick, square-ish rocks, so it's not beachy and people don't congregate there. So it's just me on this two-lane bike path, shuffling my way toward the far end of the "cove," remembering to look up at the lake and the Adirondacks along the opposite shore.

Views like this really do something magical to my nervous system. Mountains, too. But lakes have a special place in my heart. And alpine lakes are on another level entirely. I have this theory about why I'm so drawn to these views, and that's what I'm thinking about as I trot along in the heat. But first, some context.

While I'm running, I'm doing a version of 4-7-8 breathing that I've adapted slightly. It's an exercise where you inhale for four seconds, hold for seven, and exhale for eight. I usually do it while walking, at the beginning of my run, but every now and again I use it along the way, too. It shifts your body out of the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight mode) and into the parasympathetic nervous system (aka rest-and-digest mode). I do it because it lowers my heart rate, and deactivates the hypervigilant thoughts my brain loves to focus on. Same with playing Eye Spy with my peripheral vision when I'm stressed, or pulling up my hoodie when I want to focus.

Science is cool.

I'm past the straightaway and into the trees beyond it. I'm still huffing and puffing, dripping and dropping, but this short stretch of shade is fantastic.

Now I'm wishing I'd known more about this kind of stuff as a kid. I've picked up a lot of helpful tidbits about nervous system regulation over the years since then. Some from the sports I played and from coaching athletes at a high level, some from crisis intervention and therapy, and tons more just from being interested in it. Seriously, my podcast queue is full of the stuff...  I even keep a spreadsheet of past episodes I've listened to that stuck with me.

Anyway... this is all connected to my theory for why I'm drawn to certain naturescapes more than others.

It's the peripheral vision thing.

Expansive landscapes create an openness that makes me incredibly calm. I'm pretty sure it's why I loved living in Wyoming so much. I mean, there are plenty of other reasons, too, but the Tetons and greater Rocky Mountain West are this far-away-backdrop to a ton of wide open, tundra-like flatland. It becomes extremely apparent when you're up on top of any of those peaks. Having grown up in New England, where the mountains are hills and the neighborhoods weave between trees that block the big-picture view, living out west was a literal breath of fresh air. It calmed my nervous system and helped me move through life at a calmer baseline.

The sun hits me full in the face as I pop out of the tree-cover. For the rest of my run, I keep looking out over the water and, even though I'm absolutely drenched with sweat, I'm not huffing and puffing so much.

Things feel lighter.

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Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
261/365

Do you use any tricks to help yourself calm down when needed?

onward.

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