When I was a kid, mom had a zillion self-help books de jour. In hindsight most, if not all of them, were wrong. The only real question now is how wrong were they? Now we use the sciences of statistical
psychology, brain imaging and neurochemistry to prove what does work to make us
feel better. Few of the techniques
listed below are all that new. Now they
have been researched and proven to work.
One such book that comes to mind is Robert Ringer’s Looking out for Number One. I looked it up on Amazon. It has a 4.4 out of 5 star rating—by 15 customer
reviews. A used hardcover is listed for
1¢. By contrast, Carnegie’s timeless How to
Win Friends and Influence People has a score of 4.6 and 1328 reviews. A used hardcover goes for $8.30. To the best of my knowledge, mom never bought
Carnegie—she was not much on friends.
Straight cut-n-paste from https://sites.google.com/site/psychospiritualtools/Home/psychological-practices/activating-the-parasympathetic-wing-of-your-nervous-system
Enjoy!
Purpose/Effects:
These exercises stimulate the part of your nervous system that creates positive feeling, thus reducing stress, enhancing positive emotion, and strengthening the body's defenses. This part, the parasympathetic wing, evolved along with the sympathetic wing (the part that responds to threats and excitement) to relax you once anxiety-inducing situations have passed. By purposefully activating the parasympathetic wing of your nervous system (or PNS), you can take advantage of its natural cool-down effects and stop the cycle of chronic stress.
These exercises stimulate the part of your nervous system that creates positive feeling, thus reducing stress, enhancing positive emotion, and strengthening the body's defenses. This part, the parasympathetic wing, evolved along with the sympathetic wing (the part that responds to threats and excitement) to relax you once anxiety-inducing situations have passed. By purposefully activating the parasympathetic wing of your nervous system (or PNS), you can take advantage of its natural cool-down effects and stop the cycle of chronic stress.
Exercise
#1: Take deep breaths. When inhaling, completely fill the lungs, hold for
a second, and then exhale slowly. Try doing this for a whole
minute. This relaxed method of breathing expand the branches in your
airways called bronchioles, activating the PNS that controls them, causing them
(and the rest of the body and mind) to relax.
Exercise #2: Relax your body. You can use progressive relaxation techniques or a basic relaxation meditation. You could do a comfortable yoga stretch or just close your eyes and imagine yourself in a comfortable setting, whether its a favorite armchair or a sunny beach. The parasympathetic nervous system causes you to relax, but by "actively" relaxing, you activate it, causing you to relax even more. Call it a non-vicious circle.
Exercise #3: Breathe so that your inhalation and exhalation last the same amount of time; for example, you might count slowly to five for each. While doing this, imagine this breath coming in and out of your heart center in your chest, radiating love, gratitude, and peace. Integrate this positive emotion into your own brain. This exercise is called "increasing heart rate variability"; it increases and harmonizing the variation in heart beats, activating the PNS to enhance physical and mental well-being.
Exercise #4: Become mindful of physical sensation. Listen to your body and feel with clarity and relaxed concentration--to your breath, to the feeling of your chest or your feet or your tongue in your mouth. By becoming mindful of the body, you are also activating the PNS.
Exercise #5: Yawning activates the PNS. Scientists are not sure why.
Exercise #6: Meditation also activates the PNS by pulling the attention away from stress and threats. Meditating even for a small amount every day is one of the most powerful ways to work with your PNS. Learn more about meditation by reading What Is Meditation?
Exercise #7: Focus on the positive. Positive feelings like gratitude, lovingkindness, contentment, and tranquility arouse the PNS. It's sometimes hard to make yourself think positive on demand. Some techniques for arousing positive emotion include Community Service / Charity, Gratitude Practice, andLovingkindness. You can also try Taking In the Good and the Three Good Things Exercise.
Exercise #8: It may seem silly, but fiddling with your upper lip has been shown in anecdotal evidence to increase PNS activity. If nothing else, it sure is fun.
Exercise #2: Relax your body. You can use progressive relaxation techniques or a basic relaxation meditation. You could do a comfortable yoga stretch or just close your eyes and imagine yourself in a comfortable setting, whether its a favorite armchair or a sunny beach. The parasympathetic nervous system causes you to relax, but by "actively" relaxing, you activate it, causing you to relax even more. Call it a non-vicious circle.
Exercise #3: Breathe so that your inhalation and exhalation last the same amount of time; for example, you might count slowly to five for each. While doing this, imagine this breath coming in and out of your heart center in your chest, radiating love, gratitude, and peace. Integrate this positive emotion into your own brain. This exercise is called "increasing heart rate variability"; it increases and harmonizing the variation in heart beats, activating the PNS to enhance physical and mental well-being.
Exercise #4: Become mindful of physical sensation. Listen to your body and feel with clarity and relaxed concentration--to your breath, to the feeling of your chest or your feet or your tongue in your mouth. By becoming mindful of the body, you are also activating the PNS.
Exercise #5: Yawning activates the PNS. Scientists are not sure why.
Exercise #6: Meditation also activates the PNS by pulling the attention away from stress and threats. Meditating even for a small amount every day is one of the most powerful ways to work with your PNS. Learn more about meditation by reading What Is Meditation?
Exercise #7: Focus on the positive. Positive feelings like gratitude, lovingkindness, contentment, and tranquility arouse the PNS. It's sometimes hard to make yourself think positive on demand. Some techniques for arousing positive emotion include Community Service / Charity, Gratitude Practice, andLovingkindness. You can also try Taking In the Good and the Three Good Things Exercise.
Exercise #8: It may seem silly, but fiddling with your upper lip has been shown in anecdotal evidence to increase PNS activity. If nothing else, it sure is fun.
I am grateful to have self-help tools proven by research to work. Web resources including Amazon, Google, and
the movie database IMDB.com make my life better, richer and fuller.
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