Calm the Butterflies

Many moments in our day can trigger negative thoughts or negative experiences from our past. Our mind can recall and anticipate stress-filled events that are happening or have already happened to us. Even the thought of a meeting, a conversation, or going to school can make us feel anxious or stressed. Peer pressure can lead us to thoughts about ourselves that aren’t true. Our life experiences, our history of learned behavior, and where we place our thoughts can all bring on anxiety.

Butterflies in our stomach, nervous energy, or anxious thoughts and behaviors are all driven from our brain to our nervous system. The brain and body are doing their job and switching into survival mode through the sympathetic nervous system, our fight-or-flight response. This is all part of your brain’s response to keep you safe and out of harm’s way. The impact on our bodies is real. An instant chemical reaction through our brains and blood sends neurochemicals called neurotransmitters and hormones through our bodies, generally causing a reaction or quick response. It’s essential that we understand we’re in control of how we choose to react or respond to said threat. This is where self-awareness plays a significant role.

Stressors are happening all around us throughout the day. Ask yourself, are you reacting or responding? It’s up to you to choose! Adding tools to your toolkit is key in supporting your nervous system during stressful experiences. What are your go-to ways to calm your mind and your body?

Breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, and movement are all tools that support transitioning from stress into states of ease, peace, and calm for the brain and body. These practices indeed require practice, and the more we introduce them to our brains and bodies, the more they become a part of us. Of course, they may feel different or even strange at first, but with consistency, these tools become integral to our daily lives. These tools are not just tools; they are life-supporting mechanisms that help us transform reactions into responses and elevate out-of-beta states to alpha and theta, where our minds can flourish and thrive.