Unfortunately, healing your Nervous System is really this simple

[00:00:00]Stop trying so hard to heal your nervous system. You are doing everything and anything to make these symptoms go away.

[00:00:09]And it's not working. But here's the good news. Recovery really is simple.

[00:00:15]And in this video, I'm going to share with you how. And I know this because I tried everything to fix my chronic symptoms. I was so desperate that I went $30,000 in medical debt trying to solve this problem. And it wasn't until I learned these three simple things that changed everything. So, let's get it started. Point number one is realizing that healing is about doing less, not more. I find that people get very disappointed when they hear that recovery is very simple because they've struggled for so long that they can justify their suffering if recovery was really complicated. If it was like this complicated algorithm that they needed to solve or that recovery wasn't happening because they just hadn't found the missing piece. And when they come to terms with the fact that, hey, recovery is actually really simple. And what I was doing was actually complicating things, that can seem very confronting.

[00:01:20]And people don't really like that feeling because, well, if recovery is really simple, it kind of feels like they went through all of this for no reason. But I want you to realize that even though this is simple, simple does not mean easy. And a lot of the things that you've been doing on this healing journey made a lot of sense. And in fact, you were following a lot of instructions from a lot of people. When you're dealing with stress, you ask somebody, "What should I do about stress?" People will say, "Hey, relax.

[00:01:51]Take time off." And they have good intentions. But when it comes to a nervous system that's stuck on protection mode, these things don't work. And what people tend to do when they realize what they're doing isn't working, they don't tend to shift their approach, they almost double down. So if they're doing four or five things, they start doing six or seven things. They start adding more things on their healing journey. This is what we call a sunk cost. Because you've invested so much in doing everything to make this go away. When it's not working, you tend to double down. You tend to do more. And I remember going through the exact same thing because I remember on my own healing journey, I had so many people say, "Hey, Sean, there's nothing wrong."

[00:02:37]And I would say, "No, these symptoms are real. These, you know, symptoms of digestive issues, the panic attacks, my diaphragm contracting, the vision issues, the dizziness, this is all real." And I remember thinking to myself that once I finally figure this out, once I finally figure out what's the source of all this, I'm going to tell everyone and I'm going to tell you, hey, look, it was something real. How many times have we read about an article of someone being dismissed and then turned out they had something else, you know, like mold toxicity or whatever it is.

[00:03:10]That's how I thought my healing journey was going to be, which is nobody's figuring this out. Fine, I will figure this out myself. and I will show them.

[00:03:18]But turned out they were right. It was just a sensitized nervous system. And what I really wish I could have focused more on was recognizing that the healing process that the recovery journey is actually very simple. And what happens is that people tend to complicate it.

[00:03:35]And this is something you might have dealt with, right? You might be trying the breathing exercises, the diet changes, the yoga, the shadow work. And maybe you did have some shifts. Maybe you had some moments where you learned about yourself and you know you're really on the path of self-improvement, but you're still dealing with these symptoms and you still feel a certain way. Well, once you start shifting your approach on the healing journey, you're going to recognize that those things are good and they might even be helpful, but they might not even be necessary on the healing journey. What I learned is that once I figured out the principles of healing, which I'm about to share with you, I realized I don't have to do these things, or at least if I did, it was more for my well-being. It was more for thriving in life, but I didn't need it to heal. Now, if you're thinking, Seean, that sounds great, but how do I simplify it? What's exactly going on? This leads me to point two, which is the focus is on how you respond. So all these things you try doing the breathing exercises, the supplements, all these things, these are external things. But a core principle about healing is that healing is simple and healing comes from within.

[00:04:48]So all these things can help, but really what determines a sensitized nervous system coming back to baseline and these symptoms going away is in how you respond. And that is 100% within your control. There is no external thing that can do that for you. External things like coaching, guidance, therapy, all these things can point you in that direction. But healing does come from within. So I want to give you a very simple framework on how to respond to your symptoms. And trust me, this is way more simple than you think. The tool that we use is called the alarm method.

[00:05:30]Now, why is it called the alarm method?

[00:05:32]Well, it's because your nervous system is creating these false alarms, and that's why you're experiencing these symptoms. Think of it as a car alarm system. A car alarm system is designed to protect the car from burglary, from vandalism, for all these different things. But what happens when a gust of wind just swings by or a leaf just falls on the car and the alarm system goes off? Well, the alarm system is miscalibrated. The same way your nervous system is a bit miscalibrated right now and that's why you're experiencing these symptoms. So, this alarm framework will help you recalibrate that nervous system. Now, the alarm acronym simply goes like this. A stands for acknowledge.

[00:06:17]L stands for label, A stands for accept, R stands for refocus, and M stands for move on. Now, what does this mean and how can you practically utilize this?

[00:06:29]Let's say you're dealing with certain symptoms. It could be panic attacks. It can be, you know, digestive issues. It could be the dizziness. Whatever symptom you're dealing with. Well, the first thing you want to do is acknowledge it's there. Just call out the elephant in the room. Don't try to distract yourself and think, "Okay, there's symptoms there.

[00:06:48]Let me try to get my attention off of it." Don't do that. You're running away.

[00:06:53]Acknowledge it. Hey, the symptom is here right now. I'm acknowledging it. L stands for label. Label this for what it is, which is just a nervous system stuck on protection mode. What happens is people often think that the symptom is the onset of something dangerous. So they say, "Oh god, I'm having, you know, dizziness. I'm about to fall. Oh my god." But if you just recognize the dizziness is just your blood pressure increasing because your nervous system is in a fight orflight mode. So all you have to say is, "Hey, my nervous system is stuck on protection mode. That's why I'm feeling dizzy." That's the label part. Then A. A stands for accept it.

[00:07:35]Allow it to be there. This is a conscious choice. This is an action. You can allow it to be there. You can accept it. You don't have to fight it. You don't have to resist it. You don't have to fear it. You don't have to fix it.

[00:07:48]You don't have to get frustrated by it.

[00:07:50]You don't need to focus on it. You can just accept it's here. That's it. R is refocus. So continue doing whatever you were doing. If that was doing the dishes, if that was continuing to drive, if that is continuing to watch this video, if that's about you hanging out with friends or just laying in bed sleeping, just refocus. And M stands for move on, which is continue living life.

[00:08:14]Make life a priority. This alarm method alone is the most simple thing. And in fact, this can make things very frustrated because people will feel after doing this that they need to do more, that maybe they need to do something to speed up their healing journey. That mindset is just a remnant of old habits. You are so used to trying to fix this that just simply allowing this to be there sounds very uncomfortable. It feels like you're not doing enough. But I'm telling you, if you focus on this, if you do this with every symptom, well, you will notice that you don't have to rely on those other things, whether it's breathing exercises or supplements or all those different things. Sure, you can utilize it, but you will see that this takes you very far. Now, I do have to acknowledge something because look, the process might be simple, but the truth is is that people are complex. that what tends to block us from responding this way?

[00:09:16]Well, that's the real work. That's where people spend a lot of time. And that's what I want to talk about in point three, which is the process is simple, but the blockers are real. And so, what I define as a blocker is what is blocking you from allowing the symptoms to be there. And what I've seen helping countless people is that there tends to be three different blockers. The first is the blocker of belief and what this means is that people have a certain belief around their symptoms about the healing journey about themselves that can hold them back. So one example can be that they just don't believe that these physical symptoms is part of a nervous system. They think it could be something else that there is a malignant issue. So that is one type of belief and they just feel that way. They just feel like this is way too strong. this is way too intense. Even after going to their doctors, getting everything ruled out, they really believe that this is something that's physical. Another type of belief is that they just feel like they're so unique. They feel like they're this unique snowflake that their anxiety is so much more intense. And that belief prevents them from using the alarm method. Another type of belief is that they feel like if they allow their symptoms, they're going to lose control, like something bad's going to happen.

[00:10:34]the fact that everything is being held together because of their resistance because they're fighting this. And what they don't realize is that what they're doing is actually fueling it, not helping them. The second type of blocker is a blocker that many people don't talk about, which is relationships. The truth is is that whenever you're going through this journey, while you're struggling with anxiety, your whole life has been built around these symptoms. That includes the relationships that you have too. Many people will find meaning and purpose in other people that are struggling with similar things. Or they might have a partner or a family member that helps them and like is their assurance guide or their safety person.

[00:11:16]And that relationship is there, but when they're in the healing journey, when they're actually overcoming this, that relationship is going to change. They're no longer going to be somebody who's struggling. They're going to be someone who's overcome this. This is part of the past. And when that happens, your relationships change. It's not just how you feel internally. It's how you relate to the world. They've built relationships around their anxiety, their panic, their chronic symptoms. Who they are without it, they sometimes don't know. And sometimes that can be scary. And so when you're going through the healing journey, well, that relationship changes and those impact other people as well. And the third type of blocker is trauma. Now, I don't like using the word trauma. I feel like people overutilize that word. But what how I'm defining trauma is that there's been something in your life that just has felt very overwhelming for you. This could be anything. This could be a breakup. This could be a life circumstance. This could be, you know, a health scare. Something that just felt so overwhelming at the time that it kind of shook you. Doesn't mean that you have to go to war or anything like that. But just looking at it is that the nervous system has learned danger in a context where the overp protection made sense, but the nervous system never updated. It still is kind of in that mode of protection. Now, here's the most fascinating point of all that.

[00:12:41]Regardless of what blockers you have, the average approach that people do is that they try to fix the blocker first.

[00:12:48]They say, "Okay, well, I need to fix the blocker, then I can focus on overcoming my symptoms." And the truth is is that I actually don't find it that way. What I have found is that the focus should be on the healing journey. Focusing on the now, not needing to go into the past.

[00:13:05]Focus on the healing journey and the principles of healing. And as the blockers come up, resolving them along the way. So, one of the blockers I tend to find that is really common that people do want to focus on is understanding the mechanics. Learning why you have these symptoms, why you have these sensations. Understanding the mechanics of your nervous system is very important. But after that, it's just about focusing on the healing journey.

[00:13:33]Right? Even if you have these relationships or you have things in the past, focus on the recovery journey. Now the things that you are dealing with, the blockers that you're dealing with will surface up on its own. Now I want to give you an example of a blocker that I had on my healing journey. This blocker actually I don't find a lot of people have. I find a lot of people have different blockers. And my biggest blocker was realizing that what I was dealing with was a nervous system issue.

[00:14:01]And the reason why I had that blocker is because I had grown up from school teaching me that, you know, there's the brain and then there's the body and these are two separate things, right?

[00:14:10]There's the mind and there's the body and it's separate. And so if I was dealing with something physical, well, it's a physical issue. If I was dealing with a mental issue, it's a mental issue. And what I didn't realize was that, you know, this mind body split doesn't exist, right? That when you're dealing with a nervous system issue, it's not mind, it's not body, it's like both, right? you kind of fall like in this in between layer where you can have physical symptoms but it's not caused by a physical issue. It's caused by you know how you're responding and and that is a conscious effort. And so that was my biggest blocker which was understanding the mechanics of what was happening. Once I understood the mechanics of anxiety of the nervous system, believe it or not, I made a lot of progress really quick. Now, while you're trying to focus on what your blockers might be, I say again, make recovery simple. Just focus on the principles. What you will find is that whenever a blocker comes up, then you can address it. And for me, once I understood that this was a nervous system issue, that made sense. And I always felt like I needed to understood why I fell in the cycle first before healing. But the truth is is that you can focus on healing. I didn't understand what made me fall into the cycle, honestly, until years later. But if I had waited to figure out what that was first, I'd still be stuck in the cycle. And the only way I could have known was by going through the healing journey. And so recovery is simple, but people are complex. This is why focusing on the recovery journey, investing in yourself, focusing on having guidance on the healing journey is incredibly important. I hope this video helps. If you want more resources, there's links in the description box. Thank you for watching.