It’s the part of healing that no one wants to talk about.
You had a beautiful holistic healing session to recalibrate, balance, and get your energy all aligned and well. There may have been soft lighting, healing scents, etheric music. You felt peace, shifts, release, and maybe even shed some healing tears. Afterwards you felt giddy, a bit floaty, or even grounded. Then sometime between later that day up to a couple of weeks later you find yourself abnormally edgy or emotional! What?! How could you be feeling that after such a beautiful experience?? You wonder if you even experienced healing at all?! It seems confusing and conflicting, to say the least.
I call it “nervous system soreness”.
Yes, healing happened and is continuing to happen. That session you received? It was a personal training session that exercised your nervous system instead of your muscles. It did this in part by processing unprocessed effects of events and feelings in your system in order to clear, strengthen, and regulate it. It can be particularly noticeable when you first start receiving sessions or when starting back up after a long pause, just like when you first start an exercise program. In fact, there are many similarities between physical and nervous system “workouts”! Think of the physical exercise, you know you are doing great things for your body and you are getting stronger by doing it. It may even feel great and invigorating while exercising, then over the next few days you may feel pain and soreness while the muscles adapt and grow. A nervous system exercise is very similar and you may feel fluctuations of moods and emotions while it clears and regulates.
When we physically exercise we can feel the increased strength by getting less winded walking up the stairs, being able to lift heavier objects, or increased stamina throughout the day.
How can we tell when our nervous system is increasing in strength and regulation? One of the biggest tells is that you will notice your responses to stress differ from what’s typical and that triggering events aren’t as activating.
Here are some ways this may show up:
- Being calmer, clearer headed, and less reactive in stressful situations
- Having an overall increase in focus and clarity
- Demonstrating more patience
- In day to day activities such as driving and not getting as worked up when someone cuts you off
- Remaining calm during a disagreement with a loved one
- Being in a situation that could usually be a trigger of a traumatic event, but now you can be in that setting without reliving the event or experiencing an anxiety attack
- Improved sleeping habits
- The effects of grief being more manageable
- Addictions lessening up / the ability to make healthier choices
- A reduction in frequency or severity of pain
- Reduced inflammation
- Less anxiety, depression, or overwhelm
What do we do about the emotional discomfort of the soreness though? It’s important to not approach the discomfort with the intent of “fixing” it. Rather, have the intent to support release and healing to gain that incredible nervous system strength. The more we allow the work done to really integrate, regulate, clear, and strengthen, the less we try to “fix” the soreness. It’s not something to be fixed or scared of. It’s a natural part of the process and beautiful evidence of release, healing, and strengthening on many levels. The best thing to do when the soreness appears is to simply recognize it for what it is, embrace it, thank it for the work it’s doing, and ride the wave – knowing it’s temporary. In the same way that physical soreness is from muscles making new relation so they can show up stronger, nervous system soreness is from stored emotions releasing and making new relation so their effects can be more desirable and nervous system more regulated.
It’s interesting that not only are nervous system and physical soreness similar in many aspects, but so are the ways to support the strengthening and healing process of both types of soreness. (Yay for our holistic nature 🙌)
The following practices help ground and move energy for nervous system regulation as well as move lactic acid through for muscle strengthening.
- Hydrate by drinking quality water, herbal tea, or natural electrolytes like this powder or coconut water
- Take epsom salt full body or foot baths
- Stretch, stretch, stretch. Yoga and Tai Chi can be great for this
- Deep, focused breathing
- Walk outdoors
- Eat nourishing foods or grounding foods such as quality dark chocolate mints or root vegetables
- For intense bursts of soreness eat something sour like a lemon candy, suck on a lemon or grapefruit wedge, or add lemons and limes together to your water or tea. (Yep did you know this also helps physical soreness?!)
A tip for nervous system soreness – avoid making new big decisions during this soreness period. (Buying/selling home, big move, major relationship change, job change, large purchase, new pet, etc) Wait until the soreness has subsided and the new strength has had a chance to integrate in roughly 1-2 weeks. Until then, put a pin in the idea and revisit it later.
And also just like with physical exercise, you don’t always feel sore – the frequency and intensity of the soreness differs greatly, often less noticeable the more consistent you are. While both physical and nervous system soreness can be a sign of the great work you’re doing, it does not mean that it’s not working if you aren’t sore.
If you have experienced this nervous system soreness following holistic work, please stick with doing sessions and self care. Recognize it as evidence of the work working and an invitation to do more. It really will be worth it in the long run.
At Enriched Journey, we are here to support you through this process or answer any questions you may have.
May your journey be enriched in every way!
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