Your nervous system comprises you brain (Central Nervous System) and spreads throughout every area of your body (Peripheral Nervous System). It is an electrical system that functions as messengers of the body, triggering muscle movements, hormonal secretions, behavioural patterns and much, much more. The system is what is responsible for the aspect of self that is referred to in psycho-spiritual circles as the "ego" as it can cause you to function based on automatic, unconscious patterns that are based on distorted perceptions in the interest of "survival".
Dr. Andrew Huberman is a researcher who has brought to light many of the aspects of the functioning of our nervous systems, and turned it into actionable advice that is highly valuable for anyone operating within a human body.
Huberman describes the nervous system as being responsible for linking/merging perceptions of the outside world (senses) and inside world (interoception) to operate in the environment in an appropriate way.
He breakdown of the different functions of the nervous system into 5 parts, which brings great clarity to an often murky subject. He also talks about the negotiability and non-negotiability of each sections — meaning which ones are within and outside of our conscious control.
Sensations (non-negotiable)
Sensations are our sensory input, such as sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. We cannot stop these inputs, though they can be ignored or acclimated to. That function is related to the next function listed...
Perceptions (negotiable)
This is the spotlight of our minds—what we focus on. We choose what to bring our awareness to, though some things, such as pain, can be very demanding of our attention. Learning to better control our perception gives us the ability to consciously focus our awareness, which drastically effects our experience.
Thoughts (negotiable & non-negotiable)
Thoughts are how we work with ideas, plan and consider. They create meaning and opinions, whereas without thoughts, sensations and perceptions would remain neutral. We have much potential to be conscious of and control our thoughts, especially when actively trained, but often the mind seems to create thoughts automatically and continuously (the 'monkey mind') Dr. Huberman suggests that introducing new thoughts is much easier than eliminating existing thought patterns.
Emotions (as negotiable as your thoughts)
Sensations in the Body + Thoughts = Emotions
The addition of thoughts that create meaning and opinion, are what turns a bodily sensation into an emotion. Being aware of this, we can be conscious about what labels and significance we give to sensations that we feel within us.
Behaviours (negotiable)
This is by far the most negotiable aspect of our being. Even if it feels strongly that we have no choice in some of our behaviours, our external choices are fundamentally under our conscious control. There can be strong factors that lead to behaviours being triggered by our nervous systems that can bring us to a place of thinking or feeling that we are out of our own control. However, this is the easiest and most powerful place to start when working with our nervous systems. Behaviors cause neutrons to fire which, in time, create new pathways that become easier and easier to access. Not only is a physical behaviour routed to neurological pathways, but familiar thought patterns also create new connections. For example, if you complain about something a lot it actually becomes easier to complain about it more, while if you practice gratitude, the feelings and thoughts of gratitude will become more commonly and easily accessed.
The nervous system is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of our physical human experience. Learning about our nervous system and how to work with it consciously (we are already unconsciously working with it) is such a fundamentally important aspect in a journey toward better health and well-being. There are many simple triggers and functions that can be used to our advantage if we are aware of them, which I will share in future posts.
For now, I highly recommend looking into Dr. Andrew Huberman's work — especially his podcasts which are also available on YouTube. My favourite is his guest appearance on the Rich Roll podcast.
Reflection/Journaling Prompt
Which of the 5 nervous system functionings would you like to make more negotiable? How would this affect your life? What are some ways that you might be able to train negotiability in this area?