The Parasympathetic Grumbles and Hums

And to my musings for the month....

The Parasympathetic Nervous System is such a delightfully noisy nervous system. It's not loud like the cheering, peacocking sympathetic but it is a wonderful witchy pot of gorgeous gurgles and hissing. 

Being a Feldi Practitioner I've come to know my bodily noises and rhythmswell.

But I did not always know them, so today I share a story of my early discoveries.

Before I was a Feldi, I was a Pilates Instructor and like many instructors I worked the 6am-12pm shift.

6 hours.
Back to back clients.
No breaks.

It was super fun, for a bouncy sympathetic thing, but it did mean I was sympathetic for 6 hours straight.
There was only brief time to wee, or eat - and that schedule is not conducive to digesting.

After the clock hit 12, I'd usher everyone out, tidy up and do a little Pilates myself (or I'd pull up some carpet and pass out!), and have a bite to eat.

I also developed a little ritual of heading to the local op shop to wind down.

This was your classic old school op shop. It was dark and musty. It was crammed with racks of unsorted clothes squeezed amongst piles of shoes, hats, scarves, bags and jewellery from floor to ceiling.

There were plates, cups and cutlery stacked in leaning towers and books bulging out of ramshackle book shelves, and pottering ladies with grey looping curls filling the space with a nattering soundscape.

It was a Parasympathetic Palace. 

I loved this op shop and I started visiting regularly. Sometimes I'd pop in to spy new trinkets, sometimes I'd drag piles of fabric off to the change room, other times I'd debate over which tea cup to take home.

What was fascinating is that this ritual came with another ritual. You see my nervous system liked it in here too, and it started to let me know with a friendly grumble.  

But a grumble can lead to other things... and before long I'd feel a rumble in my pelvis that meant I wanted to make a noise down there too.
But I was in the shop! 
And I had no desire to increase said mustiness.
So what to do?! 

Luckily this op shop was a pastiche of add ons and attached to the side wing of crockery, down a back corridor of bric-a-brac, was a tin shed filled with prams and lawnmowers that lead to a small car park out back.

So I developed another ritual of finding a discrete nook, tucking away my treasures, and shimming out the back to relieve my bloating. 

Ahhhhh....

But, of course, that was not going to satisfy this parasympathetic cascade... and soon those belly and bottom grumbles would be demanding a toilet.

Now given there was no toilet on site, and I was in the middle of a high stakes bargin hunt this was not ideal. So I'd either accept defeat with a single find, or if that was not an option - given the mountains of gold before me - I'd duck back to work, down the alarm, and do my parasympathetic business and return...

Now I could focus!!

Sometimes I also yearned to hum or sing while I thumbed through the reams of cotton. Depending on my carefreeness I'd follow the desire hoping others were lulled by my whimsical contentment.

These were some of my first obvious learnings around the parasympathetic nervous system, digestion, and the consequence of environment.
 
Since then I've come to notice this in other shops. (Not all shops - as you can appreciate - for sometimes shopping is such a hideous affair one needs a week to recover from it.)

But if...
I have time
I am alone
I am 'just looking'
And the shop is quite, quaint and friendly
Shopping is a Parasympathetic Pleasure

Some of my clients know this parasympathetic past time, but for others, when I suggest that shopping could be 'nervous system homework' - if done the parasympathetic way - they delight in hearing what they know in their gut.

When I am working privately with clients belly grumbles are something I track. Some clients have clock work tummys that gurgle at 22 minutes, for others a right hip, or left shoulder triggers a "thanks for the attention" grumble, and for others a cradled neck gives permission for their blood to flow back to their belly.

Not every client has a chatty belly and not everyone is coming for a parasympathetic tune up, but some clients value these murmurs and know it's a sign their nervous system feels safe.

Most of my clients don't hum however, although perhaps they'd like to ;), but they do yawn, sigh, burp, fart, laugh and cry.
All sounds from parasympathetic's extensive vocabulary. 

If I've had a big sympathetic week I check in with my grumbles on the weekend.

I lay in bed a little longer, stretch out on the lounge floor a while, sit in the garden with a cup of tea, write in my journal (today's musings yielded here!) or read a book till a chorus of babbles and murmurs arise. 

I give my nervous system time 
to let the blood find it's way back to my belly.

I watch the leaves shimmy with the wind
I watch honey eaters tumble through bushes
I feel awed at the Carnabys return for Kambarang
I am lulled by the bees humming cheerfully to the flowers
And I watch the cabbage moths mopsy dosying about

My skin loosens
 My breath deepens
My eyes settle
My brain softens
My thoughts flit away
My body sinks back and sighs

Now that's a nice feeling

If you're not already a keen tummy grumble enthusiast, maybe keep an ear out for when your tummy next grumbles, or notice when you're spontaneously called to hum, whistle or sing? 

Or maybe this is a timely reminder to carve out 20 minutes for a chat and hummm with your parasympathetic nervous system.

Especially during the busy season

And if I don't see you online or in person soon...

Gurgle Grumble Blessings for the winding down time :)