The Vagus Nerve is the information superhighway between body and mind. It interconnects your sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric nervous systems. Primary feelings occur and generate emotions and vice versa.

Primary feelings are initially just sensations in the body. They happen pretty quickly and are almost immediately translated into an emotional response. An example of primary feelings would be tightness in the chest, throat and stomach, sweaty palms, increased heartrate.

These sensations begin when the Insula, the small part of our brain responsible for cataloging memories, detects a similar situation to one that was dangerous or painful in our past. They are seemingly instantaneous, taking only 1/1200th of a second to respond to the unconscious assessment.

As the primary feelings settle into the body, the mind just as instantaneously reads and interprets them, responding with what it identifies as the appropriate correlating emotion. All of this occurs in less than a second or two and generates a series of biochemical responses that either support or inhibit your system's natural defenses and processes.

A body focused psychologist can help you create tools and techniques that will intervene in the process if it is inhibiting and allow you to consciously establish a different pattern within the body.

You will learn to identify different physiological responses and generate a counter response before your emotions are able to take hold and send you on that negative feedback loop that continues a chronic cycle of imbalance and contributes to ill health.

Body Focused Psychology, sometimes called Bio-Psychology or Psychophysiology, is based on the premise that thoughts, emotions, biochemistry and physical structure are all interrelated.

Thoughts and emotions instantaneously generate a biochemical response in the body and vice versa. With increased technology scientists are learning just how interconnected psyche and structure are.

Body Focused Psychology teaches people how to access physical structure and response to regulate stress, manage mood imbalances and address other chronic or critical stress/lifestyle related illnesses.

“Our own body is the best health system we have – if we know how to listen to it.”-C.N.

This quote by Christiane Northrup sums up the basic tenets of Body Focused Psychology. The only way to be truly healthy or to heal from dis-ease is to develop a better understanding of your BodyMind connection.

Body Focused Psychology teaches you to understand and respond to the messages of your body. It enhances your ability to self-regulate in times of stress which decreases the negative impact of stress and anxiety on the body. It is also a critical form of intervention if you are trying to heal from a physical or emotional traumatic experience.

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