Are you getting comfortable trying out the five T-Zone options that you originally requested? Have any of the five areas looked more promising to relax your child? Let’s talk more about that at the end of the email. But for now, let’s continue with the bigger picture.

The parasympathetic nervous system is so key to relaxing, it’s sometimes called ‘the guardian angel of rest’.

To understand how the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) work together, let’s begin with a metaphor (if you have trouble remembering the difference between the SNS and the PNS, associate the parasympathetic with a parachute and how a parachute slows things down).

To understand how the two systems complement each other, think of a teeter-totter. Both sides can’t be up at the same time. Likewise, we can’t be both ready to fight, flight, or freeze (SNS) AND be ready to relax, enjoy other people, and heal (PNS). It’s all about where our resources go: to keep us immediately safe or to create a healthy foundation so we’ll have a better tomorrow. The SNS uses energy to be alert, to be ready to run away, fight or freeze. The SNS is what kept us safe from danger. The PNS also works to keep us alive. We would not have survived if the PNS was never activated. It directs our energy and resources towards our basic functioning, such as digesting food - a very energy-draining activity - recovering, healing, and connecting with others. Activities that if we didn’t do, might not pose an immediate threat, would put us at risk in the long run.

However, if we’ve been continuously activating the SNS, feeling like we need to always be alert, we will exhaust our resources and it will become more difficult to switch into the PNS. Think of the switch like a muscle. Use it or lose it.

The upcoming emails will teach you how to ‘use it’ so you and your child can activate the vagus nerve and the PNS.