A Slow Exhale...

Dr. Jeffrey Rutstein is back with more information about how to interact with our own nervous system. Taking a much longer exhale signals to your body that all is well. This is a follow up to last week when Dr. Rutstein explained our stress responses: Fight, flight, freeze, submit or attach.

Transcript

This is Shine On,

The health and happiness show and Ella's Leash production.

Heard as a podcast around the world,

But heard first on radio stations 100.

7 WHUD-FM and 9,

20,

12,

60,

And 1420 AM.

All in New York's Hudson Valley.

Shine On,

Bringing you healers and dreamers and people who want to make life richer.

It's your time to shine on.

Hi it's Casey.

Thank you so much for tuning in to Shine On.

So if you listened to the podcast last week,

It was brilliant.

It was wonderful.

It was the best podcast I ever did.

I think because I hardly spoke and the guest was phenomenal.

His name is Dr.

Jeffrey Ruttstein,

And he's back again this week to give us a gift to explain to us a part of ourselves and give us a tool that can help us change our state.

This is such a wonderful holiday gift that we can share with other people.

You know,

We're talking about the vagus nerve.

And I bet,

You know,

If you listen to podcasts like this stuff pops up on your social media and everybody's got some way to help you heal your vagus nerve,

But very few people can tell me where it is.

Enter again,

Dr.

Jeffrey Ruttstein to help us interact with our own nervous system.

Can he explain the vagus nerve?

So there are 12 cranial nerves.

The 10th cranial nerve is the vagus nerve.

And it runs through the brain,

Down through the face,

Throat,

Larynx,

Chest,

Diaphragm,

Stomach,

Intestines,

And into the leg.

It's the longest nerve in the body.

Vagus is Latin for wandering,

The wandering nerve,

Because it goes so far.

But the vagus nerve also controls,

Because it goes through the face,

Throat,

Larynx,

It controls facial expression,

Voice,

Tone,

And prosody,

Breath control.

And how we communicate safety is by facial feature.

And so when I am humming with the part of the vagus nerve that helps me shift into connection,

Right,

Then I am feeling better in myself.

I'm feeling more relaxed and calm and I'm present.

I can be present.

So the vagus nerve,

When it's towards social engagement,

When that branch is operating,

The face will be expressive.

The tone will be expressive.

The pitch will be welcoming or soothing.

And if the vagus nerve is leaning towards the more reptilian,

Primitive defensive states,

Like shutdown,

Then the face will become expressionless.

There will be almost no words.

Eye contact will not be maintained.

In other words,

The very opposite of what comes online when we're in the social engagement system is what goes offline when we're in the defensive states.

Is there a way for us to interact with our vagus nerve?

Yes,

Yes,

Yes,

Yes,

Yes,

Yes.

There are lots of somatic or body-based practices right now that can help people turn on the vagus nerve.

One really simple one is what I call the elongated out-breath.

And that is like you gently inhale for a count of three,

Four,

Five,

Or six.

And then you exhale longer than you inhale.

You take quite a quick breath in,

And then you do a long,

Slow exhale.

People find that if the length of the exhale is twice as long as the length of the inhale,

It's very effective in activating this beneficial branch of the vagus nerve.

If you were to do the elongated breath,

Seated,

For about two minutes,

You would probably find you're more relaxed,

Your muscles are more relaxed,

Your heart rate's a little lower,

Your blood pressure is a little lower,

And your body temperature might be just a tad cooler.

That you'll also find that as you do this,

You become more aware of things that you weren't aware before,

Like the sound of the ticking clock.

In other words,

Evidence of presence.

When we're really in a story,

When we're really in a state,

We're not noticing a lot around us.

We're not seeing incidental sounds in sites,

We're listening specifically for sign of danger.

So we're not taking into account the sign of a fan or cars,

Tires on the street outside.

Right,

Right.

Oh my gosh.

So when we're in a state,

We're really like half alive.

We're not tuned in to what's going on around us.

Exactly.

And we're not,

We don't have agency.

We don't have power.

If I'm in a state,

I can have a lot of power in terms of I can be raging and,

You know,

A real jerk and yelling,

But it doesn't help me feel less angry and it doesn't solve anything.

And if I'm in shame,

It's the same thing.

And if I'm in fear or worry,

It's the same thing.

These are important states,

But they don't add much to our lives right now if we just stay in them.

And we were never meant to stay in them.

But we have evolved to the point,

Especially like these past couple of years,

Society has been pushing us more towards constant doing and constant stress.

But since the pandemic and all that's gone on in the world in the last year or two,

This has just raised it in everyone.

For sure.

And that's why we're all going to sign up for your course.

Yes,

Please.

How do we do that?

So if you go to SoundsTrue.

Com and you look up,

I believe,

Online learning and events,

It's the healing trauma program,

The healing trauma program,

A nine month journey to navigate your nervous system,

Embody safety and become a healing presence.

Beautiful.

We want people to learn how to really navigate the nervous system,

How to actually learn how to tap into states where you become safety.

In yourself,

You feel safe.

And it's possible to feel safe even in the world of chaos right now.

And also,

We need people who are willing to be healing presence.

This does not mean you have to be a therapist.

It's just talking about,

Can you offer a regulated,

Grounded self to others who are in distress,

To the person who's checking out your groceries,

To a family member,

To a colleague?

Can we just be noticing that if we're going around all day in a state,

We're contributing?

So just like there's the idea of a mask,

Mask is to protect us somewhat,

But it's also to protect other people.

I believe what I call state hygiene,

Being aware of what state we're in,

Is both to enhance and improve our own lives,

But also to be able to improve the life in the world around us by not further contributing to this massive dysregulation that so many people seem to be going through right now.

Dr.

Jeffrey Ruttstein.

You know,

You see these movies where people stalk their psychiatrist.

I would totally stalk him.

I would move in next door.

He just makes me feel so good.

And he talks about retraining ourselves to become a peaceful presence.

He's such an example of that.

Just talking to him feels like good medicine,

Feels like chicken soup.

And now we must all exhale longer than we inhale,

Be aware of our state,

And we can work with him on this nine month program,

Like you'll spend most of the new year with Dr.

Jeffrey Ruttstein,

Really going deep and understanding your own nervous system and becoming this peaceful presence that he so clearly exemplifies.

So Google Dr.

Jeffrey Ruttstein,

Drjefferyruttstein.

Com.

He is a clinical psychologist and an expert in the treatment of trauma.

And you can also visit Sounds True and sign up for the series with Dr.

Jeffrey Ruttstein.

I'd like to do that.

I am doing some other things I want to invite you to this Sunday and Monday.

We've got our second Sunday and second Monday Zooms.

They're free.

Sunday at 1030 a.

M.

Sunday at 11 a.

M.

New Year's weekend retreat.

It's on via Zoom,

Lining up some really great guests to share the weekend with us.

You can celebrate New Year's Eve any way you want.

We'll give you a few suggestions and then we'll get together on Saturday and Sunday to get inspired for 2022.

February 12th,

We're having a Valentine's dance.

Let it shine,

Valentine.

That's in Verplank,

Northern Westchester.

And then the final weekend in February,

We go to the Marianne Dell Retreat Center and have a real weekend retreat together.

You can sign up for all these things at kace.

Co,

K-a-c-e-y.

C-o.

So a couple of weeks back,

We talked about a healthy December.

Are you doing it?

Are you on board with that?

I'm doing okay.

Like I found a couple of different HIIT videos,

High intensity interval training videos.

Now they're not crazy.

We had Sherry Fernans on a couple of weeks ago and she's like,

Find a 20 minute video.

Yeah,

Maybe one day Sherry.

But right now I'm doing seven minute and 10 minute HIIT videos.

You get real sweaty,

You know,

For a short period of time and,

And,

And you could always find 10 minutes.

So I play little games with myself,

Like just go do that 10 minute video and then you can sit on the couch.

Anyway,

Continuing along those lines of a healthy December,

Rena Greenberg is here to remind us to visualize,

Visualize,

Visualize,

Visualize what you want to be and where you want to go.

Visualization a form of self-hypnosis and that is her field of expertise.

She's worked with thousands of people all around this idea of health and weight loss.

We want to kind of look at the big picture.

How do we want to look and feel on January 1st,

2022,

Right?

And so when we have that vision in our mind,

It's all about really making that decision and then in our minds really changing the way we associate pleasure with the wrong foods.

And we can do that.

That's the power of the subconscious mind.

How did we convince ourselves?

Because we are in so many ways,

I think,

Fooling ourselves when we say eating this is going to make me happy.

I mean,

I'm sure some people can with different metabolisms can eat anything they want and it's not an issue.

But for most of the population overeating on the holidays,

We think it makes us happy,

But it really doesn't.

It's so true.

But what it really is,

It's having two parts to ourselves.

So on the one hand,

On a conscious level,

Of course,

We all want to look and feel our best.

And as you say,

We know the foods that are best for us.

We know what we should and shouldn't be eating.

But the issue is subconsciously,

We want to continue with the old habits of the past,

The overeating,

The binge eating,

The snacking,

The emotional eating.

So we have this inner conflict.

And the only way to be successful in the long run is to actually resolve that conflict.

And so for me,

Hypnosis has been so powerful and it's a tool that I've shared with,

Well,

Thousands of other people,

Because it's a way to resolve that inner conflict so that you are absolutely focused on what you want for your life and you're able to kind of reprogram your brain to be on the same wavelength,

Excuse the pun.

Oh,

Right.

We're talking to Rena Greenberg,

Who has a degree in biopsychology.

I never even knew that was a thing.

What does it mean?

Yeah.

Well,

My training is I'm nationally board certified as a biofeedback therapist and biofeedback therapy turns out is really nothing more than teaching people hypnosis and self-hypnosis while they're hooked up to machines that are really showing them that through the power of the mind,

They're lowering the blood pressure,

Lowering the heart rate,

Increasing skin temperature,

Changing,

Calming those brain waves,

Reducing muscle tension.

And that is what's so amazing is how much power we do have to change not only our physiology,

But our lives.

So we can use our own minds to change our own habits.

Hypnosis is a tool and I can get on a Zoom call with you and you can do that with me?

Oh,

Absolutely.

I actually work with people all over the world.

It's amazing when we tap into the power of the subconscious part of the mind.

Listen,

The reality is sometimes you think hypnosis.

I don't think I can be hypnotized.

I kind of smiled to myself because we're being hypnotized all the time.

We're already hypnotized by the food industry,

By the diet industry,

By the media,

And they're feeding us all these lies.

And unfortunately,

Subconsciously,

We believe it.

Like you said earlier,

We believe that food's going to make us happy because we've been programmed to think that and we're not able to really contain and manage our own emotions and just allow them to learn how to release them.

Instead,

We're reaching for food to try to numb ourselves to any pain that we're experiencing in our lives.

But unfortunately,

Then when we start to gain all that weight,

We have nothing but more pain.

So it's a way of subconsciously really seeing the big picture and being able to easily and effortlessly choose healthier foods,

Choose less foods,

And never feel like you're dieting.

I just want to say shout out to all the people who don't have an issue with this.

There are people who can go to a holiday meal and not overeat or not overindulge and not eat the wrong things.

I don't know many of those people,

But I know they exist.

And I just want to say,

Hey,

And good for you.

You learned some healthy habits and healthy ways were modeled to you early on.

When I'm in a holiday function,

I operate almost like a vacuum cleaner.

Everything just goes in my mouth.

The chips,

The nuts,

The chocolate,

The champagne,

Whatever.

I just,

I don't relax.

I'm not like a relaxing person to be around.

I could use,

And I know there are other people like me too.

It's mindless.

Everything else kicks in and I'm mindlessly grazing at these holiday events and I hate it.

It's like I can't stop myself.

Yeah,

You made a great point talking about how it feels like something came over me.

And that's what people say after they use hypnosis.

They say,

Oh,

It's like a positive program.

All of a sudden just aburged and they find themselves pushing the plate of food away saying,

No thanks.

I'm not hungry.

You know,

I'm all set.

And it feels so good.

It feels so empowering.

And the more we do that,

The more we get in those positive habits and our self image changes.

But also I want to tell people who have a struggle with this,

Please,

Please don't beat yourself up.

So many times it's our gene.

I mean,

Honestly,

I am pre-diabetic.

I've never been diagnosed that,

But my father was diabetic and so it's in the genes and it causes us to crave sugar and carbs.

But the great news is,

I mean,

I haven't had sugar now in almost 30 years,

So we can change that programming.

It can even rewrite the wiring even when it is in the gene.

Without hypnosis,

You know,

People think,

Oh,

I'm not going to have time to do that before Christmas.

We're hypnotized.

I'm hypnotized every day.

I can tell you that I drive to work and if I'm not at my best,

I'm driving in like cloudy and foggy and I got a whole movie going on in my head and I don't remember how I got to work.

I don't remember if there was red lights.

I don't remember if there was traffic.

I don't remember because I'm in a hypnotized state.

You are.

You're in a trance.

You're in a sleep.

You're in an op-ed,

You know,

You're really in a trance.

You're not sleeping.

You're not sleeping.

You're not sleeping.

And obviously,

There's something that we take care of.

If you have a mental health problem,

You want to have a mental health problem.

So,

We're going in and out of hypnosis all the time,

But a lot of times the mental movies that we're playing are not to our benefit.

They're fear-based.

They're based on the past about,

You know,

Worry or unpleasant emotions or interactions that we're replaying in our minds.

But what I love about the hypnosis that I've shared with thousands of people is it's so positive.

And the other day I was talking to a woman named Christine who had done hypnosis with 20 years ago at St.

Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor,

Michigan,

And was telling me that not only did she lose 30 pounds after doing hypnosis with me,

But she said what really helped her the most was the relaxation,

Seeing herself in a new way,

Being able to relax and just be more open her heart and feel calmer and happier.

And when we're feeling more centered and happier,

It's so much easier to get into new positive habits and make better choices.

What else can we do for ourselves to make this a happier,

Healthier holiday?

The first thing is really before you put anything in your mouth,

Ask yourself this question,

How is this food really going to make me feel?

And get beyond the taste.

Remember,

The food industry,

They're hypnotizing us also through the taste,

The smell,

And the textures that they're putting into these foods.

It's very,

Very carefully researched.

What are those textures and tastes and smells that are going to make us want more,

Become addicted to these foods?

So instead,

Think about how you're going to feel beyond the taste.

And then think about how you want to feel.

And know that you have the power to make a healthier choice.

Also remember that every food is a vibration.

Is it going to lift you up?

Is it going to make it easier to make a healthier choice next?

Or is it going to bring you down and set you on the road of not only temptation,

But addiction and self-disgust?

Every food is a vibration.

No one ever said that to me in my whole life.

Rina,

Every food is a vibration.

You imagine holding up any kind of vegetable,

Let's just pick broccoli.

Beautiful green organic broccoli just picked from the farm.

And compare that to like a Cheeto that came in a bag.

Process will probably be the same in three years just because it's completely manufactured in a lab.

Someone might be saying,

Oh my God,

Of course the Cheeto.

But think that is programming.

And I remember,

I mean actually way back Cheetos were my favorite foods.

I can remember.

But remember how horribly it felt when you finish that whole bag and you realize they are so gross.

And if you ever read the ingredients,

By God,

Can you imagine individually taking each ingredient and just like sucking on it and putting it in your.

.

.

Yeah,

Right.

They're gross.

So it is a massive no.

I mean the food industry unfortunately has so much power over our politicians,

Over the whole planet that they're actually.

.

.

When you think how crazy it is,

Imagine animals in the wild eating these awful foods.

So we're going to head into the holiday season.

Can you just address willpower?

Because so many of us feel like failures.

Why can't I do this?

Why don't I have the willpower?

What is it with willpower?

Willpower is using only the conscious part of your mind.

That's like the tip of the iceberg.

It's really like white knuckling it.

Okay,

I'm going to get through this.

And when you imagine tapping into the vast bounty of your subconscious mind,

Think about going through your heart and this expansive mind that connects us with all of life.

And it's so intelligent and so wise.

And when we connect with that through hypnosis,

We have so much more creativity and there are so many more possibilities.

So willpower is,

Again,

It's like white knuckling and trying to figure it all out and force yourself to do something that you don't want to do.

And when you tap into the power of the subconscious mind,

You're able to create new images in your mind.

So literally,

For example,

I never thought I'd prefer a salad to a slice of pizza.

I helped the pizza addict when I lived in New York.

And now,

Oh my gosh,

I feel so much better when I eat salad.

I prepare it so it's absolutely delicious with a little goat cheese,

A little recipe canned,

A little protein and delicious olive oil dressing.

And I'm not so diet about it,

But it tastes so good.

That's because our taste buds can change.

So we don't even have to use willpower anymore.

So I don't like the idea of forcing yourself with willpower.

I like changing your brain,

Which is possible through self-hypnosis.

So we see ourselves and our relationship with food in a new way.

And then our tastes change.

Can you give us an example of self-hypnosis,

Something that we could do on our own to prepare ourselves for this season?

Absolutely.

Again,

Hypnosis is happening all the time and it certainly happens with our eyes open.

But to actually practice self-hypnosis on yourself,

It can be beneficial to close your eyes.

And the reason why is the minute you do,

Your brainwaves go from the beta,

Which is a very active state,

It's a very fast brainwave,

And they begin to slow down into the alpha brainwaves.

And when we rest even longer,

We go into the delta and the theta level brainwaves.

So that immediately helps activate the deeper wisdom inside ourselves.

So I would recommend take a few minutes,

Not right now if you're driving,

Of course,

But close your eyes and then take a moment and really drop inside.

You can even place your hand on your upper chest if it's easier.

Breathe in and out of your upper chest.

And to help activate this place of more expansiveness,

You can even imagine holding a small child or a puppy or a kitten,

Something that makes you feel really open-hearted,

Maybe a time in nature where you just remember just feeling one with all of life.

And then from this place,

Take a moment,

Really imagine yourself looking in the mirror and feeling happy,

Looking and feeling your best,

Wearing the clothes you want to wear,

And just really feeling a sense of love and appreciation for yourself and a sense of confidence.

And then you can continue the movie and imagine that you're in a situation,

Let's say one where you're nervous about going to a party,

There's going to be a lot of food there.

And you imagine,

Maybe you,

You know,

Now you have a solution.

Maybe you eat a little protein before you go so your blood sugar is balanced.

Or maybe you bring,

Even if it's not a potluck sale,

I'll bring a dish,

You know,

And you bring your something wonderful,

You know,

Maybe veggies and some protein that tastes delicious to you.

And then you have that.

So you have a plan and you know going in what you're going to do.

So you rehearse this in your mind,

Even just for a few minutes.

Hypnosis is a way to rehearse what we want to do.

Athletes use it.

People use it in business to become better speakers and more successful.

So we can use it in any area of our life.

And even just a few minutes a day can make such a difference.

I forgot.

I forgot about visualizing.

How did I forget about that?

All right,

Beautiful,

Beautiful,

Rena Greenberg.

Is there anything else our listeners need to know this morning?

You know,

Darryl is one of my clients.

I love him.

He lost over 123 pounds,

Kept it off.

And when I asked him,

What helps you the most out of everything that you learned in,

You know,

Using my program?

And he said,

It was this,

Rena.

He said,

It's when you told me the past doesn't equal the future.

I thought,

Wow,

That is a good one.

So that's what I'd like to share today.

The past does not equal the future.

Rena Greenberg helping to keep us on course for our Healthy December.

Sure,

We'll have our moments,

But let's keep getting back on the horse together.

And there are free tools to help you on Rena Greenberg's website,

Easywillpower.

Com.

Easywillpower.

Com.

All righty.

Hope to see you soon on a zoom.

Get details at kc.

Co.

Our thought for the day is from Jim Carrey,

Who said,

I would visualize things coming to me.

It would just make me feel better.

Visualization works if you work hard.

That's the thing.

Just visualize and then go eat a sandwich.

Shine On.

You've been listening to Shine On,

The health and happiness show for your entertainment only.

Heard Sunday mornings on 100.

7 WHUD and 920,

1260 and 1420 AM all in New York's Hudson Valley.

Subscribe to Shine On,

On iTunes and SoundCloud and catch a show anytime at kc.

Co.

That's k-a-c-e-y dot c-o.

Shine On.

Reviews

So motivating! Visualization, HIT workouts and food energy! I can do this!