Hi,
I'm Dr.
Kim.
I like to use real moments from my daily life as inspiration for these talks.
Life truly shows us lessons in very ordinary,
Very human situations.
My hope is that when I share my own experiences,
You might recognize similar patterns in your own body.
This morning,
I was in a rush.
And in my experience,
Nothing good ever comes from being in a rush.
I had just applied oils to my face and body,
So my hands were slippery.
I picked up a frying pan with my eggs inside,
And suddenly hot oil popped and sprayed upwards.
My body immediately jerked backwards to protect itself.
I moved the pan onto another burner quickly,
And then reached up to grab a plate from the top level of my dish rack.
The plate immediately slid straight out of my oily hands,
Hit the counter edge first,
And shattered.
It made an ear-piercing smashing sound,
And plate fragments flew everywhere.
In that instant,
My breath caught in my throat.
My shoulders shot upwards,
Jamming my neck.
My whole body jerked and then froze.
I have a history of chronic neck and lower back pain,
And I know that when my nervous system goes into fight,
Flight,
Or freeze,
These areas are the first to react.
Almost immediately,
I could feel the muscles along the back of my neck tightening.
When I gently tested my range of motion looking side to side,
The restriction was already there.
Standing there amongst the broken pieces,
I was once again reminded how quickly stress can create physical pain in the body.
So I paused.
I left the mess where it was.
I pulled a chair to the window,
And sat down.
I live on the 15th floor,
So I have a wide view of the city and the mountains in the distance.
I started playing bird sounds on my phone,
And simply began to look out into the distance,
Letting my gaze move slowly from side to side,
While breathing deeply.
This response was automatic because of many years of working with the nervous system,
Both personally and professionally.
I understand that my primary stress response is freeze,
And when the body is in freeze,
The most effective approach is not to push or force,
But to guide the nervous system back towards safety.
Softening the eyes and looking into the distance reduces threat signaling in the brain.
Allowing the gaze to move in the periphery tells the nervous system that there is no immediate danger.
And bird sounds act as a powerful safety cue.
Back in the caveman days,
The presence of birds meant the environment was safe from predators.
Our nervous systems still respond to that signal today.
So I sat there breathing slowly,
Focusing on long exhales,
Letting my gaze move across the horizon,
Listening to the birds.
Within about five minutes,
I felt a shift.
My shoulders dropped.
The tension in my neck began to ease.
My breathing deepened.
Only after I felt regulated did I return to the kitchen,
Calmly clean up the broken plate,
And continue with my day.
I was even able to show up for a client 15 minutes later and guide her through her somatic healing session.
This experience made me reflect on the past.
If this same experience had happened seven years ago,
I know I would have become angry and frustrated at myself,
Rushed again to clean up the mess,
Shown up poorly for my client and then been disappointed,
And my neck pain would have escalated into a worse and much longer lasting pain.
My day simply would have spiraled.
Right now,
Even though I can still feel some residual tightness in my neck a couple of hours later,
I know it will resolve as my nervous system continues to settle.
I'm definitely turning on the bird sounds as soon as I finish this talk.
If you take one practical point from this story,
It's this.
When pain suddenly appears after stress,
The most effective first step is always nervous system regulation,
Not correction.
Guiding your nervous system back into a sense of safety can change the trajectory of your day in minutes.
If you would like to learn more about working with your nervous system,
You can explore my courses here on Insight Timer.
Thank you so much for listening.
