The Nervous System’s Impact on Your Business
“There are some things you cannot think your way through.”
“All behaviour change begins in the nervous system.” Chantill heard Dr. Stephen Porges, founder/creator of the Polyvagal Theory (PVT), said this in a workshop she attended in New York, in March 2020 literally days before the world was shut down by a global pandemic. The timing was uncanny and disturbingly foreshadowing of what we would quickly be thrust into — a lack of human connection.
The PVT is often considered the “science of connection.” It’s a “biological imperative”, says Deb Dana, author of Anchored, and many other PVT-based books.
The reality is that we learn to regulate ourselves, our own nervous systems, THROUGH the co-regulating (your nervous system regulating with mine and vice versa) with others. Chantill likes to say, “I change you and you change me whether we like it or not.”
As an educator, no version of perception could then be more critical as we are in the very literal BUSINESS OF CHANGE. If you aren’t aware, or can’t regulate your own nervous system, your students will struggle to:
Learn
Stay focused
Listen
Become autonomous
Take chances
Embrace challenge
Make change (OUTSIDE of the studio when you’re eagle eye isn’t on them — because that’s truly when it matters most)
Be willing
Tap new resources of growth
Ask questions
As movement educators, who use the lens of the nervous system perspective, you have THREE responsibilities to the student/teacher relationship:
To be able to become aware of and regulate YOUR nervous system
To support your students in regulating THEIR nervous systems in the studio
To support your students in regulating THEIR nervous systems out the studio
WITHOUT these three things, here’s what is likely happening:
If you’re dysregulated your students will become dysregulated, which can, and likely is, happening completely below consciousness (unless you practice nervous system awareness)
Neither of you will be able to be fully present, lean into newness, or have a genuine exchange where you can work at your growth edge
When triggers arise (which neither of you needs to understand, nor is it your job to analyse) the nervous system will take over and derail their safety (or yours) and therefore any progress, curiosity, or psychological/emotional vulnerability will be lost.
To clarify, in case you’re new to this language:
Dysregulation is the vulnerable state of the nervous system when it detects a threat and begins to move toward fight or flight and potentially, eventually, toward fainting/feigning, what we sometimes call shutdown or disconnect.
Dysregulation takes on many forms and has many triggers that vary widely from person to person, but the nervous system always does two things:
Responds unconsciously to threats or risks. This is your neuroception at work.
Responds according to a hierarchy: Always fight/flight first then gradually move toward shutdown or fainting/feigning.
Where we get into trouble is when we either:
Cannot sense our nervous system’s responses and attend to them (as they are not always accurate based on how our brain interprets them)
Cannot use appropriate tools to soothe and regulate our nervous systems back to safety
Our inability to regulate i.e. transition back to safety or anchor into safety, which can be done with practice (of course the domain and context matters), means we will struggle with:
Changing our behaviour and building new habits - it’s way easier for the brain to build new habits than undo old ones
Taking risks, embracing challenges, being uncomfortable in the name of growth or other potentially positive outcomes
Communicating - our literal ability to hear and see, as well as staying open-minded, having compassion, or even being able to modulate our tone of voice
Making decisions (when the brain interprets the body’s experience as being in threat the prefrontal cortex begins to not function as well, making choices and having perspective difficult if not impossible. This is a good thing if we are truly in danger because we only want to focus on the actions that will save our lives and the nervous system is there to do that for us!)
In Real Life
Here is what happens when you DON’T consider your nervous system when teaching, coaching, or connecting:
>> You’re unable to regulate your tone of voice and facial expressions, which are the primary means another nervous system detects safety
>> You minimise (or cut off) your patience, curiosity, creative thinking, problem-solving, and mental flexibility, which puts your student or coachee in an unconscious state of unsafety (dysregulate them unless they are really good at regulating themselves)
>> Makes you tired more quickly. Remember the hierarchy of the nervous system is fight or flight first, which means your sympathetic nervous system is revving in the background, creating disharmony in all of your systems and that depletes your resources.
Here is what happens when you DON’T consider your STUDENTS’ nervous system when working with their body.
>> They can’t learn new things or it’s much, much hard (extra load on their prefrontal cortex (PFC))
>> They are less adaptable, patient, willing to try, listen poorly, and will be easily distracted (the prefrontal cortex is narrowing its function)
>> They need lots of support from you or they repel your support because these are likely strategies of a nervous system (NS) that is unsafe/dysregulated.
Okay! So now that you know…How do we create change?
It starts with you. And has to continue with you consistently.
In the NS Work, we teach, beginning in our 28-Day Nervous System Reset, we always prioritise the teacher, educator, coach, parent, or whomever is doing the leading by:
· Developing awareness of your unique NS "voice" -- how your NS reacts and responds, to what, and when, etc
· Revealing strategies for soothing and improving your NS so you can return to a safe/regulated state more easily, more regularly, and with fewer overall consequences on your body and mental/emotional health
· Creating an "NS map" to guide your practices and choices over time, which is focused on improving your NS.
Then we help you learn how to bring it into your practice:
· Fundamental understanding of the NS Work
· Tools and strategies for how to talk about the NS Work
· A menu of options to begin to implement the work no matter what modality or container you're working in
· Templates and worksheets to use in your teaching/business to guide your integration
The 28-Day program is the prerequisite for our Nervous System Integration Facilitator Certificate Program (NSIF), which is a 3-part, year-long process that teaches people how to follow a clear and precise framework for facilitating NS Work in many domains including in movement training and coaching.
How to Integrate NS work seamlessly into your current offerings
Integrating NS work into your teaching is simple. We’ve seen Pilates teachers and coaches introduce the NS work to clients online over Zoom, through audio recordings live or pre-recorded. Other NS facilitators teach 6-week NS programs over Zoom, within live or virtual retreats, or as a separate service or integrated service within their sessions.
To integrate the NS work into sessions facilitators may respond with breath patterns and see how their clients respond to the work. If the clients are curious to learn more you integrate the NS work into your sessions between exercises, within exercises, or at the beginning or end of a session.
The art of Introducing NS work to your clients
Many teachers and coaches begin offering this work more casually with the clients they’re currently working with so that as the leader you begin to increase your comfort in facilitating NS awareness and transformation.
Usually, these clients already have a curiosity about their NS and realise how much awareness and perception have informed their Pilates practice. These clients tend to be the most receptive.
Staying in our lane as Pilates teachers and coaches is important and not creeping into mental health support is paramount. The NS work allows you to formally support your students with nervous system awareness and transformation and it offers clear opportunities to refer out to qualified mental health professionals.
When changes begin with your NS clients
Similar to Pilates most clients will receive big gains right away. Just the ability to put language and clarity around their NS awareness is hugely empowering. Similar to Pilates NS work provides a toolbox of options to support your clients with NS health. As with Pilates clients practicing outside the studio is important. As soon as the client is able to use the tools of the NS outside the studio is when they begin noticing a change on their own terms.
Your clients can notice change the same day or within a few weeks of first practicing the work.
The real beauty of NS work is how it acts like a power tool to your toolbox for behaviour change and awareness.
Voila! You now can see how NS work can support your clients, your staff, your team, your business, and your life.
Because … “There are some things you cannot think your way through.”
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Chantill and Anne first crossed paths in 2002, each in the midst of building their Pilates businesses in neighbouring cities. Nearly ten years later they reconnected and began collaborating on their first continuing education and business development projects. In 2016 they launched the first iteration of their shared business, now known as the Embodied Business Institute. Their mission is to support teachers, business owners and innovators in the Pilates and movement industries to make money and meaning from expertise.