Here’s the good news: your nervous system doesn’t just run top-down from brain to body. It also runs bottom-up. Your body can send messages back to your brain about whether you’re safe—or not.
Why Your Brain Defaults to Stress
The brain’s baseline setting is “assume danger.” If it doesn’t feel fully confident about your safety, it errs on the side of caution. Even small cues—a noisy environment, poor lighting, or a strange smell—can tip the scales toward a stress response.
That stress response shows up in ways you’ll notice:
- more pain or tension
- reduced movement quality
- elevated heart rate or blood pressure
- shallow breathing
- mood changes or mental fatigue
Using Your Body as a Regulator
If you are in a true danger situation...lean into that stress response. It is there for a reason. But if you know you are actually safe but your Neanderthal brain doesn't agree, it's time to use your body to shift your nervous system back to safety and a relaxation response.
And because your nervous system still listens for the same sensory cues our Neanderthal ancestors relied on, this can really work. Essentially, if you can do something with your body that you couldn’t do in a true fight-or-flight situation, you’re sending your brain a safety message. The trick is finding the tools that work for you.
Three of my favourite methods:
Breathing:
Pull your head backward with a nice straight spine, tuck your chin toward your throat just a little.
Take a deep breath in.
Hold your breath for as long as is comfortable.
Exhale and fully relax - bringing your head back to neutral. Repeat 3-5 times.
Eye exercises:
Keep your head still and shift your eyes to the right only as far as is comfortable.
Hold this position for about one minute. Repeat to the Left.
You can also slowly shift your eyes side to side with your breathing
Music:
Try using binaural input like 8D audio, or white noise in one ear at a time. Listen to your favourite song, and sing along if you can!
Salience Nerd Notes:
Myth: “It’s all in your head — you just need to think positive.”
Right, because if positive thinking alone worked, nobody would have anxiety, and Post-It note affirmations would be prescribed.
Reality: Your brain takes cues from your body. Breathing, movement, touch, and sensory input can all signal safety faster and more effectively than thoughts alone.
