Unwinding
What exactly is unwinding? It’s not unravelling, because at the end of the process, if there ever is an end, we’re still bound together in one piece. So, what have we become at the end of the process of an unwind? How have we changed? What are we referring to as the subject of the unwinding? If we need to unwind, where did we start off in the first place?
My hypothesis is that being wound up has to do with a certain orientation within our autonomic nervous system so that unwinding is the process of re-centering with a different orientation within it. Here’s what I mean.
In Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s Sensing, Feeling and Action; the Experiential Anatomy of Body-Mind Centering, a collection of interviews elucidating the field of study she has courageously pioneered, she describes the different aspects of the Somatic Nervous System. First, she point to the enteric nervous system (ENS), our most primitive, which organizes the activity of the gut. Because the gut determines what materials are needed to nourish the body, what’s toxic and what’s excessive, on an emotional level the ENS connects with when, as humans we feel safe versus endangered; nourished as opposed to poisoned or starved. Then, she outlines the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), a deeply grounding mechanism that regulates the activities of our internal organs and organic processes. The PNS is affiliated with a soft, concentrated inward focus or awareness, a sense of the physical being as a whole, the flow of blood toward the heart carried by the veins and activities such as meditation, deep rest, recuperation after illness and somatic awareness practice. Finally, she details the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), the activities of which are visible through its organization of motor impulses and actions to move the body through the space. The SNS provides the physical impulses that determine externally directed choice-making, motor-coordination and movement, even active, directed thought processes that concern topics outside ourselves. It is affiliated with looking out toward others, sensing distinctive choices, pathways as Bonnie puts it, “discerning the body in individual parts.” SNS is muscle-tissue oriented, connected to the arteries which carry blood-flow away from the heart (outward) and to the muscles which support and drive our physical activity.
In my mind, the ENS is like the floor, a personal earth, an individual gravitational pull that keeps each of us connected to our own sense of being. In other words, without the ENS functioning properly, we wouldn’t have a ground to stand on - we would cease to exist. Literally, the body would either starve or toxify and we would die. Point blank, it’s essential, it’s fundamental and underlies all of our complex functionality as human beings even though, we have no conscious control of it (though it can be affected through diet). Then, there’s Parasympathetic versus Sympathetic. Even the use of the word “versus” between them demonstrates the formulation of the idea that one is pitted against the other. I’ll admit, this fueding concept was beginning to shape my hypothesis into one that poses a diagnosis of too much SNS yielding ‘wound-up’ states of being with the act of settling back into the PNS as the embodiment of the process of unwinding. But in an article titled The Autonomic Nervous System: An Experiential Perspective, Bonnie notes,
“Sympathetic and parasympathetic functions are mutually complementary to and supportive of each other and not antagonistic as stated in traditional literature. As the purpose of the autonomic system is to maintain homeostasis or physiological balance, having these two harmoniously opposing…systems helps prevent overreactions when the balance shifts from the expression of one to the expression of the other due to changes in the internal and/or external environments. Each system supports and modifies the other at all times on a wide continuum of attention, intention, and function. Alternation of the major active role is also necessary in providing rest and recuperation for the supporting system. Together they give us a personal sense of vitality and well-being.”
Okay. So, we need to be SNS-centered on ocassion in order for our unwind mechanism (PNS) to recharge. In other words, being overly active physically or mentally might not be the result of intentionally centering in the SNS, it could instead be a symptom of a depleted PNS that needs attention and cultivation — and could even, according to Bonnie, be draining the ENS (danger zone!). With this theory in mind, then unwinding is a practice, more easily accessible when one is in tune with the PNS, its tone, its energy, its vibe.
In the functional anatomy course I’m taking with Irene Dowd, she sometimes discusses the nervous system in relationship to our moving bodies. During last week’s lesson, we were discussing scoliosis and minor side-curve deviations in the spine. When questioned about protocol for retraining muscles to encourage correction of spinal deviations, she encouraged us to remember that “the nervous systems know which way is up.” In other words, she was implying that minor, functional scoliotic deviations of the spine can be righted by surrending to the innate intelligence of the nervous system. This type of active surrender, however, requires a familiarity with the resonating tone of our PNS. If you say, let your nervous system unwind your spine to someone who has zero practice in their capacity to hold an inner focus, they’ll naturally think it’s bunk. They’ll be completely resistant. No way can they straighten up by essentially willing themselves to straighten up. Alternatively, for someone who regularly checks in with their internal tone as a guiding force in their life and a learning tool for future choice-making, this suggestion might just be a gentle reminder to listen to their bodies and in doing so, trust themselves to right themselves. It seems spiritual, a body-based faith in a way, but also, physiologically sound within the concept of this understanding of the body’s autonomic nervous system.
So, where can we find the grounding intelligence of the PNS when we’re overtaken by too much thinking, anxiety, sleeplessness? And what if we feel hyper-fueled by excessive productivity, overworking and thinking? What if it’s how we support ourselves? I felt particularly calmed when my friend André shared these super fun pie charts (click on it, go ahead!) from the UK’s Daily Mail that share how great thinkers of the past spent, or rather, indulged their time. This article in particular, highlights the positive ways great thinkers managed their time, but after reading through this blog entry, I’m hoping you can see as much as I can, the way they alternated between leading their lives from both the PNS-intelligence and the SNS-intelligence so that they were ultimately, in balance. In consideration of each of their historic achievements, from Beethoven’s symphonies to Darwin’s theory of evolution, it’s clear that taking the time to restore and connect to the intuitive (possibly non-productive), inner world does not ultimately, impede externally discernable productivity or achievements.
So, after all this, let me revisit my initial queries.
What have we become at the end of the process of an unwind?
Functioning appropriately according to our current internal and external environment.
How have we changed?
We are more harmonious to our surroundings and trusting of our autonomic systems of balance. We have surrendered conscious efforts to unconscious being.
What are we referring to as the subject of the unwinding?
The autonomic nervous system.
So I’m now living with the idea of thinking of unwinding as the act of restoring a sense of balance and harmony within ourselves and and acceptance of our different ways of being both internally (establishing a calm, trusting connection to ourselves and acting (confidently with the world around us). A return to the natural balance, a harmonious back and forth between PNS and SNS under different circumstances. An attuning and surrender to the beautiful complexity within.
