Why is your nervous system  important?

Nervous system 101 

Most people are vaguely familiar with the term nervous system.  Your nervous system consists of your brain, spinal cord and all of the nerves that come out from your spinal cord.  Those nerves extend out and connect to all of your organs, bones, muscles, and cells in your body.  Every single thing in your body is in communication with everything else thanks to your nervous system.

Your brain and spinal cord rest inside the bones of your skull and spine.  In their healthy state they rest in a relaxed position, with just the right amount of tone or tension.  Tone-tension is a very important concept.  Many people think that less  tone-tension is better but this is not the case.  If you don’t have enough tone-tension than you don’t have enough strength and stability, you are clumsier, floppier, slower and flatter.  If you have too much tone-tension you are tight, wound up, stiff and something could snap/break at any moment.  All tissues (spinal cord, muscles, organs, etc.) must have the “right” amount of tone in order to perform their functions appropriately.

Lets relate this to your spinal cord.  In its most optimal state of tone-tension it is able to relay messages back and forth between your brain and your body so that you can both receive necessary information from your environment and also take appropriate actions.  In essence so that you can be most responsive and adaptive.  Health is a state of responsiveness and adaptability.  In the case of either too much or not enough tone in your spinal cord, your nervous system cannot relay these messages appropriately, and thus your health begins to deteriorate.  As with all things when communication is impaired the system breaks down, so too with your body.

Getting the right tone in your  spinal cord

Stress, passion & life

So what creates too much tone or not enough tone in the spinal cord?

Too much tone is created when you can’t handle the circumstances of your life or you try to control-manage all of the details.  This is what people call stress and it creates hyper-vigilance.  These people often feel overly sensitive to life as they are in overwhelm.  They may feel everyone’s emotions, or only be able to eat certain foods, or need to be particular about their environments.  Sometimes they appear ultra functional.  Trust is  usually challenging for these folks and they may also use substances to calm down or “check out” so that they don’t have to feel as much.

Too little tone is created when you lack passion and desire, or feel unworthy to be your unique expression of life.  These people often feel bored, like they aren’t enough and need to seek out more stimulus so that they can feel something, which makes them feel more alive.  Its hard for these people to take action, or have breakthroughs, they may feel awkward in movement, and their posture may be more collapsed and appear less confident.

I have found that most people have a combination of low and high tone in their systems.  Network Spinal Analysis specifically addresses spinal cord tension patterns in order to help create the most optimal tone in your spinal cord and nervous system.  It does this through gentle contacts that help your brain tune into your body and more efficiently regulate the flow of information throughout your system.  The benefits of optimal tone are an increase in presence, availability, communication, and health of your body-mind-spirit being.

Dr. Amanda Hessel, Chiropractor, Network Spinal Analysis & Somato-Respiratory Integration, Boulder, Colorado