Why can’t my clients balance today, or a better way of looking at it is – how does the nervous system affect my clients’ performance today?

The short answer is often STRESS: stress affects our movement, mobility, breathing, spatial awareness, proprioception and Balance! Not only can this lead to not being able to do your Pilates well this week, but it can also lead to your pain levels rising…… Have you ever noticed how your back pain, or neck issues or shoulder tension rapidly increases as your stress levels rise???

It’s important to acknowledge this, it’s a fact! Remember your mind affects your body!

We’ve all heard of our nervous systems, we have our SYMPATHETIC nervous system and our PARASYMPATHETIC nervous system.

Ideally we all want to be in our parasympathetic nervous system, this is all about rest, digestion, relaxation, nourishment of self. In this state, we have a normal heart rate, blood pressure decreases, we breathe properly, move more easily, are more aware of ourselves and what is around us. This is where you really want to be!

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), is responsible for our fight or flight responses. We are on high alert so our breathing becomes quicker & more shallow, we tense ourselves ready for action, saliva is reduced, the bladder walls relax (!), cortisol and adrenaline pump through our system. We really only want to be here for short periods of time!

So, lots of us operate predominately from our SNS – wow! Imagine what that is doing to our bodies? Think about eating your lunch, if you’re stressed, basically operating from your SNS, can you imagine how your body is going to handle you eating your lunch? You will eat faster, take in more air, chew less (you already have less saliva in your mouth), your body is not in rest and digest, so no wonder we end up with indigestion and all sorts of ‘gut’ issues!

So, when you come along to Pilates, maybe you’re already late, maybe you’ve been worrying about work issues, financial issues, your family, you feel you don’t have enough time etc – now it’s easier to see why balance will be a problem for you!

I think of my stress as a bucket and in my bucket go all my worries – work, financial, relationship, nutritional issues, fitness goals etc etc, as long as those worries don’t reach the top, I can operate pretty well and stay in my parasympathetic nervous system most of the time……but…as the bucket fills, it might only take one small thing to make my bucket overflow, and then… boom… I’m straight into my SNS and all that entails!

The secret is to recognise how full your bucket is getting and if it’s starting to get close to the top, then you must start doing things that reduce your stress. It might be as simple as going for a walk, having a hot bath, speaking to someone you love, a break away from work for a few hours or a day or a week. Do a mind/body form of exercise, like Pilates, meditate, read….What’s important here is to recognise when it’s time for you to take action and take that action.

Living in your SNS is no fun for you or your body!