The nervous system is a network of nerve cells and fibers that transmit information from the brain to the body and the body to the brain.  It is comprised of the brain, spinal cord (runs down the spine), and nerves that spread throughout the rest of the body. 

You may wonder why understanding the structure of the nervous system is important. While you do not need to know everything, having more clarity on how your nervous system works can be vastly helpful. It can give you a look into things that your body is doing, understand where they come from, and how you can affect things like your heart rate, stress levels, pain levels, and more.

The nervous system structure is indicated below:

Today our primary focus will be the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). Both aspects of the PNS, the Somatic Nervous System (SNS) and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) can be affected during strength and movement training in simple ways.

• The SNS is impacted by working on coordination, balance, and movement patterns (also known as motor control). 
• The ANS is affected by HOW we move and breathe during strength and movement training. Adjusting how we breathe, rest, and move is one way to help balance Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) activation which in turn affects pain. 

Pain and Autonomic Dysregulation

While movement can effect the ANS, your ANS regulation or dysregulation can also impact movement, capacity, an more. When the ANS functions in a healthy way, it responds to stress and pain by first decreasing pain. Then, it affects the local area by restricting movement and feeling pain in order to protect the injury. This stress response is highly adaptable to get away from or handle an immediate threat and help you to heal long-term. 

However, when you struggle with chronic or acute pain, the NS is impacted. Commonly, these signals do not change as the body physically heals.  Research has shown that instead of pain being suppressed, SNS activation can increase the perception of pain in certain individuals.  In fact, research also shows that these signals can continue to guard the area by continuing to feel pain in areas even after they are mechanically healed. 

One way to think of this is that the area affected becomes hypersensitive, with the body and brain interpreting any changes or movements as dangerous.  Neurologically, this means that the SNS is hyperactive with ALL movement.  This is like an alarm system in your house going off in the same way when someone knocks down your door AND when a leaf blows against your house. 

These changes in your NS may be part of why your capacity has changed so dramatically and might contribute to you asking, why can’t I do that anymore?

So, what can be done to help re-learn or re-regulate the ANS response if this has happened to you? Fortunately, you do have options. You can learn to shift your NS state from SNS to PNS during movement, teaching your body how to move without the alarms going off!  The first step to this is to better understand and FEEL these NS states.

Note: The brain and NS have been shown to have incredible plasticity, meaning that while the NS may be stuck in a certain pattern now it does not mean it cannot change. 

Feeling the ANS States

The ANS states can be felt day to day, and they feel distinctly different. First, let’s start by defining the primary states, SNS activation (fight, flight, or freeze) and PNS activation (rest and digest).

SNS (fight, flight, or freeze):

Imagine you are driving in traffic, and someone almost hits your car.  Emotions may include, anger, fear, surprise- a rush of adrenaline. Physiological responses: increasing heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, etc.   This is your fight, flight, or freeze, your SNS activation.

PNS (rest and digest):

Imagine you are resting quietly at home.  Nothing to be alarmed by or to do anything about.  Your body slows down to refuel. Physiological responses: decreased heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, increased digestion. This is your PNS activation.

ENS:

Commonly referred to as the second brain, The ENS is the “intrinsic nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract.” It functions as a way for our bodies to receive the fuel needed, communicating directly with the brain.  While there are different states of the Enteric NS, today we are going to focus on the PNS and SNS and how they relate to pain.

Chronic Pain and SNS Overstimulation

Normally, when you experience stress the SNS is stimulated, after the event dissipates SNS activation decreases and PNS activation increases. However, those who have Chronic Pain commonly suffer from SNSS Overstimulation, being stuck on high arousal or in that adrenaline-feeling state.

The physiological symptoms of SNS overstimulation include:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Tachycardia (rapid heart rate)
• Dilated pupils
• Hyperhidrosis (abnormal sweating)
• Hyperreflexia (overactive reflexes)
• Vasoconstriction (generally manifesting in cold hands and feet) (2)

The good news is that overstimulation in the SNS has been shown to be reversible as the brain learns to reinterpret movement AND as you learn to improve movement mechanics- thus improving movement patterns and strength in order to better support joints. 

While improving strength, posture, and movement quality does not solve all issues; it has been shown to be effective for improving joint pain and performance.  Thus, strength training coupled with an effort to increase PNS can both improve joint pain and decrease SNS overactivation issues to increase your capacity for pain-free movement.

Note: Learning to feel the difference in activation of the SNS vs the PNS is a valuable tool not only in strength work but in other activities as well!  It allows you to individualize any activity, exercise program, or choice by checking in with YOUR body (NS) to see how it reacts.  Allowing you the information needed to adjust specific exercises, entire exercise routines, and other aspects of your lifestyle. 

Breathing

One way to access the ANS to help shift from SNS to PNS activation, or vice versa, is through breathing.  For those who have Chronic Pain, it is a simple method to improve SNS overactivation during movement, exercise, and day-to-day. 

The first aspect of breathing that we are going to discuss is nose vs mouth breathing which has a huge impact on ANS activation.  Below is a chart showing the qualities of each.  You will notice that SNS activation is increased through mouth breathing while PNS activation is increased with nose breathing. 

Mouth breathing                                                                Nose breathing

-Sympathetic NS activation -Generally chest breathing -Uses secondary breathing muscles (think shoulders, ribs, neck) -Constriction of blood vessels in the lungs -Lower oxygen exchange -Faster rate of breathing -Poor Sleep Quality

-Parasympathetic NS activation -Primarily uses diaphragm vs secondary muscles -Dilation of blood vessels in the lungs -Higher oxygen exchange -A slower rate of breathing -Humidifies air -Sterilizes air -Improved sleep quality

Note: As you can see, breathing through your nose can have a huge impact on the nervous system, muscle tension, and other aspects of health.  You will note that mouth breathing directly affects muscular pain in the upper body muscles of the chest, neck, and shoulders, which are utilized as a primary method to expand the lungs.  When these muscles are used for breathing, they can become stiff and overused, resulting in increased muscle tension and pain.

Breathing During Movement

The different between nose and mouth breathing is significant. However, are ae three other aspects of breathing within movements that are helpful to consider.

1. Breathe control: the ability to adjust how and where we breathe.  This has been shown that Improving breath control increases movement quality and control, improving awareness, posture, and movement patterns.   
2. Breathing to improve awareness.  Breathing has been shown to help us focus, and in this instance is a tool that can improve body awareness.  Which in turn provides us with information to adjust current movement patterns AND learn new ones.
3. Holding the breath during movement.  This is common for those who are in or are expecting pain from movement.  While this is a short-term solution for being able to move during pain, breathing can allow you to feel and notice pain AND shift out of SNS activation.  Breathing throughout movement allows us to build a base of pain-free movement in which we can grow. 

Other Considerations for Autonomic NS Rebalancing:

While breathing is one aspect that can help decrease SNS overactivation, there are other places in your life that are important to address if you are struggling with chronic pain, including:

1. Sleep: Sleeping 7-10 hours a night
2. Nutritional and hydration habits: building a base of consistent and balanced nutritional habits
3. Inflammatory foods (this will likely vary from person to person): decreasing SNS activation by staying away from foods to which you currently have an inflammatory response
4. Overall stress: Finding methods to (A) decrease overall stress and/or (B) build habits of how to process and recover from stress
5. Safety (physical or emotional)
6. Other health conditions (Ehlers-Danlos, Marfan, Heart Disease, liver or kidney disease, etc): Addressing these issues with a medical professional
7. Environmental factors (mold, chemicals, etc): These factors may have an inflammatory effect similar to food sensitivities, decreasing exposure may help to decrease SNS over-activation.
8. Trauma/psychological factors: Working with a medical professional and/or getting the support you need for your mental health

Chronic pain derails your life. Fortunately, you do have options that can help you to manage pain, improve energy, gain strength and move. I work with clients to help them make small and effective changes that do not overload the NS. It is possible to gain strength and improve movement while decreasing SNS activation. If you are interested in learning more, reach out for a free consultation at integrativemvmt@gmail.com.