How To Retrain Your Brain: The Four Hybrid States of Your Nervous System

By Jenn Baron. 

There are three primary states of the nervous system. Safe/social, fight/flight, and freeze.

There are four hybrid states of the nervous system. Play, stillness, fawn, and hypervigilance.

The one I'm most familiar with is hypervigilance, which is described as feeling frozen, on edge, and constantly scanning for danger. When I'm in that state, I feel exhausted, irritable, and like everything is very serious.

When I start to feel frozen, on edge, or I'm scanning for danger, I can go into what's called a danger feedback loop. That loop sounds like, "THIS IS A PROBLEM, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME? HOW DO I MAKE IT STOP?!"

All three of the above statements create more suffering and keep me from tending to my nervous system.

The fact that my nervous system became activated isn't a problem. It's actually a sign that the primitive part of my brain is working beautifully and doing its job, which is to warn me of potential danger and keep me alive. The thing I don't want is to stay in a state of hypervigilance 24/7. We're meant to enter a state and then exit it quickly once the threat has passed.

However, growing up in a chaotic and stressful household didn't often allow me to escape that state. My system was kinda stuck in hypervigilance because of the danger feedback loop, and as a kid, I didn't know what I didn't know. The danger feedback loop was a protective response and pattern meant to keep me alive, and it worked.

Now, as a 50-year-old woman who does not need that loop anymore, it became a maladaptive tool that was creating stress and suffering. My brain was telling me there was a problem, or could be any second, when there wasn't.

So how is a human supposed to tweak that pattern and create a sense of safety in their body and, therefore, brain? By intentionally and consciously showing your body and nervous system that it is safe now.

I'm doing a simple practice when I'm not hypervigilant to build a more solid and "thick" foundation of safety inside me. And a different simple practice when my system is activated, and both are important.

You don't only train for a marathon the day you run your race. You train daily until the big day. The same thing applies to your nervous system. You don't only tend to it when you're freaked out or feeling lots of anxiety.

You do a little here and there, which builds your internal sense of safety so that you're better equipped to take care of yourself when sh*t does hit the fan.

Make sense?

When we walk into any space, the primitive part of our brain instantly scans for danger. It's unconscious and happens in a fraction of a second.

What I'm doing now is consciously scanning rooms for signs of safety. When I walk into my kitchen, I'll notice the pans hanging on our wall, the funny magnets we have on our fridge, notes on our chalkboard wall, and place my hand on the counter or a towel.

Acknowledging those things tells the primitive part of my brain that I'm safe in the space. I do the same thing when I walk into my home office... When I go from my office to the bathroom... The second floor to the first floor to the living room...

Each time I do this super simple and easy practice, I am literally rewiring my brain and increasing my internal sense of safety.

We can retrain our brains, people!! How cool is that?

The other thing I do is, seated or standing, and keeping my lower body still, look forward and name five things as I slowly turn to my right 180 degrees. Slowly come back to your starting position, naming another five things. Then do the same thing going to the left.

This tool helps your brain recognise that your space is safe, and you're also stretching your psoas muscle, which calms your nervous system.

Doing a little here and there will rewire your brain and help you create a greater sense of safety in your body so you don't have to live in a state of frequent hypervigilance.

I got your back, Sunshine!

Jenn Baron is a Certified Life Coach. She helps women see what's going on in their brains, decide if it's working for them, and share easy-to-implement tools that get them the results they want. Fast.

To learn more about how Jenn can help you, check out her site or IG.