👉🏽 Subscribe for thoughtful, bite-sized emails — from Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist — on how to take care of your nervous system & understand your brain.
Nervous system regulation in the modern age 🧠
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Every single day, our brains are processing countless pieces of input. Notifications from five different apps. The ping of incoming text messages The microwave timer going off. Emails piling up in your inbox. The physical pile of letters & bills on your desk. Phone calls & voicemails. The to-do list that keeps growing. 🧠 Due to the sheer amount of stimulation around us, it can be hard for our brains to discern what is actually urgent vs. what seems urgent but is not a true emergency. The original human brain – the one that developed before iPhones, social media, or 24/7 news coverage – was designed to work in a different way, and at a different pace, than what is being asked of our brains in this modern age. The original human brain was focused on threats like bears, mountain lions, & fires (among other things). These are the types of threats that trigger an adrenaline rush & prompt the nervous system to enter fight, flight, or freeze mode – whatever the situation calls for. This is a highly energy-consuming process, and it’s what our bodies are designed to do to keep us alive in life-or-death situations. It’s a brilliant survival mechanism. The nervous system ends up living in fight-or-flight mode, instead of moving through it. Of course, some things are emergencies, and some things are very urgent. So I would much rather that we conserve energy where we can, & preserve energy for what matters most. The next time you feel overwhelmed & panicked, as if you are being chased by a bear (even though you’re not): See if you can pause for 3 seconds, and notice what is happening around you, in your immediate environment. Then, notice what is happening inside you (in your body & your mind). Then, make the discernment for yourself: is this a true emergency? Or is the nervous system being triggered by a false sense of urgency? If it is a true emergency, your nervous system will know & continue moving toward safety. If it is not a true emergency, your system can re-calibrate & take a deep breath. This extra pause can mean the difference between staying stuck in fight-or-flight mode, vs. moving through it & remembering: there is no bear right now. In this moment, you are okay. With care, P.S. Know someone who needs to hear this? Forward it along. New readers can subscribe here. P.P.S. If you’re interested in working together, I’d love to support you. 🌻 For folks who are overwhelmed & burnt out, but too busy for weekly therapy, I offer Nervous System Healing Intensives — three 90-minute sessions, using brain-body modalities (Brainspotting, IFS, EMDR) that go deeper than talk therapy & help you feel better, sooner.
Intensives are a type of short-term, accelerated therapy — for folks who prefer a hyper-focused approach to healing; who need longer than 50-min sessions to warm up & process deeply. 👉🏽 If you want to get an Intensive on the books, click here to book an intro call. I help highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults heal their nervous systems & connect with their authentic selves. 💗 Need a nervous system reset? —> Join me for a Calm Place meditation. |
Liz's Neurodivergent Letters
👉🏽 Subscribe for thoughtful, bite-sized emails — from Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist — on how to take care of your nervous system & understand your brain.
While on a hike recently, I came across a sign that said: 🚫 If you see a bear, don’t make eye contact (which the bear may perceive as a sign of aggression) Which was right next to another sign: 👀 If you see a mountain lion, DO make eye contact (which shows the lion that you are aware of its presence & not afraid) These signs made me feel a bit spooked, reminding me of the possibility of encountering these creatures. (Though, to my relief, a third sign in the vicinity stated that the last...
There’s a book on my shelf that I’ve been reading for... what feels like forever. Every week or so, I’ll pick it up & read through another chapter. The content of the book is complex, so I can only process one chapter at a time. Then, my brain gets tired and needs a break. (The book, for the record, is called A Disability History of the United States, and it’s definitely not a “light read.”) My point is: the slow pace of reading a physical book - feeling the material in my hands, turning each...
Someone recently asked me, “What’s your favorite type of flower?” My answer: “Roses and unicorn baby’s breath.” Then, I spent the next minute trying to explain what unicorn baby’s breath flowers look like. 😅 The simplest description? They’re like rainbow-colored stars, except in flower form. Here’s what I mean👇🏽 These flowers seem to sparkle and smile when you look at them. They remind me that we don’t have to look far in order to find traces of magic on earth. Flowers are just as magical as...