Ease Your Lizard Brain

Ease Your Lizard Brain (Step 2 – Week 2)

After you become well practiced in finding yourself and your safety, the next step is to deliberately use your body to send a message to your brain that you are physically safe. When you create a relaxed-muscle-body you send a message of safety to your Autonomic Nervous System. I call this part of your brain, which is located primarily in your brain stem, the Lizard Brain, because it behaves like a nervous lizard. The Lizard Brain generally follows the orders of the Security Guard (see step 3) to prepare your body for one of the fear responses of fight, flight, or freeze. However, when you deliberately change your breathing, your posture, your muscle tension, or your facial expressions, you are using your body to persuade the Lizard Brain that despite the message it’s receiving from the Security Guard, you are actually safe. Relaxing your body is like petting a lizard on the belly - if you’ve ever done this you know that lizards completely relax when you pet them on the belly. As your Lizard Brain relaxes, more blood can return to the YOU part of your brain so you can be in greater contact with your values, hopes, and dreams. You’ll be better able to plan, to reason, and to appreciate emotions rather than fear them.

Write your own plan to practice Ease Your Lizard Brain for the next week:

“If I am safe, then I will ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.”

(strategy to create a relaxed muscle body like; "part my lips and teeth, relax my shoulders, and sigh three times slowly and gently)

Slowly and deliberately repeat this plan to yourself several times each morning for the next week.