One of the most effective nervous system practices is NSDR (or ‘Non-Sleep-Deep-Rest’), which uses a technique of guided body scanning to induce a so-called ‘hypnagogic’ state of waking sleep.
There are many benefits to this practice, but one of the lesser-known perks is its potential to increase our 'interoceptive' sensitivity ~ or our capacity to sense, track and feel our internal state.
TL;DR in just 13-minutes of practice, you can downshift your nervous system, build stress resilience & build your capacity for cultivating deep rest.
If you're intrigued, I'd recommend starting with this 13-min practice. You might also try experimenting with 5 days in a row of NSDR, ideally between 2-4pm or as a transition out of your work day, and see how you feel afterwards.
I have found this to be an exceptionally helpful practice in my own life, especially when feeling under-rested or overworked ~ in part because it doesn’t require you to DO anything ~ so there’s less motivation required than with other modalities.
If you were to measure your brain waves during NSDR, you'd see that they are rapidly moving from active 'beta', into 'alpha' & eventually into the threshold between the two, almost like a knife’s edge where the body technically 'sleeps' whilst the mind is lucid.
In one three-month study I came across, an NSDR practice was delivered to sixty college professors, men and women, aged between 30 - 55 years. They showed that NSDR provided an especially potent intervention for reducing both cognitive and physiological symptoms of anxiety.
Additionally, NSDR has been shown to effectively flush cortisol + norepinephrine (adrenaline) from our system, which both inhibit interoception and calm.
In short, it's essentially a much better alternative to a nap, something our culture long-forgot the importance of.
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If you would like to access this practice and more like this, you might enjoy our app Stateshift. Stateshift uses practices like breathwork to help you unlock powerful states inside your nervous system (like deep relaxation, or intense focus). Click here to access your free trial.
