Elevate Your Life From The Inside Out: How Rewiring The Nervous System Is A Game Changer We Can All Benefit From
No one said being a human was easy, life gets stressful, and it can be hard to cope, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our nervous system directly correlates with our mind and body, and CJ Smith (She/They) can help us use this connection to our advantage.
In 2020, CJ Smith was trained and certified as a Mindset Coach by Bob Proctor. In 2022, Smith took her training further and received her Trauma Informed Neurosomatic Intelligence (NSI) certificate.
In addition, Smith is a Canadian, best-selling author of Radical Reflection and Radical Reflection KIDS, founder of The Mindset Family, and featured in Elle Canada, Canada AM, and CTV News. She also shares expertise with her Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok followers.
Smith uses their certifications to educate and help others. “Life is a game, and when you know the rules, it's a lot more fun to play,” Smith says. “I help teach people what the rules are and how to have more fun doing the things they want to do in their life so that everyone can win.”
“It sucks playing a game when you don’t know how to win.”
Smith explained that she’d always been excellent at manifesting but didn’t understand how she was doing it. Furthermore, she wasn’t only manifesting amazing things, but also a considerable amount of trauma.
Smith quickly realized that traumatic events from childhood were wired in her nervous system, creating emotional energy that aligned with re-creating toxic patterns. Smith’s subconscious mind and nervous system didn’t allow them to feel safe in certain ideas and beliefs, resulting in resistance—which is why her manifestations would only happen sometimes.
The energetic boundaries Smith experienced inspired her to expand her knowledge of Trauma-Informed Neurosomatic Intelligence. “You can ‘mind over matter’ a lot of things, but the nervous system rules more than people realize,” Smith states.
“Neuro means brain, somatic means body,” Smith clarifies—illustrating the interdependence. They describe the nervous system as an ‘input output’ system, meaning we must change our inputs to rewire the outputs that our nervous system sends to the brain.
Any real or perceived threat can cause our nervous systems to become dysregulated. “It's a state of being that we tap into at different points in our day, when you’re tired, hungry, etc.,” Smith says. In addition, noises, bright lights, and stimulated skin can all be triggering.
“Being a human is inherently triggering,” Smith tells me.
I asked Smith: what's the first step to regulating and healing trauma within the nervous system? “Self-awareness. You can’t solve a problem if you aren’t aware there is a problem,” she responded confidently.
We are all living with trauma; it's unavoidable. Sometimes people don’t have conscious memories of what they experienced, but it stays rooted in the nervous system. This happens because trauma is an ongoing pattern that occurs in the nervous system—a system designed to protect us from past and present threats for our safety.
Creating frequent, consistent, positive stimulants can rewire the nervous system, thus healing trauma. Neuro-Somatic Intelligence is based on applied neurology and practiced with a foundation of “minimum effective dose.” This foundation provides the smallest dose required for maximum benefit to the nervous system.
Smith recommends integrating 4-5 neuro-somatic drills into your daily routine. These drills can be as easy as brushing your tongue, gargling, stimulating your feet, or facial tapping with your fingertips. However, it's imperative to test these drills before and after each time you practice to be certain they are impacting you positively.
If we aren't doing drills, the nervous system responds to the inputs we receive from our environment; about 400 billion per second. Rather than relying on organic environmental inputs, we can intentionally create new inputs that generate positive outputs and benefit our wellness and emotional resilience.
Smith also strongly recommends working with certified practitioners as they may catch things that are easy to overlook with an untrained eye. Smith provides multiple free resources on her TikTok and Instagram for those who don’t have the financial ability to work with a practitioner.
The nervous system is designed to protect us by constantly sending feedback to the brain; however, it is subconscious and doesn’t understand the difference between real and perceived threats. Consequently, when the nervous system is dysregulated it sends output alerts to the brain, which then sends a threat response to the body—fight, flight, or freeze. This essentially causes alarm when there may not be a real threat.
These output alerts can shut down the prefrontal cortex. Although we may consciously know how to handle a threatening situation, when the prefrontal cortex isn't functioning, we can't access the information that tells us what to do. Therefore, people react without thinking about who or what they are reacting to.
Regulation through the use of neuro-somatic drills helps us return to a calm state more quickly after a trigger and allows you to create a larger window of tolerance for stress.
Additionally, neuro-somatic drills can improve physical health. The nervous system and body work interdependently. Intentionally regulating and focusing on one aspect of your health can create a domino effect on the rest of the body; healing more than one thing simultaneously. These drills have shown improvements in eyesight, migraines, respiratory issues, stomach and digestive issues, back pain, muscle pain, immunity, eczema, insomnia, and more.
Neuro-somatic drills have shown to improve mental health too. Dysregulated nervous systems can present themselves similarly to symptoms of mental illness. The vagus nerve, in particular, can heavily affect mental health when it isn't functioning properly. Trauma can cause the vagus nerve to stay in a state of freeze—often seen in depressive episodes, exhaustion, and more. It also causes a state of fight—often seen in overachieving, insomnia, restlessness, unwarranted anger, and more. Neuro-somatic drills have helped with symptoms of anxiety, depression, insomnia, dissociation, ADHD, and many others.
“There is a reason we are seeing the highest rates of mental health issues, suicide, diseases, cancer, autoimmune, and ADHD,” Smith says. “Although I'm not a doctor, from a trauma-informed perspective, it makes sense that it's in direct correlation to the increase of stress we are experiencing.”
Smith touches on the media’s role in dysregulation, saying, "We are no longer only consuming the stress or triggers of our own lives, but are now exposed to stressful inputs from around the world with the touch of a mobile phone.”
“From an evolutionary standpoint, our nervous system isn’t wired to know everything that is happening in the whole wide world all the time!”
They continue by saying, “We weren’t meant to be alone operating with all of this emotional energy that we can tap into with our fingertips at any given second.”
“Our society now is probably more dysregulated than it has ever been,” states Smith.
Source: CJ Smith
Smith explained that she doesn’t like how society views self-improvement and self-care as a chore. “I want to remove the stigma of personal development. You aren't broken. You are a human with a nervous system that is trying to protect you.” They continue to say, “Rewire your nervous system so that you can transform your perceptions and reality to align with how you want to live.”
Follow CJ Smith on Instagram and TikTok today and check out her website CJsmith.ca for more guidance, resources, and upcoming projects.
Currently, Smith is working on a third Radical Reflection book with Julie Amlin, a play-based breath work and reading activity, and a short film. Make sure to keep an eye out for these new projects!
Would you try neuro-somatic drills? Leave a comment below.