Increasing Nervous System Capacity
Inner peace is achieved when your capacity for equanimity exceeds the intensity in your nervous system. For most of us, decreasing intensity isn’t an option - we’re trying to do things in the world. So how do we increase capacity?
When something is hard - bad news, a deal falling through, running out of money, an argument with your spouse - what you’re reacting to are sensations in your body. They become intense. You want to pop out. You want them to stop. You look for escape.
Anger is one release. An explosive purging, energy moving up and out. On the other end: withdrawing, hiding, dissociating from bodily sensations, absorbing your mind in something else. Shutting off with TV or drugs. All forms of popping out.
The practice is learning to be with those sensations. With equanimity. They are sensations. They don’t mean anything. You have the capacity to be with them - you haven’t trained it yet. Once you can hold those sensations without losing your grounding, you can continue acting in accordance with your deepest truth. Your foundation stays solid. The direction stays clear. Even when it feels like wading through molasses, you keep moving.
The sensations are headwinds. Sometimes they feel like a punch in the face. Take the punch. Keep going. It’s not about how hard you can hit - it’s about how hard you can be hit and keep moving.
This is nervous system training. Build the habit: intense sensations, equanimity, connection to your deepest truth, one step after another.
Solo exercises to try: wall sit, horse stance (and other Qi Gong standing meditation poses), cold showers, ego eradicator. Increase the time you spend in one of these each day as a measure of your growing capacity. When you’re ready to dial up the challenge, there are partner practices too.
Keep breathing. Remember who you are. Remember your truth.