Lifeworks Occupational Therapy Blog

I’m sure we can all relate to feeling ‘butterflies in your stomach’ ‘skin crawling’ or ‘heart racing’ when we feel strong emotions like excitement, fear, or anxiety. All of these feelings are not a coincidence, they are all good examples of how our autonomic nervous system effects our physical health. So, what is our autonomic nervous system (ANS) and why does it matter? Our ANS’s job is to make sure we stay alive and controls all of our autonomic functions, things like our breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and libido. Because your ANS’s #1 goal it to keep you alive, it regulates your bodily functions based on whether or not it perceives you as being safe or in danger, a term that has been coined ‘neuroception’. Our ANS fluctuates between 3 different states of arousal depending on a neuroception of safety or danger. Our Social engagement state is active when our neuroception of safety is highest. In this state our body and nervous system are open to input, progres...

I recently spent five weeks working with a group of women experiencing Post Natal Depression and Anxiety. During this time I was reminded of the power of Gratitude. What is Gratitude? We all have times when we are aware of being thankful for a person, an experience, a situation. These moments give us a positive feeling and we call this “gratitude”. Feeling grateful can be a spontaneous expression of appreciation for what one has. It is also possible to cultivate gratitude, making a conscious effort to notice the goodness in life from the big things to the very little things. Just being around your family and friends can help you to feel more grateful. It might be that you feel thankful when waking up in bed and hearing the birds sing outside your window. What are the benefits? Studies have shown that feeling grateful can boost happiness, improving both physical and psychological health and well-being. We also know that good things we experience don’t tend to stick around in our minds a...