How is your body like a forest?

ByMonica
Have you ever heard about how trees in a forest use the network of fungi underground to communicate and share nutrients?  

There are so many ways that patterns in nature mimic one another.  But the one that I want to share with you today is how your nervous system is similar to the mycelial network in forests.  

The mycelial network is a system of connected fungi underground that connects the roots of trees and allows them to send messages through their roots to other trees to warn them of pests and environmental stresses in order to give the surrounding trees time to shore up their defenses.  Older trees that are dying use the same network to send nutrients to the younger trees around them so that the nutrients that it has can be used immediately instead of having to wait until the tree decomposes.

As you know, you have a network of nerves that connect every part of your body to your brain.  This is how you are able to feel pain when you are injured or smell a yummy meal before you see it.  We tend to assume that our brain is the center of intelligence in our body and that it runs the show, telling the rest of the body what to do and when.  But this network of nerves doesn’t just inform your brain.  Information goes back and forth across this network.  

In particular, the vagus nerve sends information from your gut, heart and lungs back up to the brain.  So when you are having a gut feeling that something isn’t right, that’s your vagus nerve sending your brain information to act on to keep you safe.  In this way, your body is like a forest of trees.  And your gut is a more informed tree sending signals to the rest of the forest to allow them to respond.  Each of your major organs, in particular, your gut, heart and brain are like the trees and the vagus nerve is like the mycelial network of the forest.  

We tend to think that the only intelligent part of our bodies is our brain.  So when we have a problem, we figure it out with our brain.  But what about our body’s innate intelligence?  What if our body could be seen as part of our team instead of being seen as simply a vehicle or resource to be used?

When we start to understand how our body responds to our thoughts and environment, we can start to get to know our body better and leverage its signals to relate to our bodies, instead of trying to control them like an external resource.  We can enlist our body as an equal team member to solve our problems and make our decisions instead of leaving our body on the proverbial bench waiting until our star player got hurt just to get a chance to play in the game.

But when we can raise our body to a place of equality with our mind and spirit, we find an intelligent, compassionate, persistent and ready teammate that knows with ease what the next step should be. And we don’t have to “figure things out” nearly as often. We can flow with the knowing our body provides. 

Wondering how you can do this?  

Here is a practice you can use to begin to get to know your body:                                        Find a quiet space, free from distractions.                                                                                     Set your timer for 5 minutes.                                                                                                             Close your eyes and start at the crown of your head.                                                                  
Feel into the different parts of your body.  Notice if you can feel any sensation there as you place your attention on each part.  You may find that some parts are numb, or tingly, or just don’t feel like they are there at all. Or you may feel pain, or comfort.  

Whatever you feel just make note of it and notice any judgments that come up.  This is all data. For now, just notice.  Next time, we will take a deeper look at what to do with the information.  Try finding 5 minutes each day to do this and notice what shifts, or doesn’t.  And if you feel called to do so, I would love to hear how this practice lands for you.

With love,
mónica

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