We are animals. We are humans. The start of a very long, and utterly important story.

I’ve been trying to write this article for one full month.

It isn’t working.

It isn’t working because there is so much that I want to write about, that I don’t know where to start.

So this is where I’m going to start!

Number 1: All humans have something called an autonomic nervous system (ANS).

Because of this system there are a lot of things you don’t have to think about.

Your heart beating, digesting food, when to sweat, when to shiver, when to pull your leg away when you drop a very sharp knife etc.

These things happen because you have an autonomic nervous system.

Imagine having to pay attention to the change in temperature and then telling your body to start producing sweat, or start standing up your arms hairs to preserve heat? Imaging having to remind your heart to beat every second, or increase the beat when you start to move more? How about telling your salivary glands to produce saliva every time you eat your crunchy dry toast in the morning?

It would be a real pain in the butt don’t you think?

Number 2: The ANS isn’t black and white.

It is complicated, magnificent, exquisite, intricate and then some.

Number 3: We’ve become seduced by higher consciousness thinking.

In our recent fascination and cultivation of non-autonomic body processes like higher consciousness, intentionality, higher brain function and so on, we’ve completely neglected this remarkable piece of our physiology, our autonomic, “AUTOMATIC” physiology, that keeps us well and safe. This neglect has left us trying to treat a whole bunch of body illnesses, syndromes and even mental disorders to no avail because the root problem is stemming from the ANS being out of sync. If you have yet to check out my interview on Body Syndromes, this would be the time to get more education on this topic.

Now, I’m ALL FOR cultivating the higher body processes of intentionality and learning, that is what my practice in the works of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais is for, but this other piece of the puzzle, the work that Dr. Peter Levine has brought to the playground, must take the stage for a while so we can learn to better self-regulate our biology, so we can be better at the higher consciousness stuff.

Number 4: We are animals. We are humans. We are both.

Realizing that we share common characteristics to reptiles and amphibians is hard for some. But it is true.

That is why we can go into shock and not feel immense physical pain, or numb ourselves when emotional abuse hits hard. This is synonymous to the possum playing dead or the gecko freezing in stillness.

The other side of the coin is that as humans we have some pretty cool talents of our own. For example, we can communicate without having to speak be it with our own species (next time you see a baby, smile, and then make a funny face…you know you’ll get the same back), or towards another mammal (ever go out for a walk and you seem to smile more to the dogs than their owners?).

Humans have primitive pieces embedded in their physiology and we also have the most evolved pieces of planetary biology – all these pieces need to work together. Thus far they haven’t been. We have separated them and kept them far apart.

It’s time to integrate them.

It’s time to honour ALL the pieces.

I’ve got a hunch that when we can evolve our primitive pieces and really understand and learn to use them, our higher functions are going to shine the way they were meant to.

This is a MASSIVE story.

I can’t tell it in one article.

Has this pique your curiosity?

If so stick around.

to be continued….

Irene.