Recently I had someone reach out to me with a question. An individual needed nervous system healing and was considering doing NSR but was questioning how to help a loved one in their life who is hesitant about anything “non-traditional.” There is more then one angle to take when trying to explain or offer more info for individuals to get a better idea of what NSR really is. This time I felt to take the Philippians 4 angle. You might find it interesting what I am about to tell you. In my human words and writing I will try my best to break it down for you:
Verse 1. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.
Stay true to what really is the truth, you are loved infinitely, and are the Lord’s joy. When you are depressed and anxious, are you living and breathing that joy that you are to the Lord? Brain retraining often opens up this new reality to individuals as they start to create better and healthier thought patterns and coping behavior's. You are beloved.
Verse 6. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.
With NSR you must learn to stop and work with those worries. You learn to instead pray, use the effective tools you have learned, and prune away ALL those old pathways of negative thinking that are not helpful. Practice gratitude. The more you practice the more you see the good. Your brain pathways are like a muscle. If you don’t practice good, the good pathways fade away, this goes the same for the bad. You also might learn to speak up for your needs to God, and to others. You matter and are worthy.
Verse 7. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
When we can learn our truth, learn that not all our feelings and thoughts are fact, we can experience more happiness and grounded, security in what is true for us.
Verse 8. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
NSR is all about our thought patterns. Do you determine one day, “ok today I will be better, I will not think what I shouldn’t.” only to have it last a short while and you feel like your expectations are so high of yourself you fall flat and feel discouraged yet again? With NSR we learn more specifically what to do to GET somewhere. We learn to get to the root of why we are thinking what we are and work in a more effective way. We also learn to find that balance, perfectionism isn’t possible, its ok if we didn’t get it perfect, we tried our best and that is enough.
Verse 9. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Commitment and continual practice and consistency is the key to finding healing. Not abundance but finding a path where your goals and expectations are achievable in a way for you that you CAN be consistent.
Verse 12. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
You learn tools to help your nervous system navigate challenging times. Some people may look on and think “It sounds like you just think when you brain retrain you are going to get to a perfect place of being a perfect human.” No this is so far from the truth. Many humans are STUCK in thought patterns and a myriad of coping behavior's that keep them spinning and only getting by. Life is hard, and these tools we teach are tools and understanding EVERYONE should be taught so our nervous systems can all feel less helpless and alone when navigating challenging life situations. (By this comment I am not saying everyone needs to do NSR, I’m only stating that these are tools that you take with you for life and are extremely helpful even beyond the initial healing phase.) Trauma happens when our nervous system doesn’t have the capacity and the resources to navigate a situation. There was too much stimuli, for too long or too fast. An overwhelm and shutdown happens. When we can have better understanding and more tools to feel more resourced it is extremely helpful in coping.
Verse 13. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
By having a greater understanding of how your nervous system works, an awareness of your thought patterns, and then having resources and tools to help you feel empowered, you have just become a lot more empowered than you ever were. Through Christ helping you, you can do anything.
Let me also tell you a little something a pastor told me once. There is a specific list of unhelpful thought patterns we focus on in NSR. This list wasn’t just started by NSR. It is a well-known list in the brain retraining world. These thought patterns feed the chronic illness, and keep you stuck. I showed this list to the pastor, after he read through it, he said “Those are all in the Bible, someone who reads the Bible initially might not pick them out, but they are there.” The list just was worded in our everyday language and pointed them out clearer. These thoughts I have wrote today are just food for thought.
God made every part of you, your heart, soul, body, mind, and nervous system. He made us whole, in one piece as a working unit together, all of it. Man didn’t make your body, and your nervous system while He made your soul. No, he created ALL of you and He knows how it is all meant to work. With Gods help in our healing, we are capable of unmeasurable healing. He is the one who ultimately makes healing possible.
*One of the ways NSR stands out from other courses is our module on 'Spiritual Application'. We teach nervous system healing from a Christian viewpoint and how it can be applied in that way.
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