5 Ways Primal Yoga Supports Your Nervous System

Anxiety in brief, helpful moments is a vital way your nervous system keeps you safe, like stopping you from getting too close to a cliff edge. But the problem comes when you feel the symptoms of general anxiety constantly and for no good reason.

Primal Yoga takes up arms against this attack on your physiological wellbeing, putting forward a blend of human rewilding science and yogic wisdom as your champion in the battle for a balanced, healthy nervous system.

So how exactly can Primal Yoga nourish your nervous system to restore calm and bring balance to your mind and body? It starts with understanding your deep connection to nature…

Your Nervous System In A Nutshell

Your body evolved to work in a specific way. Since natural evolution takes millennia to make any changes, your mind and body are essentially still running on the assumption that you hunt predators, forage food and live in community, as our ancestors all did.

Your nervous system plays an important part in this normal function. Its job is basically to take in sensory information and tell your nerves, organs and brain what to do in response. It's responsible for that ‘fight or flight’ reaction you get when faced with a scary situation.

Imagine your nervous system is the root system of a beautiful tree. While the roots are able to spread through nutrient dense soil, the tree thrives.

Take those roots out of the nourishing soil and your tree begins to drop leaves, weaken and inevitably fall. This is what we do to our nervous system on a daily basis when we expose ourselves to consistent levels of stress it was never built to survive let alone thrive on.

A lack of connection to nature (and poor lifestyle choices that go hand in hand with this disconnection) can affect your nervous system to the point that you may experience problems like:

• Anxiety and depression
• Chronic fatigue and exhaustion
• Difficulty with emotional regulation
• Reduced resilience to stress
• Physical health issues (weakened immunity, poor digestion, sleep disruption)

The good news, though, is that even a wilting tree can regrow its leaves when it's put back in its natural environment. This is where Primal Yoga can give us the practical, natural tools that will ultimately support our nervous systems and spread out those vital roots.

What is Primal Yoga?

At its core, Primal Yoga invites you to connect with your wild nature through yogic practices, all with the goal of regulating and supporting a healthy nervous system.

So how does Primal Yoga integrate yogic wisdom and rewilding methods for a happier nervous system and more focused modern yogi?

The basic principle of Primal Yoga is simple - align your daily life with your natural mind and body, so that you can take your yoga practice deeper and live free of the symptoms of a burnt-out nervous system.

Practising Primal Yoga involves every aspect of yoga as Patanjali sets out in his original Sanskrit Sutra. The difference is bringing the practice back to nature, putting yourself in environments where your primal mind and body were built to exist.

This can mean either physically being in natural settings and community - or achieving immersion through visualisation and simple sensory triggers like smelling fresh herbs.

The easiest way to show you how Primal Yoga works in real life, rather than just theory, is for you to put it into action.

5 Ways Primal Yoga Supports Nervous System Health

These are the five ways you can effectively use Primal Yoga to regulate your nervous system. Each yogic practice connects you to nature through a specific natural pathway (senses, emotions, beauty, meaning and compassion) helping you find instant relief from the effects of chronic stress.

1. Tune in To Your Senses Through Ecstatic Dance

Through free, joyful movement, bring your full attention to your senses and give your nervous system some reprieve and release.

The best part is this doesn’t even need to be done outdoors, since it's the act of completely engaging your senses that connects to your most natural, untamed state of mind.

2. Awaken Positive Feelings Through Meditation in Nature

Take your meditation outside, preferably to a green place. Meditating in a natural setting is proven to bring out positive emotions and a sense of contentment.

Walking meditation or even simply visualising a natural environment can improve the tone of your vagal nerve (a crucial part of your complex nervous system) and reduce cortisol levels (stress hormone).

3. Engage the Awe of Nature with Pranayama (Breathwork)

Pranayama can have an instant effect on your body. Your breath can directly influence your vagus nerve, which is partly responsible for your breathing and heart rate. Yogic breathing techniques can either build up a response from your sympathetic nervous system (to give you energy and release tension) or your parasympathetic nervous system (reducing heart rate, calming the body).

Combine this with the beauty of nature (even just a single tree or a patch of flowers) around you and your nervous system will thank you for the support!

4. Find A Mindful Satsang (Sacred Gathering) Community

Unsurprisingly, one of our body’s natural needs is community with other humans. Just being around other people can improve our mood compared to social isolation, but you can take this a step further by creating a Satsang (essentially fellowship with other human beings on the same spiritual path).

Join or set up a sacred circle to discuss yogic texts, share experiences and give advice. This kind of support is an absolute must when it comes to convincing our animal minds that we are safe and cared for.

5. Practice Ahimsa (Non-Harm) Through Nature Conservation Acts

When you next take your dog for a walk, visit the beach or go to a park for a picnic, take a rubbish bag with you and pick up rubbish as you go. This is a simple way to care for your natural surroundings, and practise Ahimsa as an act of compassion.

By actively caring for our Earth, you’ll get the calming benefits of a deeper connection to your natural environment.

Nature And Yoga For A Healthier Nervous System…

Individually, these five practices support our minds and bodies to function as they’ve evolved to, in environments you were born to flourish in. Brought together in a lifestyle of Primal Yoga living, these methods let you access your wildest state of mind without a triggered nervous system, letting you draw on the full power of your primal nature.