Branching Out

A habit far too common these days is sitting hunched over, scrolling on our phones for long chunks of time - “doom scrolling” I believe people call it. I’m not sure if that’s because they get sucked into the vortex and then suddenly it’s an hour later, if it’s because we often bombard ourselves with negative news or get busy comparing someone else’s “online" life to our actual “real” life. Regardless, it is not hard to see there can be potential negative mental health implications of this practice. Equally, when we see someone in that stooped over folded-in posture, we can imagine the strain on the muscles and joints as they work to hold us in this unnatural position. What we may not realize though, is that being in this position for long periods of time can also have an impact on our nervous system as a whole.   

By now we’ve spoken numerous times about the different parts of our nervous system, two big players being the sympathetic system (our fight or flight survival system), and the parasympathetic (rest and digest, growth/thriving system). You may recall that ideally, we spend most of our day in the parasympathetic realm with short bursts of time in the sympathetic zone. We’ve also discussed how this ratio is often completely reversed these days, due to in large part to chronic stress. It’s hard enough to shift out of this sympathetic overdrive, but by sitting hunched over we’re actually highjacking our ability to do it even further! I know at the end of a long stressful day, sitting on your phone may seem an attractive escape, but let’s look at why this posture is actually even more of a disservice to your endeavour to signal to the body that it’s time to relax. 

Consider what our posture looks like during our vulnerable times. Are you often splayed out with your arms wide, chest open, head held high? Or are we more likely to find you slumped in a chair, lying in the fetal position or cowering in a corner with your head down and arms tucked in? For the first couple months out in the big scary world - perhaps our most vulnerable time, babies prefer to be swaddled. Consider also that people with advanced neurological diseases walk stooped, with little arm swing. The common postural theme that dominates all of these scenarios is one of being close to the mid-line. This posture actually represents that of a more primitive or degenerated state of the neurological system. And as you may guess, our primitive neurological functioning is geared towards survival, not really thriving and growing. So while this position of folding inwards towards our midline is one that can feel safe and occur involuntarily in response to times of neurological strain or stress, we must be cognizant that by regularly putting ourselves into similar postures for long periods, we may actually be encouraging our nervous system to function more primitively and increase the sympathetic nervous system drive. In this scenario, rather than these postures resulting from neurological stress, we are causing neurological stress by constantly being in these postures. We are inadvertently signalling to our nervous system that we are stressed and vulnerable. When we get sucked up in “doom scrolling” or spending hours on a computer, our body position is signalling to our brain that we are only in need of a more primitive neurological state and we should focus on survival; not be wasting time creating more intricate neurological connections as we see in a state of growth and thriving.

You see, the more time we voluntarily spend in this hunched, midline position, the less need we have for nerves to talk to each other and forge new connections (called synapses) with other nerve cells. And as we know - if you don’t use it, you lose it. Never is this more true than when dealing with the nervous system - it is the most dynamic body system we have and it needs to be stimulated regularly, not suppressed. Alas, in comes the importance of movement, especially movements away from the midline aka lateral movements. To further understand the importance of this, let’s rewind back and reflect on natural development.  

As mentioned, as infants when our nervous system is brand new we prefer to be tucked in close to our midline. At this early stage in life, the more similar to how we were in the womb the better, it was safe in there. Our nervous system is not near fully developed and we are mostly just working on a primitive level. Not everything has come “online” yet and we don’t have a lot of ability to move our limbs. As our brain and body develop, our nervous system begins to mature and we start to spend more time away from midline. We begin reaching for things and kicking our legs in and out, arching our back and lifting our head. This exploration of the world, this moving away from midline or “lateralization”, is stimulating our nerve cells and nervous system to develop and make new connections. We learn new things about the world and about moving our body. Subconsciously, our brain and nervous system are busy determining “What muscles do I need to activate to grab that toy?” “What is this new sensation that I feel in my hands when I reach out and touch this?” As we continue to develop, we reach even further away - which then spurs on more development. This is one of the reasons why climbing is such a beneficial activity for children, especially those who are neuro-diverse or have developmental delays. Climbing requires problem solving, strength, and reaching away from midline - all of which provides great stimulation to the nervous system. 

Unfortunately today, fewer kids are getting the physical activity they need, and more and more are spending too much time on a device in their lap or on the desk in front of them. They are getting less of this beneficial lateralization and thus potentially less development of the nervous system. Adults today are also spending more time on a device and not using all the parts and connections of their once primed nervous system. We are starting to see things like chronic inflammation and stress and unregulated emotions or short fuses, all signs of heightened sympathetic activity and lack of movement. 

So next time you feel like your stress levels are getting high, put down your phone and get off your computer. If you can go outside and get in some movement and reach out your limbs even better. If you just don’t have the energy or ability to do it, then rather than sit hunched over in a chair, lie on the floor and move your arms and legs away from your mid-line and rest like that for a few moments. And if you feel the urge, it’s ok to throw in a snow angel or two, I won’t tell anyone and your nervous system will thank you.