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Hi collaborator! Did you know that your nervous system is in constant communication with the world around you? Neuroception is the process in which the nervous system gathers info from the environment and then responds automatically. Information comes into the body through your senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, and moving. Your nervous system uses this information to determine if the environment is “safe” or “dangerous” and then generates an automatic response in less than a second. You can become aware of this response by feeling the sensations that come from the inside your body: hunger, thirst, tension, temperature, pressure, emotions, pain, goosebumps, chills, gut feelings, etc. If you live with a dog, then your nervous system and your dog’s are constantly communicating with each other through this process of neuroception. Here’s an example from my life with Muggins: A sound occurs in the environment (perhaps a car door closes or a neighbor dog barks) Muggins’s nervous system hears the sound, determines there is a threat, and then generates a startle response with a fast awakening, followed by a booming alarm bark. My nervous system then hears Muggins’s bark, determines there is a threat, and responds with gasping, heart racing, and feeling angry.
If I’m not consciously aware of this, I might respond by yelling at Muggins or punishing them for barking. And this just isn’t going to work, because when I behave with anger, I send more messages to Muggins’s nervous system that the environment is not safe. So, what is the answer? When I started to learn about the nonverbal cues of my nervous system and Muggins, I was able to become more aware of what was happening and could observe more objectively. I began to recognize signs of stress in myself and Muggins and noticed how we responded to different environments. Then, I learned skills to help us manage stress better so that we could work together to feel more safe and calm.
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