Jake Burhans explains how your nervous system shapes what you see. When you're in fight-or-flight mode, your brain hunts for threats, turning a boss's casual walk into a personal attack. Conscious breathing activates your vagus nerve and calms your system, letting you think clearly and see what's actually there.
Did you know that your physiological state actually dictates how you perceive reality? I think we see the world as this objective truth, but a lot of times it's just your truth, and your physiology is the driver. If you're in a fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system state, your body is constantly scanning for threats, and a neutral expression of your boss walking down the aisle might be perceived as a slight towards you when in reality he's just thinking about lunch. The most important thing becomes about regulating before you are deciding or doing anything. And the best way to do that is to use our breath. The breath is a direct connector to the vagus nerve, which is a part of the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest part of the autonomic nervous system. When you're in a regulated state, your prefrontal cortex comes back on. You can think clearly, you can make good decisions, you can perceive reality better, and ultimately you can live a better life.
