“Nervous System Approaches for Resilient Community Living”

Nervous system dynamics are always occurring, even as you are reading this abstract. Understanding the complex functions of an individual nervous system, and the even more complex interactions among a group of people will enable fresh perspectives on wellbeing, social embeddedness and conflict-resolution. A regulates nervous system is one which is oriented in the present moment, grounded and engaging with the situation at hand. One can develop attention-regulation capacity based on one's own experience, with qualities such as mindfulness and self- compassion, in particular on interoceptive, visceral and somatic phenomena. The strengthening of observer skills acts as a form of inner social engagement and increases one’s ability to stay grounded and relate skillfully to emergent experiences. Somatic techniques such as titration and pendulation (Levine, 1997) and positive psychology tools (Garland & Fredrickson, 2019; Rashid et al., 2019) such as embodied resourcing and savouring of pleasure have been shown to help. But how to support nervous system regulation when we are with others? It’s called co- regulation, and there’s a lot of empirical data telling us how it works and how to benefit from it. For example, the Social Baseline Theory (Beckes & Coan, 2011) propounds that when we feel safe in the company of others, neurobiologically we budget less bioenergetic resources to do the same tasks. For example, the quantity of glucose spent in the brain during moments of stress for the nervous system to regulate itself is reduced when we are with friends. So one key consideration for communities is to build a “felt-sense” of safety. Moreover, we each have a different metabolic structure as to how much we “merge” with others, or remain “differentiated,” which will impact the optimal range of engagement in the community, also known as the “community organism.” In this presentation, we will explore these theme, key takeaways and some exercises to build successful communities.