Tricia’s Trips

What is The Ego and Why Is It So Relevant to Our Life?

Defining The Ego could be defined as The Ego being the Unconscious, Trained Domesticated Mind that we have conditioned through the Years as a Means for our Survival in the Environment that the individual Being has Grown up in.

The personality traits that we have formed over time, the triggers that have developed on our own personal Journey, The Almost "Factory Made" Personalities.

The Nervous System 

The Peripheral Nervous System

The Somatic Nervous System: Controls Voluntary, Conscious Movements through Muscular System.

The Autonomic Nervous System: Controls involuntary reflexes in the body like the functions of our internal organs.

The Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic (Fight or Flight): Responds to Physical Activities, Stress, or Sensing Danger.

Parasympathetic: Stimulates Rest and Digest.

(Sidenote: Due to the stressful world that we live in now - it is crucial to our health and vitality to spend as much time in our Parasympathetic NS as possible.)

Physical Differences Between Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

Activated Sympathetic (fight or flight response): dilated pupils, increased heart beat, inhibition of saliva

Activated Parasympathetic: constricted pupils, slow heart beat, 

saliva production.

Stress: Why We Need It…

We need a healthy balance between stress and none. We need stress because without it there would be no movement, action or progression. 

In Yin Yoga… We acknowledge a certain amount of stress is needed for vitality/health of our body and mind. “What We Do Not Use, We Will Lose”

Questions

What is Dysregulation in our Autonomic NS? An imbalance between these 2 branches (Sympathetic and Parasympathetic). This is where the body becomes unable to regulate a healthy balance. 

How Can We Regulate a Healthy Balance in our Autonomic NS? (example): We go for a walk or run (invites sympathetic branch), we then practice breathwork to slow down NS (invites parasympathetic ns)

Chronic Activation of the Sympathetic System = Anxiety, Depression, Addiction, Negative Tendencies, Food Disorders, Blood Pressure/Cardiovascular Issues.

Ways to Activate Parasympathetic Nervous System and Bring Healthy Balance to Our Autonomic System:

Practices: Tense and Release Techniques, Breathing Techniques, Mindfulness, Meditation

Lifestyle Habits: Getting enough sleep, Healthy Diet, Being around or in a safe environment.

Yoga: Our true nature is Joy, it is not far away from us, use the tools you have to discover your peace and joy within ourselves.

Meditation

Meditation places us in our Parasympathetic System. 

There are 4 components of Meditation:

Mental Device (word, phrase, action to repeat to keep our mind from wondering

Passive Attitude

Quiet Environment

Who Are You?

Don’t let fame and riches stop you from being you and living your life for others.

Who are you?

Our Ideas of Happiness may be the very obstacle standing in the way of our happiness"

With belly breathing we bring our mind down to our trunk, our abdomen, where it is calm and stable. We should not stay up high in the branches where we are blown about.

Just as we need to liberate ourselves from the idea of self, or human being that's different from other living beings, we also need to liberate ourselves from the sign and appearance of a life span.

Process of the Homemade Ravioli 🧑‍🍳🫶🏼

The spirit of Buddhism is very tolerant. We should always keep our hearts open to people who have different views or beliefs.

Practicing openness and detachment to views is fundamental to Buddhism. That is why even though their our dozens of different schools of Buddhism, Buddhists have never waged a holy war against each other.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Art of Living”