Our Journey to Nervous System Harmony – 1

Predictable and well-organized daily rhythms have important benefits for everyone.  Healthy rhythms are of particular importance for Neurodivergent (ND) individuals and for their parents.  Explore the importance of daily rhythms from a nervous system harmony lens. 

Daily Rhythms and Nervous System Harmony: Our Journey: 2004 – 2024

What we have discovered in the last 20 years:

1) A healthy flow of activities throughout the day promotes nervous system harmony.
2) We are evolving healthy rhythms that blend opportunities for “rest and digest” with experiences for active enjoyment.
3) We have discovered how to weave in rest and digest activities (parasympathetic system) with experiences for active engagement (sympathetic system).
4) Our experiences with Ujwal Jagadeesh of the Ramana Maharshi Center for Learning (RMCL) have led to the discovery of the Six Ss that have brought a rich set of practices for fostering calm.
5) Over the last few months, we have been weaving in our old practices and the Six Ss.
6) Environments matter! We have been able to visualize nervous system harmony most clearly in Tirvannamalai when Ujwal guided us from one calming experience to another throughout the trip.  Ananth and I both came back recharged from these trips.  More importantly, experiencing the feeling helps us build it into our daily rhythms.  Ananth’s blog this week Tranquil in Tiruvannamalai describes our experiences on these trips.

We have explored and integrated many calming activities over the last 20 years.  Recently, we have discovered the Six Ss that are an important part of Ananth’s daily rhythms. We integrate the familiar techniques and the Six Ss in our
Calming activities (from 2004)
● Daily Walk
● Fold, Color, Talk
● Drawing/ Painting
● Setting table
● Cutting vegetables
● Piano
● Dance
● Theater
● Other chores

Calming Actvities (Six Ss, From 2022)
● Smile Brightly and Dance
● Soothing Chants
● Storytelling
● Silence
● Self-inquiry
● Surrender

Daily Rhythms and Nervous System Harmony: Days 1 – 7

Each week, we will be providing varied resources (my blog, Ananth’s blog, videos, external resources) to support our communities in exploring practices for nervous system harmony and for integrating such practices in daily rhythms.

Review the resources below.  Respond to the following questions:

● How are you weaving in calming activities throughout the day to create healthy rhythms for yourself? 
● What kind of calming activities work for you?
● How are you weaving in calming activities throughout the day to create healthy rhythms for your child? 
● What kind of calming activities work well for your child? 

1. Soothing Daily Rhythms and the Six Ss (Blog, SpecialSaathi)

Last week, Ananth Raghunandan, a bloggersaathi for SpecialSaathi, started a series of posts on nervous system harmony.  As a neurodivergent adult, he has discovered that working towards nervous system harmony is a lifelong process. Rather than react to and manage stress, practices for greater nervous system harmony are a part of Ananth’s daily rhythms. Such practices support all other activities by providing an ongoing practice for soothing the nervous system.

While he has written several posts that address nervous system harmony, this is the first post where he explicitly introduces nervous system concepts.  This is the first step in our journey to explain our daily rhythms from a nervous system harmony perspective. 

Read his post to learn about nervous system harmony and to get ideas for fostering nervous system harmony daily.
https://specialsaathi.com/2024/09/04/soothing-daily-rhythms-and-the-six-ss/


2. Daily Rhythms and Roles (Blog, Natya Imprints)

https://rasaindia.org/2024/08/28/daily-rhythms-and-roles/

This post articulates the link between calmness and our capacity to play our roles in life.  Nervous system harmony is not explicitly mentioned but is implicit in the description.

3. Reimagining Education: Enki Workshop with Beth Sutton (Video, Ananth’s Adventures) https://youtu.be/ovWwZMMo1QM?si=UtfIo8z5BGJLb1Xb

This presentation by Beth Sutton, Founder of Enki Education explains how nervous system harmony can be the foundation of education.  While Beth does not explicitly use the term nervous system harmony, she talks about the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.  Nervous system harmony is about keeping the two systems in balance by weaving in activities for “rest and digest” with activities for active engagement.

4. Nervous System Harmony and Daily Rhythms (Visual Map, Nervous System Harmony Board)
https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKjPtzBc=/?moveToWidget=3458764598843534141&cot=14
This board presents a visual map of Ananth’s journey and our daily shares. 

5. How Healing Happens (E-book, Primal Trust)
https://www.primaltrust.org/resources/

This e-book is a key resource that we will use to map our practices to underlying science.  Page 28 presents an overview of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.  These two systems are referred to as the gas pedal and the brake.

6. Nervous System Harmony (E-book, Primal Trust) https://www.primaltrust.org/hack-your-horrible-habits/

This e-book is another key resource to think about our nervous system and habits.  The book offers insights into why it is important to address nervous system harmony as part of our daily rhythms.

7. Wailing in Washington: An Educational Tour Gone Awry (Blog, SpecialSaathi) https://specialsaathi.com/2022/11/12/wailing-in-washington-an-educational-tour-gone-awry/ This blog provides a humorous look at nervous system dysregulation and its impact on experiences for ND children.  Working towards nervous system harmony is important for all.  However, ND individuals face challenges such as hypersensitivities that affect their ability to regulate.
https://specialsaathi.com/2022/11/12/wailing-in-washington-an-educational-tour-gone-awry/


Getting Started

Review the resources above.  Respond to the following questions:

● How are you weaving in calming activities throughout the day to create healthy rhythms for yourself? 
● What kind of calming activities work for you?
● How are you weaving in calming activities throughout the day to create healthy rhythms for your child? 
● What kind of calming activities work well for your child? 

These are important questions that will guide you to develop healthy daily rhythms for yourself and your child.  Share your journey with us!

Author Dr Dasaratha Rama
Dr. Dasaratha Rama is a professor and home educator. She was the editor of a monograph on service-learning published by the American Association of Higher Education. This monograph was a part of a series of monographs on service-learning published by AAHE. She was also an Engaged Scholar with the Campus Compact, an association in the US dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement at colleges and universities. She has served as the Chair of the Teaching and Curriculum Section of the American Accounting Education. She is a certified leader in systems thinking, mapping, and leadership under a program offered by Cabrera Research Lab. She is currently doing a certificate in Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD) from RASA (Ramana Sunritya Aalaya).