28 Mar 67: How to Listen to What Your Nervous System Is Trying to Tell You with Dr. Avigail Lev
Do you listen to your body?
You may think you do, but sometimes the answer isn’t what you think. That feeling of intense anxiety you’re getting? It doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong with your health, it could just be your sympathetic nervous system sending you a message.
Our sympathetic nervous system sends us into action. It’s what motivates us and drives us. So when you feel that racing heart or nervous energy, it’s important to slow down, take a step back, and try to figure out what your body is trying to tell you. Is there something you need to do or some action you need to take? Could it be excitement, motivation, or anticipation?
In this episode of The Dr. Kinney Show, I sat down with Dr. Avigail Lev to talk more about our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, listening to our bodies, and changing our relationship with our thoughts.
Dr. Avigail (Abby) Lev is a psychotherapist, author, mediator, international speaker, and executive coach in San Francisco, California. She is the director of the Bay Area CBT Center, a clinic that specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help individuals and couples break unhelpful patterns, develop healthier habits, and improve all areas of life.
She has co-authored three books on utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to strengthen relationships and has presented her research at numerous conferences. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Dr. Drew, Bloomberg news, Verywell Mind, MSN, Psych Central, KGO, Psychologists Off the Clock, Healing Powers Podcast, Dateable, and many more.
Dr. Lev is also the founder of CBTonline, an online platform that connects people with online therapists who specialize in behavioral therapy and offers CBT resources such as webinars, e-courses, videos, worksheets, mindfulness audio, and much more. Dr. Lev utilizes evidence-based practices to help people who are struggling with a variety of issues live happier and more fulfilling lives.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
- What cognitive-behavioral therapists do
- Why our sympathetic nervous system is so important
- The importance of slowing down and listening to our bodies
- Why you may be misinterpreting anxiety
- Why emotions aren’t good or bad
- The importance of validating your nervous system instead of overthinking it
- Exercises you can do to change your relationship with your thoughts
There is a lot of misconceptions around the topic of cognitive-behavioral therapy and how it works, so I was so happy to have Dr. Lev on the show to explain it. Our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are there for a reason, and we must learn to listen to them.
If you want to learn some tips for self-soothing, I highly recommend you check out Dr. Lev’s resources on her website. She has some great guided mindfulness meditations that you can start utilizing today!
Resources Mentioned:
Check out Dr. Lev’s guided mindfulness meditations
Where We Can Connect:
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