Is Floating Still Good If You're Already Very Parasympathetic?

Everyone has a natural tendency towards action or inaction in how they spend the majority of their time. You probably know someone who wakes up at the crack of dawn and is go, go, go until the minute their head hits the pillow at night. And on the flip side, there are the people in your life that move slower, talk slower, and embrace the pacing of themselves. If you're more of the former, these individually probably drive you crazy at times for not being fast enough.

This comes down to dominance in sympathetic or parasympathetic strands of the nervous system. We recognize that people who run through their days need to take the time to slow down and stop occasionally to avoid the risk of burning out but what about the parasympathetic ones? Are parasympathetic-dominant activities like float therapy beneficial for them or is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?

It first helps to understand more about these underlying systems and tendencies.

What do parasympathetic and sympathetic really mean?

The central nervous system (CNS) including our brain and spinal cord runs the whole show in our body. It's like the conductor of the train engine of our body.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are like control knobs that are dialled in from our conductor and are referred to together as the autonomic nervous system (ANS) because it was originally believed that we had no conscious control over our parasympathetic and sympathetic systems. This has been shown to not be accurate as research including that done on Wim Hof and groups of individuals instructed by him have demonstrated that they can control parts of the autonomic nervous system through breathwork.

Because of situations like this, there has been a recent scientific uprising on whether it's a misnomer to refer to these branches of the ANS as sympathetic and parasympathetic. The other reason is that the system exists on a continuum so we shouldn't think of it as all one way or the other. That's why the analogy of dials that the conductor has control over works well.

So if the idea of parasympathetic and sympathetic is not the ideal framing, what is?

The common terms we used to describe these systems are "rest and digest" for parasympathetic and "fight or flight" for sympathetic. These rhyming names can help to illustrate what's actually happening when each of these systems is engaged in a healthy and functional manner.

What we don't see, however, is what happens with the dysfunctional firing of the systems which we will turn to next.

Adaptive and Maladaptive ANS Responses

There is not only the consideration of which branch of the ANS is predominantly firing but whether it is doing so in an adaptive manner.

Many of us think of fight or flight as a bad thing, but it is an essential part of our survival and evolution. When our body goes into a heightened sympathetic state, it's because of a perceived threat. Perception is important to point out because so many of us react to things in the modern day that aren't directly threatening us which can lead to conditions of chronic stress.

Chronic stress is one of the maladaptive responses of the autonomic nervous system in which our fight or flight and rest and digest systems are no longer working together in a productive fashion.

But we can also see maladaptive responses due to natural tendencies, like being sympathetic dominant or parasympathetic dominant without practicing becoming aware of our tendencies and working to resolve our maladaptive responses.

things like numbing out for example. Many of us have reached our limits by feeling stressed and overwhelmed and have resorted to moving past fight or flight because we are depleted and into freezing or fawning. We submit to our stressors either because of the natural tendency to be more inclined to the slower approach or because of being way over our limits and frozen.

When to include more parasympathetic if you're already dominant in that state?

If you’re already in an immobile state, should you still be practicing yoga nidra, float therapy, and other techniques for increasing parasympathetic activity?

As humans, we’re meant to move and be active, so you will benefit from more active and engaging practices in your leisure time but there’s also no detriment to doing deep health-promoting treatments like floating.

There’s a vast difference between finding stillness deliberately in a healthful way and the numbing out that leads to our body wanting to be parasympathetic-dominant.

In these still activities, like floating, massages, long stretches, and restful yoga, we can explore our deeper health and build self-awareness to what’s the root cause of our maladaptive coping mechanisms.

When coping with stress, it's important to consider individual tendencies and the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity in the autonomic nervous system. While some individuals may already lean towards a parasympathetic-dominant state, it doesn't mean that practices aimed at increasing parasympathetic activity, such as yoga nidra and float therapy, are unnecessary.

Even if you're naturally more inclined towards a slower pace and tend to embrace stillness, incorporating active and engaging practices into your leisure time can still be beneficial. Movement and physical activity are essential for overall health and well-being. However, engaging in deep health-promoting treatments like floating and massages can provide additional benefits.

Being Aware Of What You Need Most

These still activities allow us to explore our deeper health and build self-awareness. They provide an opportunity to delve into the root causes of our maladaptive coping mechanisms. By intentionally finding stillness and engaging in restful practices, we can better understand and address the underlying factors contributing to stress.

It's important to note that there's a distinction between deliberately seeking stillness in a healthful way and engaging in numbing behaviours that may lead to an excessive parasympathetic response. Numbing out or submitting to stressors without addressing them can hinder our ability to effectively cope with stress. By actively participating in practices that promote relaxation and self-reflection, we can develop healthier coping mechanisms and achieve a better balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

Even if you're already parasympathetic-dominant, incorporating activities that promote relaxation and self-awareness can be beneficial for stress management. These practices allow for a deeper exploration of our well-being and can help address underlying issues contributing to maladaptive coping mechanisms.