Innate Intelligence: Your Amazing Superpower Part 2 Autonomic Nervous System
In Part 1 of our Innate Intelligence: Your Amazing Superpower series, we explored homeostasis—your body’s natural ability to maintain internal balance. Now in Part 2, we turn our attention to one of the main systems responsible for carrying out this balance behind the scenes: the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). As a key conduit for Innate Intelligence, the ANS keeps your heart beating, your digestion flowing, and your immune system on guard—all without conscious effort. Let’s take a closer look at how this built-in control center works and why supporting its function is essential for your health and well-being.
Part 2: The Autonomic Nervous System – Your Body’s Control Center
In our exploration of Innate Intelligence, we’ve seen how the body is designed to maintain balance, heal itself, and adapt to its environment without conscious effort. Innate Intelligence is the built-in wisdom that keeps all your body’s systems working in harmony—from regulating your heartbeat to repairing injuries. A key player in this process is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)—the master regulator of all automatic bodily functions. From your heart rate to digestion, the ANS ensures everything runs smoothly without you having to think about it.
What is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)?
The ANS is a branch of the nervous system responsible for controlling involuntary functions such as breathing, circulation, digestion, and immune response. It operates behind the scenes, adjusting your body’s functions based on your environment and internal needs.
The ANS is divided into two main branches:
• Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) – The “Fight or Flight” Response
When you experience stress, danger, or excitement, the SNS activates to prepare your body for action. It increases heart rate, dilates pupils, slows digestion, and releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, ensuring you’re ready to react quickly.
• Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) – The “Rest and Digest” Response
Once the stressful situation has passed, the PNS takes over to calm the body and promote healing. It slows heart rate, enhances digestion, supports immune function, and allows for cellular repair and regeneration.
These two systems work together to maintain balance. When functioning optimally, your body shifts seamlessly between states of alertness and relaxation, ensuring long-term health and well-being.
How Innate Intelligence Works Through the ANS
Your Innate Intelligence uses the ANS to regulate and coordinate every function in your body. It sends signals through the nervous system to ensure your organs, glands, and tissues work in harmony.
For example:
• If you’re exercising, Innate Intelligence increases your heart rate and redirects blood flow to your muscles.
• If you suffer an injury, Innate Intelligence triggers an immune response to start the healing process.
• After eating, Innate Intelligence activates digestion by releasing enzymes and promoting nutrient absorption.
All of this happens without you having to think about it—your body is designed to self-regulate and heal. However, when there’s interference in the nervous system, this communication can break down, leading to imbalances in the ANS.
Why Does It Matter?
When the ANS is disrupted—often due to chronic stress, poor posture, or nervous system interference—the body can become stuck in a sympathetic-dominant state (fight or flight). Over time, this can lead to:
• Chronic stress and anxiety
• High blood pressure and cardiovascular issues
• Digestive problems (acid reflux, bloating, constipation)
• Weakened immune function (frequent colds and infections)
• Hormonal imbalances (sleep disturbances, mood swings, fatigue)
To maintain optimal health, the body must be able to shift naturally between sympathetic activation (stress response) and parasympathetic recovery (healing and repair).
How Chiropractic Care Helps
Since the main part of the nervous system is housed within the spine, maintaining proper spinal alignment is essential for optimal function. A vertebral subluxation occurs when a spinal vertebra shifts out of its normal position, creating stress on the nervous system and disrupting the flow of Innate Intelligence. This misalignment can interfere with the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), leading to dysfunction in the body’s ability to self-regulate, adapt, and heal.
Chiropractic adjustments help restore proper nervous system function by removing interference and allowing the brain to communicate effectively with the body. This helps:
✔ Reduce stress and anxiety by balancing the ANS
✔ Improve digestion and gut function
✔ Strengthen immune response
✔ Enhance sleep quality and energy levels
✔ Support overall healing and homeostasis
When your nervous system is in balance, your Innate Intelligence can work at its best—helping your body heal and thrive naturally.
Final Thoughts
The Autonomic Nervous System is a crucial part of your body’s self-regulating intelligence. It keeps you alive, functioning, and balanced—but only when it’s working optimally. Through chiropractic care and healthy lifestyle choices, you can support your Innate Intelligence, allowing your body to shift between action and recovery with ease.
In the next part of our series, we’ll explore how Innate Intelligence works through Neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s incredible ability to adapt, learn, and heal. Stay tuned!