Are You Honouring the Wrong Master?
The nervous system isn't the wizard. Here's what to work with instead.
Dorothy spent the whole movie chasing a wizard who turned out to be smoke and mirrors. We're doing the same thing, and we’ve named ours “nervous system regulation.”
In the last few years, there’s been a resurgence of interest in The Wizard of Oz with the Wicked movies.
Growing up, I never really loved the Wizard of Oz. I thought it was both creepy and scary. (What’s with those flying monkeys? And that lion was just so whiny.)
However, when I first saw Wicked as a musical, I loved it. There’s been a trend in recent years to get the backstory of the “villain,” which is the bigger picture of collective consciousness, and it seems like a very good sign to me.
There’s that saying about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, and to me, the backstory villain trend shows that we’re moving toward seeking understanding rather than just outright judging. Of course, we have a ways to go, but movies are often a teaching ground for where humanity is headed, so we’ll take it as a good sign, illustrating curiosity over judgment.
With the Wicked movies coming out, I spent additional time contemplating why the Wizard of Oz story is so enduring.
What came to me is that it’s very much about giving all the power to the wrong master. The quest to find the wizard to “fix the problems” of each character is completely relatable. It’s about pinning all of one’s hopes on something that the mind has decided is the solution.
Here’s the catch. As each main character discovers eventually, the wizard isn’t the solution. The real growth comes from learning that they had the answer inside them all along.
The mind makes up stories all the time (it’s tricky like that) and, often, those stories become a driving force in one’s decisions and way of living. That then amplifies into people sharing their mind’s stories and teaching them like they are the truth.
What we can learn from the Wizard of Oz storyline is that the answer isn’t outside of us. It’s generally hidden in plain sight and is so simple that the mind overlooks it because the mind tends to complicate things in a fancy display of showing you how much you need the mind to solve the problems it created in the first place.
It’s all quite funny, really.
If you’re already a paid subscriber, the practice for working with the mind in the most powerful way possible is waiting below. If you’re not yet - and you just felt something shift reading that paragraph - that shift is exactly what the paid content is designed to help you work with. $10 a month.
So here’s an example of how this idea is playing out currently in popular culture.
A few years ago, the only people who had heard about the nervous system were pretty much those in the medical field. There was a vague understanding of fight or flight for people outside of the training, and that was about it.
Flash forward to now, and you can hardly get through a day without hearing someone saying something like, “I just need to get my nervous system regulated.” (At least I’m hearing that over and over. Are you, too?)
Here’s the thing. The nervous system is just one part of us. Someone told us that it was very important, and now we’ve elevated it to being THE THING we absolutely need to focus on that will make all the difference once we finally figure out how.
The nervous system has become the elusive wizard. We’ve put it up on a pedestal (or maybe behind a curtain) and are pouring all our energy into figuring it out (with the mind, of course, because that’s how we tend to roll).
The truth, though, is that focusing on the nervous system is just another fragmented approach. You can’t take one part of the system and pull it out, “fix it,” and then magically be regulated and healed.
We don’t work like that! It would be like someone saying, “I’m going to become an elite basketball player,” and then only ever practicing 3-point shots. They’d never become masterful because they’re missing most of the game.
It’s the same thing with putting all the focus on regulating the nervous system.
Sure, it’s important, but it’s only one part of us. Plus, how much fun does it sound to “regulate” it? To me, that sounds about as interesting as sweeping a mile-long driveway with a hand broom. (Which is a true story. I’ve done that. Not interesting at all. Plus, so many blisters!)
So what to do instead? How can we shift focus from the slippery wizard of nervous system regulation, and where should we put it instead?
Well, my friends, I don’t know about you, but I’m much more interested in working with the system that built the nervous system (along with all the other systems).
It’s called the Master System, and if you choose to focus on creating coherence there, you work with all the systems at once. They all get upgraded.
What a great use of time and energy! Plus, creating coherence sounds so much more rewarding (or at least appealing) than regulating, don’t you think?
Paid members are getting the specific practice for this below - less than five minutes, no props, works anywhere. If you’ve been reading Courageous Self-Care for any length of time and are thinking “I want the actual practice, not just the concept,” this is the week to make the jump.
The Master System incorporates all of you. It’s the union of mind, body, and spirit in a tangible way. There are very specific practices you can do to work with the Master System that take just minutes a day (or even less because you can incorporate them into what you’re already doing) and, as a happy byproduct, the nervous system gets upgraded without needing to fix it or wander around aimlessly, unsure of how to do that regulating thing anyways.
After the big-wizard-smoke-and-mirrors-letdown, Dorothy discovered, in that classic line, that there’s no place like home. The Master System is our energetic home. It’s our energy system that builds the body and then keeps energy, light, and life force running through it for optimal functioning.
The invitation here is to shift the mind’s focus. Rather than paying homage to one small part of us and using the mind to laser focus on that divided aspect, let’s use the mind to focus on our wholeness and completeness and have that be our come-from.
In a nutshell, here’s the point. If you focus on the nervous system, it’s a divisive approach, and so you’ll get fragmented results. If you focus on the Master System, you’re tuning into your wholeness and building from there. Nothing’s broken. No need to fix anything. No need to (yawn) regulate anything.
Just the opportunity to save time and energy and get way better results. (In my experience at least, along with countless students who I’ve shared this approach with.)
Do you think L. Frank Baum ever would have dreamed that someday, some girl with a passion for quantum science, spirituality, wellness, and energy would make metaphors with his story about Oz as related to the nervous system? I’m guessing no.
(And also, did you even know that’s who wrote the original story??? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him until just now when I looked it up.)
Curious about how to work with the Master System for ultimate healing, wholeness, and general awesomeness?
The Master System practice is below for paid subscribers - the specific steps, less than five minutes, and a video of me doing it so you can see what “creating coherence” actually looks like on an ordinary Wednesday morning. If Dorothy taught us anything, it’s that the thing you’ve been looking for was never out there. It’s been here the whole time. So has this.
$10 a month.
When we focus on the Master System, we can both go big and go home. No need to make a choice - you can have it all!
With whole love and complete courage,
Christina
🕺Creator of Courageous Self-Care
🕺Attended my son’s grade 12 graduation last week (more reflections on that to come)
🕺On the same night as the grad, my daughter’s latest movie premiered! Never a dull moment in the Marlett household. (more on that another time, as well)
