The fight with the chicken

Here’s a story about my fight with a chicken, because it perfectly illustrates what nervous system fluency looks like in real time.

A few weeks ago, I was in my kitchen preparing for Shabbos when I got into what I can only call a fight with the chicken I was preparing. The chicken won.

Incredible pain, two hours before Shabbos, and I found myself in the emergency room getting three stitches in my finger.

The stress was overwhelming: Will we be here through Shabbos? Are we going to make it home in time? The house is a mess, there’s raw chicken everywhere, and I’m in excruciating pain.

Because I’ve developed fluency with my nervous system, I could track what was happening inside me in real time – the same skill I teach practitioners to develop for their own regulation and their work with clients.

My nervous system went into legitimate fight-or-flight – which made complete sense. I was bleeding, experiencing intense pain. This was an appropriate response to actual danger.

But then I watched my nervous system cycle through all the states: From fight-or-flight in the emergency room, straight into shutdown when I got home. Then into freeze. Then back to fight. Then flight.

I could track each state, notice the different sensations in my body, be present with what was arising without judgment.

And here’s the key: I knew that while I was dysregulated from pain and trauma, I couldn’t do the deep work yet. I had to trust that my system would come back to regulation with time and safety.

This is what I teach in B’Etzem: how to track nervous system states – both your own and your clients’ – with curiosity rather than reactivity.

As I gradually returned to regulation, I could then work with the parts of me that got activated – not through story or analysis, but through being with the sensations in my body.

This is what nervous system fluency looks like: being able to track states, work WITH the system’s natural responses rather than against them, and trust that regulation and wisdom will return when the body feels safe enough.

4 days until B’Etzem Level 1 begins. Registration closes this Sunday at 4pm EST so I can spend Sunday evening preparing our sacred container. Ready to develop this level of nervous system fluency for yourself and your clients?

​[Watch the recording of the Somatic Parts Work Webinar and secure your place in B’Etzem Level 1 in Lakewood →]​

Prefer to speak with me first? I’d love that! Send me an email and we’ll find a time to talk.

How do you currently track your own nervous system states? What would change if you could maintain this awareness even during challenging experiences?

In appreciation of the remarkable intelligence Hashem put into our systems,
Rena

Training: