It’s funny. I had a similar thought just after I pressed ‘Reply’. haha
I’m not an expert on this because I don’t tend to follow highly goal-directed yogic practices.
And I (usually) didn’t last as long as I wanted.
Not always though. So it can vary.
For some reason, I thought of Wim Hof-style practices. While doing the practice, that actually leads to increased sympathetic arousal; but I suspect that there is a compensatory drop/release during the times after the practice.
So the logic of how to actually re-balance sympathetic response may not be so straight-forward.
Exposing and habituating the system to some healthy stressor and then returning to a non-stressful environment may, over time, to lead to a less inappropriately triggered sympathetic response.
Healthy stressors could include things like cold exposure, long distance running, or possibly even more abstract stressors like leading a group, or guiding a large group through emotional mediation and conflict resolution practices.
The idea (as in Wim Hof) is to stay with the situation long enough to breathe into it, relax into it, and habituate; thereby finding a new adaptive center within that originally challenging situation.
So the formula is The Breathing and Letting Go plus The Challenge.
One more point I wanted to add though:
The less you make this into the most important thing in the world is probably the greater chance you’ll have of exerting more influence over it.
And know this:
The time of frustration over an issue is often the time when the deep mind is transforming that issue. Conscious frustration, hopelessness, overwhelm correspond to subconscious transformation and resolution.
