• Apytele@sh.itjust.works
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        14 hours ago

        I read it as a reflexive response to behavioral cues, meaning the body is responding automatically to context rather than conscious intent.

        There’s the “yeah I made it here” in the driveway, which is basically a cognitive checkpoint where the brain relaxes its inhibitory grip. But as he approaches the bathroom, his reflexes to defecate and micturate reengage more fully, because environmental cues lower cortical suppression and let autonomic programs run.

        If you take some time to focus on your bodily sensations more mindfully in these situations, you’ll also notice the sensation comes in waves. What you’re feeling there is not random discomfort but rhythmic signaling. That’s the conscious input of your visceral afferent nervous system reporting back on the peristaltic waves of your intestinal smooth muscle, which contract in cycles to move contents forward.

        As a matter of mind body somatic reintegration, you’ll probably find that using your conscious mind to thank the nerves for keeping you in the loop will likely make the sensation less distressing. This works because acknowledgment engages higher cortical regulation rather than threat processing, which reduces amplification of the signal.

        Most bodies get more upset when they feel like the rest of their complaints are going unheard by the cerebrum, because ignored signals tend to escalate in intensity to force attention. Even when there’s not a way for you to address the problem immediately, you gotta let them know they’re heard, or the nervous system keeps turning up the volume.

      • 9point6@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Idk I don’t seem to count myself as having made it until I’m sat

        In my experience there’s an inverse square law where the urge approaches infinity with proximity to the bowl

        • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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          1 day ago

          This is so true. I’ve had accidents happen like right as I’m unfastening things rushing to sit down. I swear there’s a psychological component to this.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      That’s the “I might be okay” moment, followed by the body’s too early, “oh, we’re there?” at the last few feet. Sometimes you can distract the mind a bit more by focusing on something else while you make the last steps. A lot like how flying works in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you have to notice something totally off-topic and forget you’re about to hit the ground.

      • mrbeano@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        Indeed. One of the most important steps to take to not shit your pants, is to stop thinking about how you’re about to shit your pants. 🙏

  • 93maddie94@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    The colors are indicating speed and not heart rate I think. Makes sense that they went faster close to home and slowed down inside the house.