We've all heard the spiritual teaching: "In every moment, you can choose love, peace, and transcendence." It sounds beautiful, inspiring even. But when I read those words in my own writing recently, my honest reaction was: "That's such crap!"

And I'm the one who wrote it.

Here's why that statement feels untrue most of the time—and what we can actually do about it.

The Truth About Transcendence

The path of transcendence requires us to observe our thoughts, maintain body awareness, and listen to our words, ensuring they align with the life we're consciously choosing to create. As we master these practices, we develop the ability to meet every situation with equanimity.

But here's the catch: you can only access this ability when your nervous system is in equilibrium.

When your nervous system is overactive, stressed, reactive, or amped up, you simply won't have the capacity to respond with love, peace, and transcendence. This isn't opinion—it's neuroscience. A dysregulated nervous system defaults to defensiveness, fear, and anxiety because reactivity is fundamentally a defense mechanism.

Living in an Overstimulated World

We're living in an era of chronic nervous system overstimulation. I remember being incredibly busy in high school—four varsity sports, multiple bands, honor society, church activities—yet I don't recall the constant feeling of being overwhelmed that seems to plague us today.

The difference? We now live in what I call "busy consciousness"—a mass awareness where everyone feels perpetually behind, pressured, and overstimulated. Even my Amish friends, who live outside mainstream culture, complain about being too busy and unable to keep up!

What's Hijacking Your Nervous System

Several factors contribute to our collective state of nervous system dysregulation:

• Trauma History: Even recovered trauma creates latent hyperarousal in your system.

• Unhealthy Relationships: Walking on eggshells or feeling unsafe keeps you in constant protection mode.

• Active Addictions: The secrecy and worry around addictive behaviors maintain chronic stress.

• Digital Overstimulation: Constant phone access, mindless scrolling, and being available 24/7.

• Political Climate: Feeling disconnected from your values and the world around you creates ongoing stress.

• Multitasking: Splitting attention constantly trains your brain for reactivity rather than presence.

The most important point: Every time you engage in these behaviors, you're creating neural pathways for reactivity. Through neuroplasticity, you're literally training your brain to be anxious and overreactive.

The Neuroscience of Down-Regulation

The encouraging news is that you're not a victim of your neurology. You can consciously down-regulate your nervous system and rewire your brain for peace.

Here are evidence-based practices that change your brain structure and function:

1. Meditation: Hundreds of studies show meditation reduces amygdala stimulation, increases frontal lobe blood flow, and actually changes brain structure.

2. Stop Mindless Scrolling: Use social media intentionally to connect with friends, not for endless scrolling.

3. Create Phone Boundaries: Don't carry your phone everywhere. Leave it in the car when grocery shopping. Put it in the back seat while driving.

4. Practice Savoring: Instead of scarfing down meals, taste your food, feel textures, notice scents. Slow down and experience your experiences.

5. Integrate Gratitude: Express silent gratitude each time you turn on your computer, pick up your car keys, or step into a hot shower.

6. Use Mantras: Consciously repeating a mantra for just 20 seconds begins to alter the expression of genes that regulate stress.

7. Spend Time in Nature: Without your phone.

A Simple Practice

Try this one-minute meditation: On your in-breath, silently say "peace." On your out-breath, repeat "be still." Notice what happens in your body—perhaps a softening in your forehead, more spaciousness around your eyes, or simply a general slowing down.

That's your nervous system down-regulating in real time.

The Weekly Challenge

Choose two or three daily activities—brushing your teeth, pouring coffee, getting into your car, feeling cool sheets against your skin at bedtime. Use these moments to practice savoring, gratitude, conscious breathing, or mantra repetition.

Do this consistently for one week. Notice if you feel more regulated, more spacious, more capable of choosing your responses rather than simply reacting.

Rewiring for Peace

Peace is not a defense. Peace is a way of being. Love is not a defense. Love is an opening.

Every time you pause, breathe consciously, spend time in nature without your phone, or practice any form of mindfulness, you're not just practicing transcendence—you're literally rewiring your brain for peace.

As you consistently engage in these practices, the fear circuits and anxiety pathways quiet down while the neural networks of peace and equanimity grow stronger. Your nervous system gradually resets toward equilibrium.

So yes, you can develop the capacity to choose love, peace, and transcendence in every moment. But you can't be unconscious about the culture we're living in, which actively works against nervous system regulation.

The key is recognizing that managing your nervous system isn't just spiritual practice—it's the prerequisite for everything else. When your neurology is regulated, consciousness work becomes possible. When it's dysregulated, you're simply in survival mode.

Calm your nervous system first. Everything else follows.