Issue No. 8: Back at Harvard, with a different nervous system
CEO & Founder
By Nora Rodden
Sometimes symptoms tell the story of a chapter
6 years have gone by, and I'm no longer blonde!
Hi readers,
A quick personal update from me:
This week, I’m back at Harvard Business School, starting a fellowship year. I’m excited to share that I’ve been selected as a Blavatnik Fellow to continue scaling Nervana and making mind-body healing more accessible!
Being back here feels very full circle.
Harvard Business School was actually where I first learned about the mind-body approach. When I was a student, I enrolled in a clinical trial focused on education about the brain-body connection, testing whether this kind of education could help reduce my chronic back pain.
I was skeptical. But despite that, it completely worked for me.
My chronic back pain, which I had been dealing with for years, improved dramatically after learning about the role the brain and nervous system can play in chronic symptoms.
At the time, it felt almost unbelievable, and quite frankly, a bit annoying that anyone was suggesting my pain was not structural, or that there might not be damage in my tissues.
But being back now, I also realize how much stress I was under while I was here.
It is an enormous privilege to study in a place like this. And it can also be a pressure cooker. There can be social comparison, exclusivity, imposter syndrome, performance pressure, uncertainty, and the constant feeling that everyone else somehow has it more figured out than you do.
Looking back, it is not exactly shocking that my body was struggling.
That does not mean the symptoms were “all in my head” or only caused by stress. It means my body was responding to the environment I was in, the pressure I was carrying, and the patterns my nervous system had learned over time.
Sometimes chronic symptoms make more sense when we stop looking at them only day-to-day and start looking at them chapter by chapter.
Take a moment and ask yourself:
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What was happening in your life when your symptoms started?
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What was changing?
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What were you carrying?
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Were you in a pressure-cooker environment?
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Were you trying to prove yourself?
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Were you lonely, grieving, overwhelmed, scared, or constantly performing?
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Were you going through a transition that seemed “good” on paper, but was actually a lot for your nervous system?
Sometimes we only ask:
What did I eat yesterday? How much did I sleep? Did I stretch? Did I overdo it?
Those questions can be useful. But so are the questions above.
I feel incredibly lucky that I got to study here. And I feel incredibly lucky to come back years later as a fellow, now building the very thing I wish I had when I was trying to understand my own symptoms.
It is a reminder that healing is not always linear, but sometimes you do get to look back and see a pattern more clearly.
And when you do, it can soften some of the fear.
Maybe your body was not betraying you. Maybe it was responding.
Maybe your symptoms were not random. Maybe they made sense in context.
New Nervana features
We’ve also released several new features in Nervana based on feedback from members. We’re always listening, and many of these updates came directly from things users asked for.
Audio for educational sessions You can now listen to Nervana educational sessions instead of only reading them. We added this because reading text can be hard or fatiguing, especially when you are symptomatic, overwhelmed, or low on energy.
Session transcripts and action items You can now review your session transcripts, print them, and print your action items. This is especially helpful if you want to revisit something from a session, bring it to a provider, or keep track of what you are practicing.
Larger text size You can now adjust the text size to make Nervana easier to read and more accessible.
A refreshed look and feel We’ve also been improving the design of the app to make it feel calmer, clearer, and easier to use.
Nervana App as of today
Weekly goals You can now set a weekly Nervana goal. You can still use Nervana daily if that feels supportive, but the clinical advisors we’ve worked with have often recommended setting a goal of 1–3 sessions per week to keep the practice sustainable.
I like to think of nervous system retraining as a kind of mental gym.
You are building a muscle.
And just like with the gym, the goal is not to force, overdo, or perform perfectly. The goal is to keep showing up in a way your system can actually tolerate.
Gift a free week Any Nervana member can now gift a free week to someone they choose. If you know someone who may benefit from Nervana, you can share it with them directly.
Free resources
We’ve also been creating free resources on our website.
You can download infographics, read blogs, and explore nervous system education here:
https://www.trynervana.com/resources
In particular, I’ll highlight a new blog from Sam Kahn, our Head of Growth. She writes about how to talk to a loved one about neuroplastic symptoms, based on her own experience.
And you can check out our latest media features here:
https://www.trynervana.com/media
We recently shared a conversation where I interviewed Dr. Brad Fanestil about why many doctors have not told patients sooner about the mind-body approach.
As always, if you have questions, suggestions, or feedback, please reply and let me know.
I read every message, and your feedback really does shape what we build next.
Until next time, Nora
Founder & CEO, Nervana
