On Nervous Systems, Reframing Thoughts, Bjork And The 1994 Northridge Earthquake That Struck The Greater Los Angeles Area

If you can't lower your body or nervous system's reactivity yet, try reframing it as excitement.

Bjork was in LA filming a music video (fittingly, for Violently Happy) when the Northridge earthquake struck. Legend has it that she was so interested and excited by the quake she jumped up and down on the couch in the hotel where she was staying. Sounds to me like she approached the physical activation brought on by the quake with excitement and curiosity that matched the energy level of what might have otherwise been panic. I remember that quake too, it was NO JOKE. My dad’s office was completely destroyed and it was sheer luck he chose not to work late.

Our nervous systems sometimes hold survival instincts and activate them in ways we don’t need or even times we don’t need them. It takes a lot of work, time and expertise to rewire this, and some of us were even born with faulty wiring (thanks epigenetics! My ancestry.com pie chart was just a CIRCLE that said “Ashkenazi Jewish”.) So sometimes we need to match the physical energy and intensity our nervous systems give us and transmute that into anticipation or some other positive feeling. Susanna, my first stand up mentor taught me to reframe my inner monologue of “I’m so nervous I’m so nervous I’m so nervous” to “I’m so excited I’m so excited I’m so excited!” Before going onstage. It seems to me like Bjork was doing a version of this- and pretty successfully too.

Basically, until you can actually change the way your body reacts to certain stimuli (if possible) you can work with the high heart rate, the heightened vigilance, the tense muscles, whatever your body is throwing at you and transmute those sensations into something positive. You have to catch the “I’m so nervous” quickly in order to change it, but it’ll probably take way less time to cement this habit than to gain control over a part of your body that’s acting as though ‘regular life’ is ‘life and death.’ You know, while you’re waiting for the EMDR to do its thing, or whatever else you’re doing to rewire your nervous system.

And if you struggle to transmute your thoughts at first, remember that at least you’re prepared for a real emergency if you have an overreactive nervous system. I had a great time during Northridge because my parents, who are usually in near constant states of anxiety, were living in the moment for once. (And I definitely got my overreactive nervous system from at least one of them.) It was like their whole lives had prepared them for the quake because when you live with that much panic, a real emergency with real solutions is almost easy. My dad rushed downstairs and grabbed my brother out of his crib right before a bookshelf fell down and smashed it. I remember my mom, who’s always had foot pain and podiatric issues walking across broken glass barefoot to grab me from my bed (I think a picture frame had fallen and shattered.) It didn’t seem like the foot pain even registered to her. Once we were huddled under a doorframe¹ My parents treated the quake like an amusement park ride for our benefit. They made jokes. We made fun of the radio announcer whose mouth was consistently too close to the mic. I had no idea how scared my parents were, and maybe they didn’t either.

So if you struggle to transmute “I’m so afraid” into “I’m so excited” at first, at least you’re prepared for any real reasons to be afraid².

1. In 1994 this was common advice that hadn’t yet been debunked, but it’s not the safest thing to do in an earthquake FYI

2. Obligatory “All feelings are valid.” You know what I meant.