The Nervous System & The Domino Effect
- Andy Audet
- Oct 11
- 2 min read
When Fixing Feels Like Mud Work
You’ve probably had the experience: your back hurts, so you stretch it, massage it, strengthen it. Maybe it helps for a while… until it doesn’t. You end up tinkering with the same spot again and again, like working in the mud — heavy, sticky, never really finished.
That’s what happens when we only address the last domino in the chain.
The Nervous System: The Conductor
Your nervous system isn’t just a messenger. It’s the conductor of the orchestra.When one area is muted — a muscle, an organ, even an emotion — the body keeps the show running by compensating. But the map gets distorted. That part stops being felt as “me” and starts being treated as something external to control.
When the nervous system re-registers that area, it’s no longer a blind spot. The body doesn’t need to overcompensate anymore. The missing instrument rejoins the orchestra.
An Example: The Back Pain That Isn’t Just “Back”
Someone comes in saying, “My back hurts.”On the surface, it looks simple. Stretch it, train it, treat it.But when the deeper dominos are misaligned, the back is just the messenger.
Sometimes it’s fascia pulling because the system thinks it must hold everything. Sometimes it’s an organ under tension, like the liver or intestines, creating strain around the spine. Sometimes it’s emotional — the body carrying weight that belongs to someone else.
Correcting at that higher domino changes everything:
Locally, the organ or tissue relaxes.
In the nervous system, the signal clears.
In awareness, the person no longer identifies as “the carrier.”
In Being, they feel lighter — not just pain-free, but whole.
Align Higher, and Everything Cascades
That’s the beauty of the domino effect.When you realign at a higher level — nervous system, intention, awareness — the shifts cascade down. Muscles stop bracing. Fascia unwinds.
Organs quiet their “screams.” Pain loses its role as the body’s alarm bell.
It’s the difference between mud work at the bottom and alignment at the top. One is exhausting. The other is liberating.
Why This Matters for You
You don’t have to fight your body into compliance. You don’t have to manage symptoms forever.
When the first domino is steady, the rest of the system doesn’t need constant correction. Healing feels lighter. Integration feels natural.
And often, the nervous system is that first domino — the gatekeeper. When it shifts, everything below it finally has permission to follow.
So if you’ve been stuck repeating the same exercises, treatments, or coping strategies, ask yourself: Am I pushing on the last domino… or am I ready to align the first?
Because once the top domino falls into place, the rest don’t need to be managed. They simply follow.
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