The nurse had the needle. I had the veins.

Did you know your body is designed to keep you safe?

For me, that also means collapsing your veins when it’s time for blood tests, especially when the nurse who got your number looks like she’s not in the mood to play hide and seek with alternating arms.

Now… this is the story of my life, and let me tell you, I’ve had nurses try to take blood from the strangest of places. Let’s just say… there’s trauma. (insert hand-over-face emoji)

Blood tests are something I need to do once a year because certain markers of mine need to be monitored… and today was a check-up day. Because I’m nervous-system and trauma-informed, I know very well what’s happening to my body when I’m sitting in that chair.

Now, the last time I had a check-up, it went super smoothly. I did my box breathing, caressed that vagal tone, and spoke to my veins (nurse probably thought I was nuts, but I actually did her a favour) lol… to my sheer surprise, first try — needle in and the blood flowed. I moonwalked out of there that day. I had conquered.

So today I expected it to go the same, right? Wrong! I knew that nurse meant business… she tapped away at the left arm, those taps became louder, then she said, “Let me try the other arm.” Oh boy… internally, I was frantically, then calmly, figuring out all the mental blocks, self-talk, and bracing that had been going on. Then she said, “You’re not one of those, right?”

Our bodies don’t just do this in a chair with a needle. The same protective reflex kicks in when we’re about to have a tough conversation, when we open the fridge after a stressful day, or when we stand in front of a plate of food we’ve labelled as “bad.” It’s the same wiring — the nervous system reading the moment as a threat, even if we logically know it isn’t.

At this point, I was convinced there wasn’t going to be an issue… but my sheer dismay and cries of, “Oh nooooooo, I’m not one of thoseeeeeeeeeeee!” at least brought a smile to her face. I told her the ‘history,’ did my breathing and sweet talks to the veins, and she went back to the left arm. Bingo! She found a vein.

I’m sitting comfortably, I feel the prick, I immediately feel my brace and she said… “Oh no…”

Me: “Noooooo, the vein is collapsing…”

The nurse: “So you know it collapses…”

Me: start chanting “Open vein, give the blood, open vein, give the blood.”

And just like that… the vein opened and blood she flowed.

By this point, we’re laughing while I’m marveling at the wonder of the human body.

So often we see bracing and self-sabotage — our brains trying to convince our bodies otherwise — when what it actually is, is our body’s way of protecting us from the perceived danger.

The same can be said for many choices we make during the day. While sometimes we might have the best of intentions, our nervous system — designed to keep us safe and out of danger — is responding exactly the way it was designed to do.

Next time you feel your body locked up when really it should be relaxed, reflect and see if you can feel into yourself and identity the story behind the brace.