Can’t relax? Try these tools to encourage your nervous system to take a break!
The key is: asking nicely.
I want to invite you to imagine yourself as a human living thousands of years ago. Imagine the daily stressors you would be facing. You likely would have to walk through forests and desserts and encounter large animals that you’d have to know how to face, flee from, or fight.
But we know that our nervous systems have probably changed a bit from then right? Not really! Stress has always been a part of life, and we happen to have just mostly switched the bears, alligators, and snakes with guns, cars, and other super scary beasts like work, school, and toxic relationships!
Our brain is meant to gather all of this information from the past to protect us from future threats. If you can remember epigenetically that a snake can kill you, then you can hopefully know not to mess with them. The subcortical region of our brain (the part that holds and processes traumas) is constantly scanning for threats, and making our body physically brace for attacks.
This is great for survival, but not so great for anxiety. You might find yourself tensing up before going to work, or shallow breathing before even getting through the gym doors. This is all your body bracing for a bear, except that the bear this time is that one passive aggressive coworker, or your aunt crossing another boundary.
Now, what can we do to help our body realize that we are safe? The first thing is making sure we are actually safe. If there is a threat to your safety, then it may be more difficult for your body to let down it’s guards, there’s a very real reason why they have to be up! Please look for resources in your area (here in Florida you can give #211 a call and they can point you toward resources like food banks, shelters, and Domestic Violence support groups). Additionally, if you have traumas or eating disorders, this is important that you work toward healing with treatment as it affects our nervous system (and much more) every day if it goes untreated.
If you are safe, and you know your body may be sending false alarms of danger, then here are some tools that can help regulate your nervous system:
The first tool is, you guessed it, grounding: doing things like deep breathing, brainspotting, yoga, etc. regularly, can help send safety signals to our brain.
The second tool is learning to use our senses to ground. This requires daily practice so that our body can fall back on this habit when we need it most. This can also help to remind our body to be present and in-the-moment rather than hovering over our past traumas or future worries.
If you’re interested in working with a mental health professional to learn other tools and treatments to begin regulating your nervous system, please reach out or submit an inquiry!
