Nervous System Regulation Techniques
Did you know that even if you are currently in a safe environment, your nervous system can be clouded by your past traumas and even everyday life tasks, making this hard for your body to get the full restoration it needs to heal? If it seems like you’ve tried everything and keep hitting roadblocks, you might want to look into these techniques. Your brain cannot tell the difference between how serious a threat is. For example, it wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if you were getting chased by a bear or anxious for a test at school. This causes cortisol and other chemical reactions to occur in your body, making it nearly impossible to get better. These techniques signal to the nervous system that it is safe, which reminds it to go back into relaxation mode. I want to note that this isn’t a quick fix. It takes time to see the full effects, but once you do, its so freeing. Being able to fully relax is a flex, and your body will thank you so much for helping it out during stressful times. No matter how stressful the situation is.
Butterfly tapping hug: overlap thumbs to form a butterfly, then place hands over chest like a mummy. Tap fingers on chest alternating sides. Do this for 3 min. This is a great way to calm down and reset. The bilateral stimulation signals to the nervous system that its safe.
Connect with your body and ask yourself questions on how you feel instead of analyzing the why and overthinking. In the morning, ask yourself how you want to feel and base your actions on that. This can be difficult, but it has helped me to become more aware of my body and what it needs.
Grounding/redirection: Focus/redirect your energy back to something positive when you feel unwell. This directs your energy back to the present, instead of feeling stuck in the mind and unintentionally causing cortisol spikes!!
Havening: cross your arms over your chest and stroke the sides of your arms. It sounds weird, but this one is actually my favorite and feels the safest to me. It’s not invasive and is actually really calming.
Jumping/dancing: this helps to regulate the natural responses you get from being in fight/flight. It gets rid of the excess energy and lets your mind connect with your body. Specific movements can release tension.
Yoga: I personally love yoga because there are different types for whatever you’re feeling. Regardless of what you choose, you are connecting with your body, which is the whole point of N.S.R. Holding poses for long periods of time releases the fascia in the muscles. A lot of scientists, doctors, and holistic practitioners say that trauma is stored in the body, specifically the muscles. So when you do activities like yoga, you can have emotional responses. Sometimes it can even trigger emotions and memories. There are trauma informed yoga classes that use these specific exercises, and they also have gentle yoga if you prefer a lighter practice. Yoga is truly amazing at reconnecting with your body.
Somatic stretching/yoga: basically the same as yoga, except it’s focused on where trauma is most stored in the body. Which is usually the hips. If you search for somatic stretching/yoga, you will get more specific exercises for trauma release. I use keywords like “somatic healing stretches,” “somatic hip stretches,” and “somatic release exercises.”
I’m gonna be real some exercises can be overwhelming at first if you aren’t used to it, that’s why Havening is my personal favorite. But everyone is different. I know people who prefer breathing techniques. It all depends on what makes you the most comfortable.
A good sign these techniques are working is that you will yawn. The science behind this is that when you regulate your nervous system, your body finally has time to relax. You often are unaware you are stuck in fight/fight/etc because the symptoms can be undetectable if you’ve experienced it for a long period of time. Your painful symptoms can start to feel normal, which distorts your perception of how well you are. By staying consistent with regulation techniques, your body will finally be able to heal emotionally, mentally, and physically.
With love always,
Marley
