Self-Regulation Tools for the Holidays

Time works a little differently around the holidays, doesn’t it? There’s an acceleration of demands aimed at completing end-of-year tasks mixed in with about 7 holidays that entail spending loads of time with family. So easy!

Or maybe it’s not so easy, but with the right tools, we can learn to take it all in stride! Whether your boss is asking you to reconcile a whole year’s worth of transactions or your great aunt brings up politics at the dinner table, or ALL of it is happening at the same time, we know that we’re equipped to handle it. It just takes integrating the right tools and skills.

Developing a Nervous System capable of self-regulation is a skill. And like any skill,  it takes putting in the reps to see the full rewards. You don’t go to the gym once and expect a 6-pack. Likewise, these tools are meant to be part of a routine practice (that will likely look different day to day, and that’s ok!)

The Holidays are like the Olympics of Nervous System regulation — you may be seriously tested! In the event that these tools and skills aren’t enough, I’ll urge you to meet yourself with gentleness and return to honing the skills as needed (would you be upset with yourself for not completing a marathon without training adequately, or would you just train better next time? Same deal, ya know?)

Use these tools on a regular basis to see maximum self-regulation benefits:

1. Breathe

   • Get to know the natural rhythm/cadence of your breath at rest, without seeking to change it in any way. That way, you’ll be better able to detect changes in your breath that indicate your body may be shifting into a fight/flight state. The sooner you recognize your state beginning to change, acknowledge what you’re feeling in your body!

   • Notice the breath as it shallows and give reverence for its intelligence that wants to save you! Then, remind yourself you’re probably not going to die of spreadsheets of talking politics (or whatever “threat” you’re facing). You’re fundamentally safe in the present moment.

   • Now you can finally start to deepen your breath, thus bringing your Nervous System back into a rest/digest default state (or regulation).

   • TIP: trying to instantly regulate yourself out of fight/flight without feeling the feeling and acknowledging the intelligence of your body’s reflexive response may prevent you from achieving full benefits. 

2. Listen to your body

   • When you notice your energy getting “heady” or disassociated from the body, bring awareness to simple sensations in the body (like clothes touching your skin, then start to go deeper). 

   • When your body gives you a cue, listen! There’s not much else to say here. Whenever you listen to your body, you’re telling the intelligence within your body that you trust it.

   • Bonus: open up a dialogue with parts of your body that are seeking re-connection. If at first you don’t “hear” much, stay at it! Allow the practice to evolve.

3. Find safety in your body

   • Our Nervous Systems are constantly evaluating our external environments for cues of safety and unsafety.

   • By cultivating a sense of safety from within the body, we’re equipping ourselves to meet the demands of our external realities with a neurological state that’s supportive of managing these stressors

   • TIP: Using the above practice of listening to the body, allow yourself to find and open into spaces that already feel “safe". It’s ok to linger there without diving straight into the deep nasties!

4. Get adjusted by a Chiropractor

   • By releasing old tension patterns held in the body, we’re actually able to heal the Nervous System. Why does that matter? Well, the instant response our body makes when under stress is determined by past life experiences.

   • Our bodies perceive threats from the past in the present until the loop of unsafety has been closed, through being healed (and felt fully). This has been some of the most important work I’ve done.

   • By integrating the stored life experiences that make up our “triggers,” we’re better able to adapt in the moment without getting derailed by past stories that our bodies have clung onto.

   • The chiropractic adjustment is aimed at integrating these stored stressors in the Nervous System, using the spine as a lever into the Nervous System.

Have any questions or comments? Let me know! I’d love to dialogue with you about your experience! We exist as a community for a reason (what a valuable tool in itself!)

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