Flooded? 3 ways to regulate right here and now!
Do you titrate throughout the day?
I’m not talking about titration as a chemical process!
I’m talking about somatic titration.
That is when we intentionally take in digestible amounts of distress at a time in order to integrate. This helps us avoid getting overwhelmed.
Titration keeps us in our window of tolerance, our body's most optimal state.
Keep reading to learn more!
Nowadays we are literally flooded with news all day everyday. We consume it through all forms of media. Television, Twitter, Instagram, news, podcasts. This naturally creates a sense of dysregulation.
We receive more information than we’re capable of integrating into our bodies.
So when we learn distressful content such as the death of 215 indigenous children, our nervous system tends to shut down.
We leave our window of tolerance.
In order to reel ourselves back in, we can practice self-regulation.
Here are 3 ways to practice somatic regulation when you’re under stress:
Locate 3 objects in your environment. Take in their color, shape and size. Breathe.
Name the present sensation in your body out loud. Say “heart racing”, “sweaty palms” or “knot in my stomach”
If you’re feeling high energy, give yourself some gentle touch, place a hand on your heart. If you're feeling numb, give yourself some squeezes along your body.
Your body knows how to regulate. Trust in its power.
As n’betweeners, we experience oppression daily.
Learning how to regulate is key to sustaining ourselves while resisting systematic oppression.
Remember the goal here is not to be calm but to practice regulation.
Sending you a gentle squeeze!
Nora
Ps. Wanna learn more about how trauma impacts your window of tolerance? Check out this resource.