PART I: WHAT CAN YOU DO TO FEEL GOOD?

LEARN TO REGULATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM

Amidst the gloom and doom that surrounds us, the wars, the propaganda, the fearmongering, the social divide on different issues, it is important to remember the stoic wisdom of ‘controlling the controllable’ and ‘letting go of what we can’t control’. We may not be able to control certain events, what others do or say but we most definitely can choose our perspective on events or people and our response to them. We can also learn to calm our bodies to activate our calm and wise brain mode and experiment with lots of little tricks to improve how we feel overall.

THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL

Your health is in your hands: Learn more how you can improve your health (join the SWITCH CHALLENGE)

Your perspective is in your mind: Learn more how you can influence your thoughts (LIMITING BELIEFS AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM)

Your feelings are in your body. In this Substack, I will share with you ways you can improve how you feel.

First, here are some tips on how you can create personal change and stay motivated

1. LEARN TO REGULATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM

We all experience uncomfortable feelings that we’d like to get rid of. These feelings are quite useful because they usually let us know that something is not quite right. When these feelings drag on for a long time, they prevent us from living optimally. Sometimes, we may resort to suppressing our feelings or disregarding them.

But, what happens when you push a ball under the water?

That’s right, It is bound to pop out with a splash.

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There are two ways to deal with uncomfortable feelings: Top-Down (changing how you think about situations -Cognitive Behaviour Therapy- or taking action to remediate a situation) or Bottom-Up (changing how you feel in your body to tell your brain that you are ok and you can handle it)

Regulating the nervous system is a Bottom-Up approach. By practising different techniques, you can learn to shift your brain from SURVIVE MODE (flight-fight-freeze response based in your Reactive Brain (limbic system + brain stem) to THRIVE MODE (calm and wise response based in your Thinking Brain (prefrontal cortex- region behind your forehead).

Source (annotations by me)

The Polyvagal Theory (developed by Stephen Porges and used in trauma therapy) provides a framework for self-regulation. It proposes three states: Safe & Social (no real or perceived threat), Fight or Flight (real or perceived threat with a sense of agency) and Shutdown or Freeze (real or perceived threat with a sense of helplessness). These states are managed by the autonomic nervous system which controls the involuntary functions of your body like digestion, breathing, heart rate and sexual functions. It is composed of the sympathetic system which mobilises energy for the flight or fight response and the parasympathetic system (the ventral vagal nerve is responsible for the Safe & Social state– rest, digest and repair state while the dorsal vagal nerve is responsible for the freeze/shutdown state– feeling down, detached and numb). It’s normal to experience any one of these states at different points in a day. What’s important is to be able to shift easily back to the Safe & Social State.

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 In order to shift your nervous system to the Safe & Social state, you need to move up the steps of the ladder. To move out of the shutdown state, you need to activate your body. Get moving. Pump it up. Shake it up. To move out of the flight or fight state, you need to centre yourself. Be in the here and now. Calm your breath. Calm your heart rate. Relax your muscles.

Source (annotations by me)

CONSIDER THIS FREE COURSE: Grounding Skills 

CONSIDER WATCHING THESE VIDEOS:

Three parts of the polyvagal ladder

Anchoring in Ventral Vagal State: The who, what, where and when of the Safe & Social state  (The Glimmers) 

Next week, I will share with you several tips to help you practise self-regulation.

GO TO PART II

My mission is to help improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world. Please help me mobilise humanity towards personal agency by sharing my work.

DISCLAIMER: All  information provided by Abir Ballan is solely intended for educational purposes and is not a substitute for expert advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t take any commission from any program. I am sharing these resources because I have personally tried them and found them beneficial and I am hoping you would benefit from them too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abir Ballan has a Masters in Public Health, a graduate degree in special needs education and a BA in psychology. She is a children’s author with 27 published books.