One of the most powerful things you can do for yourself is to learn how to regulate your nervous system. Why is that important? For trauma survivors, we’ve experienced something that is “too much, too fast” causing our nervous system to become overly active in an attempt to keep us safe. It can be difficult to know how to find calm after a trigger or understand if you’ve even been triggered.

You might benefit from nervous system regulation if: 

• You are frequently panicky or overwhelmed. This means that your nervous system is trying to give you extra energy to survive some threat. The problem is that after trauma your nervous system might be reading your environment incorrectly. That leaves you feeling panicky, activated, and overwhelmed when there’s nothing threatening in your environment. 

• You feel shut down and aloof frequently. This means that your nervous system is trying to shut you down and avoid pain because you are sensing that something in your environment is threatening. 

So if you are asking yourself, “How do I calm down now?” or you find yourself stuck in dread and helplessness, here are a few ways that you can regulate your nervous system today and all of them are literally free. ⁣

💫 Hum or sing a song:

This accesses part of your vagal nerve and sends some pretty incredible messages to your body that it's okay to 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. ⁣

💫 Say three nice things to yourself:

Honestly, sometimes we have to get in the way our of our negative self-talk. It can be crippling and leave us feeling worthless and unlovable. You can begin the process of interrupting this negative shame spiral by saying three nice things about yourself. ⁣

💫 Put your feet on the ground:

This is a reminder of the here and now and an invitation to be present in the moment. If your nervous system is alerted to danger around you when there isn't actually any danger, sometimes it helps to remember your actual surroundings by putting your skin to the ground. ⁣

💫 Gargle water:

This works by activating that vagal nerve once again. It sends all those good messages to your brain saying it's okay to 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 and return to your present experience.⁣

💫 Move or stretch:

If you are really shut down and collapsed in on yourself, you may need to start with simply imagining yourself moving or stretching. Sometimes we have to manually move ourselves before our bodies can realize that we are not in a "life threat" sort of situation. ⁣

💫 Crying:

This one is undersold in my opinion. So many good biological functions happen when we let ourselves cry. If you feel embarrassed about your outward emoting, then cry into that pillow.

If you feel overwhelmed or shut down and want a trained clinician to help you work through those moments, you can book a consultation call with our therapist matchmaker, and she’ll help you find a therapist who’s the right fit for you. (California residents only). We provide online therapy and have therapists who are trained in EMDR therapy. We also offer many different types of trauma therapy groups. All of our therapists specialize in trauma-informed care, and informed trauma therapy.