5 tips for regulation from a Polyvagal Theory informed therapist
Taking some time today to share some tips you can use on your own for regulation. I want to start with tips that can help move your system out of the sympathetic state.
Let’s start with a quick overview of the sympathetic state. This state prepares us for action, and you may be more familiar with the phrase “fight-or-flight” that is often used to describe this state. Things happening in your body you might notice in this state would be your heart rate speeding up or your breath becoming shorter and more shallow. It may feel hard to sit still so you fidget or stay in motion or tense. When your sympathetic state is triggered, you may describe yourself as feeling anxious, angry, unsettled, disorganized, or even as panicked. The world around you may feel unsafe, chaotic, or unfriendly.
If you can relate to this state or feel like you tend to navigate daily living from this place, try these tips to move out of this mobilization and towards a greater sense of safety and connection.
Tip #1: Move
One of my more recent favorite forms of movement is dance (a recommendation from my own therapist!), but there are many other types of movement you can try to help move out of “fight-or-flight.” You may prefer yoga or running or even the micro-movements made from using a rocking chair. There is no right or wrong way to move, only whatever helps move you into regulation.
Tip #2: Change your temperature
When trying to move from the sympathetic state towards safety and connection, try temperature change in the direction of cold. Temperature change may help bring you back to the present moment. Try a ice cube in your hands or on the back of your neck, a cold shower, or running cold water over your hands or face. This temperature change may help decrease your heart rate along with providing grounding and helping you to anchor into the present.
Tip #3: Listen to music
Your autonomic nervous system responds to sound. You may want to create a “ventral playlist” that connects you to feelings of calm, compassion, rest, and restoration along with a “sympathetic playlist” that allows you to safely connect with the anxiety or anger of your sympathetic state. Your ventral playlist may help you reconnect with the energy of your ventral state, while your sympathetic playlist may help you connect to and embrace the state as opposed to feeling overwhelmed by it. You can even try mixing the two playlists, allowing yourself to notice the blending or transitioning between the two states depending on the song. You may also want to try nature sounds. The sound of water can be particularly restorative for your nervous system!
Tip #4: Thank the state
Take a moment to practice gratitude for the way your nervous system acts in service of your safety and survival. Validation and self-compassion can be helpful in combating the more critical self-talk that may show up when you’re feeling anxious or angry. Ultimately, we need our fight-or-flight response. We may seek to bring more regulation to this response, but appreciating the self-protective intent behind our responses can help cultivate more change than self-criticism.
Tip #5: Try sour candy
Focusing on the taste of sour candy may provide a distraction and help anchor you into the present through your sense of taste.
