A Quick & Easy Way To Bring A Sense Of Calm Into Your Body
Hello beautiful people,
How are you?
When we are overwhelmed It may feel like we are just desperate to get to the end of our to-do list.
Or to stop our politicians being so alarming.
Or to just get our kids to behave this way, not that way.
But it’s safety we are actually seeking.
If there are any sensations of urgency (when the situation isn’t really urgent).
Or a feeling of being doomed or trapped.
When there is an obsession with the conflict/task at hand and we can’t see anything else.
Maybe our heart is racing and we feel disconnected from our bodies.
The thing our nervous system needs is to be brought into a feeling of safe-ness.
From a place of safe-ness it’s actually easier to get our work done / deal with a screaming toddler / talk to your partner about the thing they did that you didn’t like.
So the first step in my work is to work out – what is happening in our bodies, and do we need to bring in some sensations of safe-ness?
Our bodies will always show us what we need, so it’s simply learning how to read your body that many of us need to learn.
There’s one thing I’d like to encourage you to pay attention to now, as you sit on your device reading this or on your computer. Notice how you are sitting.
Is your head pushed a little forward?
Are you holding your breath?
Is there tension in your body?
When we are on devices or our computer, it’s normal for us to hold these positions. The challenge is that when we stop breathing or hold our head forward, it’s a cue to our nervous system that there is a threat on the horizon.
It feels like there is unsafety in the air.
So let’s cue our body for safety instead.
If you’d like to, if it feels possible – I’d like to invite you to start very gently and slowly looking around and scanning the whole room.
Letting your gaze drift.
You can turn your neck gently.
Take in the whole room.
If you’d like to, stop on any objects that catch your interest.
Notice their texture, their colour, not so much as an object but as an interesting collection of colours and shapes.
Look above you and below you.
Behind you.
And if you have a window, look out the window and to the horizon line if you have one.
The horizon line is very soothing for the nervous system and our survival reactions.
Knowing what’s around you, that there is no threat on the horizon, brings a sense of safety to our bodies.
Do this for a minute or two, and then see how that feels in your body.
Do you notice anything happening? Any change in breathing, or sensation?
Allow 10 seconds or so to allow any changes to be soaked up by your nervous system, and then you can carry on with your day.
This is an awesome tool to use a few times a day – especially when we are working on the computer a lot – or busy with tasks and are moving from place to place.
Just stopping, scanning, allows the nervous system to orientate to our environment and signal safety.
I’d love to know if you try this, and if so, how it feels.
And tomorrow I’ll be back with another super simple idea for you to try to bring some restoration, some ease and some more capacity back to your nervous system.
Love,
Diana