How do you regulate your nervous system after traumatic experiences and incidents?
How do you regulate your nervous system after traumatic experiences and incidents?
Some practices to help you
Along our self-healing journey, we learn that healing is our responsibility, no matter how badly someone else treated you or spoke to you - no matter how alone you feel, no matter how frustrated and absolutely fucking angry at the world (every negative emotion is valid too), ultimately - you have to create safety within your own nervous system and mind space so that
1. You don’t let unpleasant situations destroy your energy
2. You can respond and deal with the external more effectively
We live in a world that has no understanding of trauma. Little to no sensitivity, yet the world is a reflection of us as individuals as well. Too often, we try to focus on changing the outside world or fix other people, but the fact is no one else is going to change. Especially if life has dealt us with serial traumatic incidents, it can have a great impact on our physical, emotional and mental health.
So there comes a time where you have to take that power back into your own hands and say - I am going to return home to myself. Amidst all of this brokenness, I can still heal myself. More expansion into self-love, always!
Here are a few simple things you can do in order to regulate your nervous system if you are feeling emotionally broken down or upset:
Immediately place your hands on your stomach and observe your breathing. It can be hard to regulate your breathing on its own, tangibly feeling the sensations of the breath grounds you back into the body and the present and helps create a sense of safety.
Use EFT tapping techniques to regulate your nervous system amidst breakdowns. Here is a good channel on YouTube that shares a lot on EFT tapping, this one is on feeling frustrated. He has more on different topics.
Get outside in the fresh air and ask the sky, trees, sun and elements to support you. Too often we feel completely devoid of human support and forget that we have nature to help us. This harmonises our energy and calms us down. Don’t allow yourself to sit in the pain, bring your mind to some sort of constructive and positive activity and then come back to the issue later.
Make use of healing crystals. Everything in nature has a vibration and healing property. Sometimes in our lowest moments we forget to use the very tools we have in front of us. I will make a separate guide on how to cleanse and charge your crystals! Some crystals that help with emotional regulation and support include Rhonodite, Rhodochrosite, Rose Quartz, Selenite, Amethyst.
Sometimes it helps just to allow yourself the space to sit with whatever you are feeling. Accept that it is happening, it will pass. Life doesn’t have to be a constant struggle. You get to create and pursue your own joy. You don’t need anyone else’s approval. Observe the sensations in your energy, write down what you are feeling or simply sit and hold yourself through whatever is moving through. You will come back to wholeness, because your wholeness never leaves you.
I know it can be difficult but don’t IMMEDIATELY reach for a distraction like scrolling your phone, or reaching for the bottle of wine or dousing it in Netflix. THAT SUPPRESSES AND COMPOUNDS THE PROBLEM. You cannot heal if you don’t give yourself the space to sit with whatever you’re experiencing.
There is much more that can be shared on this topic and modern psychology now provides a range of tools for trauma-informed therapy and healing modalities. Spiritual self-healing modalities can seriously help you to manage and shift your energy as well, and you can start applying that today.