Take Five, Regulation Resets!

A week at a silent retreat to reset our nervous systems is unlikely for most people reading this blog what we need are our own easy, ridiculously small yet immensely effective resets. Regulating ourselves as part of our lives days is a health imperative. Intentionally shifting from a state of survival (sympathetic) back to a state of safety (parasympathetic) isn’t just about emotional intelligence it affects all areas of our lives. Here are five easy ones I practice to reclaim my calm!

1. Anti-Urgency Pace. If you find yourself rushing through mundane tasks, like brushing teeth or walking to the car, as if the world might end if you take an extra ten seconds. Know this rushed-to-nowhere energy signals to the amygdala that there is a threat. 

Habit: Choose just one routine task and perform it at 50% speed. 

By consciously slowing your motor output, you provide bottom-up feedback to the brain that there is no immediate danger, effectively lowering your cortisol levels and in the longer term your waistline.

2. Physiological Sighs. When we are stressed, our lung's air sacs (alveoli) can collapse, leading to a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, which triggers anxiety.

Habit: Inhale deeply and audibly and sigh (or hum). Yes the sound is needed! (So perhaps don’t do it in front of someone intentionally!)

This specific breathing pattern with sound, triggers the vagus nerve to slow the heart rate within seconds.

3. Peripheral Vision Expansion. Stress causes tunnel vision, a literal narrowing of the visual field.

Habit: Soften your gaze. Without moving your eyes, try to see as far as possible to your left and then up and over to the right. Like tracing a rainbow with your eyes. 

Broadening your visual field, engages panoramic vision, which is neurologically linked to the parasympathetic nervous system (your inner calm). You cannot maintain a high-stress state while your eyes are in a relaxed, wide-angle mode. You’ll likely do a big yawn too!

4. A Water Reset. If your thoughts are spiralling and your heart is racing, you need a circuit breaker.

Habit: Splash water on your face.

This triggers something called the Mammalian Dive Reflex. Your brain assumes you are underwater and immediately slows the heart rate and redirects blood flow to the brain and heart to conserve energy. It’s a great CTRL+ALT+DEL for the nervous system.

5. Conscious Transitions. We might spend our transitions (walking down a hallway, driving to work) ruminating on the last task or worrying about the next one.

Habit: Use every doorway/traffic light you pass through as a reset trigger. As you cross a threshold/light notice if your tongue is pushed up at the top of your mouth then open your mouth, drop your shoulders and unclench your jaw.

Chronic jaw tension is a leftover from our evolutionary past. By releasing the masseter muscle, you send a signal to the brainstem that any fight is over.

Implementing these won't just make you calmer, it might prevent you from treating a minor administrative hiccup with the gravitas of a national emergency!