Building the Ground for Healing
Read time 5 mins
We explored in last week’s blog how the energy of stress, when it doesn’t get used up or completed, becomes stored survival energy in the body - which is also called trauma. This energy when held in the body takes up a lot of energy, and is experienced through sensations like tension, constriction, elevated heart rate.
We touched upon how, when we learn to feel and connect with the sensations of this held survival energy in our bodies, we can begin to instinctively help it move through us and complete. Sometimes this is a simple process, and sometimes it’s more complex and takes time.
What can you begin to do immediately, if you want to begin to work with your body to help any stored survival energy move through and complete?
The ground for this is to begin to build a more regulated nervous system.
The more regulated your nervous system is, the more easily you can recover from stress. When we recover from stress, we return to a baseline state of ease and connection, where we can connect with others and feel safe to do this, to rest and digest food. Our nervous system will be more elastic, like a springy plant which comes back to upright, after being blown in the wind (instead of being flattened). For everyone, this is a work in progress, none of us is perfect, and the work is ongoing, due to our own personal histories, as well as world events, and the systems of oppression that surround us. That said, it is possible to gradually increase our baseline of regulation over time, which will also help us to process stress more efficiently. When we work individually on our own nervous systems, this will also ripple outward to the wider systems at large (the effect will impact our families, communities and even beyond).
Building the Ground for Healing - Creating Structure in Your Day
When we’re learning to regulate our nervous systems and healing trauma, we’re working with the physiology of our bodies, it’s not something we can think or talk our way into (although talking may be an important element in the longer-term healing process). Building a daily structure focused on what we’re doing with our bodies, and how we’re placing our attention is essential to bring more regulation on board.
I’m not naturally great at keeping a routine and doing the same thing at the same time each day, but I really feel such a grounding, regulating and energising benefit from regularity and routine. This has become easier over time as I’ve experienced the benefit. There are a few things which make a difference to my nervous system, help me to feel more present and grounded through the day and help me to sleep better. I encourage choosing and experimenting with what works for you (rather than being a set, rigid protocol, here are just a few suggestions, which are backed by research as being effective at nervous system regulation when practised regularly) :
1. At the beginning of your day, take 10 mins of quiet time, before looking at your phone, to orient to your space and the room around you, tune in to the sensations in your body, and follow your impulse to move in a way which feels good to you (a few stretches, movements, yawns, sighs- follow what feels good). If you’d like some guidance with this, I run an online qigong class every morning, 730-8am UK time where we do just this.
2. Spend 20 minutes outside, within 2 hours of waking. This allows our eyes to soak up the sunlight, which is naturally hugely regulating for our nervous system, and helps balance our circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that signals when to be alert and when to rest. Light also affects the production of melatonin, an essential sleep-promoting hormone.
3. Practice exploratory orienting for 2 minutes or longer, three times a day : standing or sitting, softly and slowly look around you, and taking in what you see - the colours light, lines, textures, outlines, as if seeing everything for the first time. You can do this whether you’re outside or inside. Look to your left, to centre, and over to your right, foreground and background, taking your time over a couple of minutes or longer. What we do with our eyes really impacts our nervous systems - when we have a fixed, tunnel-view as we do when we’re looking at a screen, it signals ‘threat’ to our nervous system, as its the same eye position that us mammals engage when we’re fixed onto the horizon looking for a perceived predator. To balance this, the soft, roaming, unhurried orienting where we register ‘there’s no danger here’ is necessary.
4. Spend 30 minutes walking outside sometime during the day : either in one go, or 3 x 10 minute walks. This amazingly beneficial, free activity is hugely regulating for our nervous systems. Energy creates energy, and the more we move, the more we want to move.
5. Add some deep proprioceptive feedback training (ie resistance or strength training) in to your day. The resistance can come from using a heavy resistance band, lifting weights, bodyweight exercises like planks or push ups, or even just lifting a heavy laundry basket up and down the stairs. All of these signal safety to our nervous systems and bring us to a more regulated place.
6. See the sunset or the sky as the light fades, to send a signal to your body that sleeptime is nearly here. Also, turn down artificial lights (you could go by candlelight or lamp light) and turn off screens 2 hours before bed. Attuning to the natural light in the evening helps our circadian rhythm, again.
7. Lying in bed, take a body scan before you sleep. Notice the way your body rests into the bed below, and the way the bed rises up to meet you. Take your awareness slowly around your body : your feet, legs, pelvis, belly, spine, shoulders, arms, hands, head, back, front, whole body. Notice any sensations, particularly the ones which feel more neutral or even good-feeling, along the way.
The best way to approach all of this is gently, with the long view. It’s good to release the pressure when approaching things to help regulate our nervous system, as we dont want them to become just another thing to add a sense of constriction and to feel bad about if there are times we don’t do it. We can always come back to it.
Next week, I’ll be discussing the longer-term view of regulating our nervous systems. Today’s post gives us something specific to get going with immediately, in case you’re feeling the call to. Longer term, nervous system regulation also includes a wider picture including building self-awareness, expressing ourselves authentically, connecting with others and a sense of purpose.
More next week….
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Take care and thanks for reading,
Charlotte