Tuning into how our body feels: a series on regulation

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In my last post I talked about how our bodies play a big part in our ability to regulate. A really helpful way to increase our ability to regulate is to become more in tune with what our body is feeling & then being able to use strategies to help counteract that. 

For example, when some people begin to feel anxious their bodies are aware of this even before they are! It can start causing us to feel hot & sweaty, or need frequent trips to the toilet, or get an awful headache, or pins & needles in our hands, or tight sore neck muscles… these are all really helpful alerts to tell us that we need to pause before it spirals out of control & we find ourselves in deep panic.

I am a big fan of practising very simple mindfulness to help with this - especially body scans, deep breathing exercises & progressive muscle relaxation. If that’s not your thing then something as simple as pausing to take a sip of water, changing your body position, taking a shower, laying on the floor etc. can also help. 

Question for you:
  • Do you know when your body is alerting you to anxiety & what strategies help to calm it down?

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