Root Cause:
Being stuck in “fight or flight” response. Body/mind build a reflex habit to react from a place of fear/worry/stress instead of calm
Approach
Relaxed vigilance skill – nervous system self regulation:
Parasympathetic response slows things down and calms the mind and body – stuck in fight or flight. Relaxation doesn’t resolve the underlying issue, it just distracts us but issue stays there and causes us anxiety
- 1) Soothe body throughout the day so your body isn’t stuck in fight or flight.
- 2) Turns on parasympathetic response as your primary response
Lotus bud app
Use a grounding skill. Willingness. Be present. Be open. Ground yourself on acceptance first – not force.
Breathe, check in. Take slow breath. Or yawn. Or tense and relax. Or tell yourself “I am safe enough right now”
Every 15 minutes for first week.
We have this false dialectic: that if the outside situation is stressful, I must be stressed. Can we challenge this? It turns out we generally perform better if we’re relaxed. We make better decisions, and can even respond faster. World class athletes perform at peak by being as calm as possible. FloJo lord help me stay relaxed – to stay in first place. Stressing up causes her to lose her lead.
We don’t need to take it inside of us. Be busy and vigilant while maintaining a calm nervous system. Relaxed vigilance.
Practice
We accidentally train ourselves to hold stress in difficult situations. Just need to train ourselves to maintain a calm nervous system in difficult situations. It’s what medical professionals and emergency responders train to do.
When you calm your body, you send a message through your vegus nerve to the brain to calm your mind as well.
Retrain nervous to excited. Easier to recognize and have the positive Frame of excited. And drop it quickly too.