when the world feels crazy
Life on planet Earth is hard right now.
So much in the world feels uncertain and even unstable. Wars raging in the Middle East and Europe. A tense and contentious political climate here at home. Myriad other challenges globally and locally. If you have noticed a change in how people treat each other, if humanity feels less sane, less stable, and even less intelligent than you remember it being, you’re not alone.
I wish I had some answers. I don’t know what will happen next, when things might start feeling better, or if they will start feeling better. I don’t have any big, broad, global solutions to the problems we face right now. It can feel very helpless.
However.
I do have something to say about how to take care of yourself in these challenging times. Because ultimately, taking care of yourself and controlling what you CAN control is the best you can do, and will bring forward the best YOU that you can be.
This is good for the world and for people around you.
I’d like to share a word that is extremely important to me right now: regulation. It may sound like a fancy therapy word, but in reality it’s a simple concept. And self-regulation is an easy-to-learn practice that will bring you back into balance when you feel torn away from your center.
Regulation is the deliberate, intentional attention to your own nervous system when you notice things are getting funky.
A regulated nervous system can bring itself back into a sense of balance and safety when hard, upsetting, de-stabilizing things are happening. Paying attention to your nervous system and self-regulating is not always easy…it’s very much a practice.
Imagine that you’re perusing the news…maybe even doom-scrolling…and you see something that is upsetting. And let’s be honest, news sources over-emphasize and even sensationalize negative stories, because they draw us in, right? So a minute ago you were doing just fine, and now you see something online that starts to bring you down. Perhaps it even sparks fear and anxiety. What do you do next?
First, it’s important to notice yourself sliding into anxiety. That anxiety is energy, and needs to be moved through your body - the sooner the better. If you’re able, you can make some noise, punch a pillow, or kick and scream. You can also move energy in less dramatic ways. Get outside for a quick walk around the block. Any sort of bilateral movement - engaging both sides of your body - is extremely helpful for moving emotional energy. You can tap your palms on your lap, alternating left, right, etc. You can fold and cross your arms at your chest and alternately tap palms on the front of your shoulders. If there’s an activity that feels like it will help you move that emotion, do it!
Another extremely effective technique for de-escalating negative emotions and self-regulation is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), otherwise known as tapping. Through a system of tapping on 12 acupressure meridian points on the body, emotional and physical stress reactions are disrupted. Tapping is being used to treat people with anxiety and PTSD with positive results. If you’d like to try it out, I’m linking to a short tapping video here.
Negative emotions are meant to be a natural cycle…the fear or anger or anxiety is supposed to rise up, be felt and expressed, and move through the body to complete the cycle. Unfortunately, most of us never learned how to do this. Instead we were taught to stuff our feelings so we wouldn’t be disruptive or inappropriate. And thus what should be a natural cycle gets choked and suppressed. We carry around that stuck energy instead of releasing it.
Once you’ve moved negative emotion through your system, you’ll likely feel a lot better. Regulating your own nervous system is a skill, one that gets better with practice. And it’s also a superpower…only you can take control of your own regulation. No one else has that power over you.
So…let’s face it…the world feels a bit crazy right now.
Your life, and all of its challenges…that might feel a bit crazy too. Your power lies in knowing what you can control. By noticing emotional triggers as they come up, you can self-regulate. And as a bonus, your own regulated nervous system is deeply regulating to others around you.
You are in the driver’s seat.
In times when it may feel like there’s nothing you can do as an individual to make the world safer, more peaceful, more kind, more intelligent…I’m here to let you know you can.
Start with yourself and see what happens.
Want some help exploring self-regulation? Click here to schedule a free connection call with me. And for more juicy life stuff, tune into my podcast, coming home (to yourself). As always, may your week be filled with self-love and rich insights. With love, Amy ♡♡♡