Category: Nervous System Regulation

Tools for Sleep

10/11/2022

Sleep Tips:

Consistency. Make sleep a practice. Make relaxation a ritual. Try the resources below on a regular basis. Commit to a regular sleep ritual and stick to it for a month.
Make your bedroom a relaxing, nurturing, dark environment.
Avoid large meals shortly before sleep.
Monitor caffeine use.
Limit screen time before bed. Especially limit things like Twitter and TikTok that are fast moving, informational, and intentionally stimulating.
If you're having a hard time "turning off your brain," journal or make lists.
Drop into your body with gentle movement or meditation before sleep.
Don't freak out. The worse thing you can do is judge yourself or spiral about your night affecting the next day. In fact, consider how can you lean into your current experience.

Resources:
Gentle Movement
30-Minute Qigong for Sleep
30-Minute Yin Yoga
25-Minute Restorative Yoga

Yoga Nidra
30-Minute Yoga Nidra
90-Minute Yoga Nidra

Body Scan Meditation
30-Minute Body Scan

Sleep Stories
The Calm App's Sleep Stories

Not Resisting Our Experience
Saying Yes To Reality Meditation
Meditation For Relaxing Into Sleep

Supplements*
*Check in with your MD before introducing supplements
Magnesium
Melatonin
CBD
Ashwagandha

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Resources to Focus Your Attention on Your Intention

9/8/2022

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I believe therapy can be a space for insight, a space for feeling heard and understood, a space to process certain experiences, a space for you to be you. Therapy can also be a space to explore what shifts you want to make in your day-to-day life including building a better sense of who you are, soothing anxiety, increasing emotional regulation, and working on broader life goals.

Below are some resources* to help support your mental health goals outside of therapy.

Intention: Reducing Anxiety
Anxiety may feel like fear or dread, without even knowing what you are fearing or dreading. Feeling high levels of anxiety on a regular basis generally points to some level of nervous system dysregulation. Therapy can help you understand the roots of your anxiety but a daily practice of checking in with your thoughts, feelings, and body outside of session is crucial for nervous system regulation.

Let’s focus your attention on…

Establishing a Daily Practice For Soothing the Nervous System

Grounding in The Here and Now:

5 Senses Grounding Exercise

Getting Better Sleep

Intention: Establishing a Stronger Sense of Self
Establishing a stronger sense of self means knowing who you are and what is going on inside. Insights gained in therapy can be transformational and self-inquiry has been demonstrated to increase satisfaction in relationships. Here are some ways to keep that momentum going after therapy.

Let’s focus your attention on…

Establishing a Relationship With Yourself Through a Daily Check-In

Understanding What Makes You You

Deeply Understanding What You Are Feeling and Thinking

Unlearning The White Cisheteropatriachy

Intention: Increasing Ability to Self-Regulate
Increasing your ability to self-regulate helps you find calm and clarity when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Being able to self-regulate is a critical skill in helping us act in accordance with our authentic selves in friendships, romantic relationships, in community, and at work. Inability to self-regulate is highly correlated with trauma. Working with a trauma-focused therapist and practicing skills focused on mindfulness literally helps to rewire the brain, making emotional regulation more accessible and natural, which can help you move through the world in the way you, well, intend to.

Let’s focus your attention on…

Being Kind to Yourself

Thinking Logically

Practicing Regulating During An Emotional Crisis

Distress Tolerance
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (if feeling urgent, skip the first 2 mins 40 seconds)
Paced Breathing (if feeling urgent, skip the first 3 minutes 50 seconds)

***Resources are not a substitute for therapy and are not intended for making diagnoses or providing treatment. Not all practices and tools are suitable for every person. Please discuss exercises, practices, and tools with your individual therapist or health care provider.

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Tools for Sleep

Podcast Recommendations for Recorded Meditations

Podcast Recommendations For Nervous System Soothing

Resources to Focus Your Attention on Your Intention

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