Do you find daily transitions challenging?

Have you ever experienced something like this?

You finish a conversation and you start making dinner, but you’re not really making dinner?

Or you finished answering emails and jump on a call, but you’re still thinking about the last email you answered? 

It’s like the bodymind hasn’t caught up with the change in activity.

The “still processing” wheel on the computer is still spinning. 

If you find transitions challenging, you’re not alone! I struggle with them too.

So, what’s going on? Well, it’s called orienting, and we’re interrupting it. 

Orienting is part of our healthy response to any novel stimuli and it involves a sequence of involuntary actions that the nervous system goes through.

This includes stopping everything to figure out where that stimulus is coming from, whether or not it’s dangerous and figuring out the appropriate response. 

This happens naturally and automatically in the ancient brain. We don’t need to think about it. 

But in stressful situations things happen too much, too fast and too soon so we don’t always get a chance to complete the orienting sequence. 

Even though our system always does what it needs to do to help us survive, skipping the orienting phase in traumatic situations can lead to difficulties in transitions.

We feel confused, unsettled. It’s like we’re not really there. 

So what do we need to do to make this easier?

Start by being mindful and intentional about how we handle transitions. We want to honor the fact that our nervous system needs to orient to a new situation in order for us to feel safe. 

If you’re the kind of person that schedules things back to back, it’s a good idea to pause and consider that maybe there’s a kinder, more self compassionate way of doing things. 

Once you’re aware that you need to leave some breathing room in between activities, think about other ways you can support yourself throughout the day..

What do you need in order to transition well?