The truth about Nervous System regulation

Nervous system regulation is a hot topic right now.

A common mistake people make is thinking that regulating their nervous system is the same as calming themselves down.

There are different calming somatic techniques out there, but it’s important to remember that in order to process trauma, you’ll need to experience feelings like grief, anger and fear.

In order to have a regulated nervous system. These feelings will need to move through you because often those are what’s keeping you stuck in your trauma response.

In general, the goal isn’t just to stay calm, but rather to feel things in a way that you can hold without causing your system to go into overwhelm.

In that sense, learning how to settle and ground is an important part of nervous system regulation but it’s not the whole picture.

We use those techniques not to avoid feelings but to create safety in the body that will allow us to actually feel our feelings more fully.

When we do that we grow our “window of tolerance” which is our container’s capacity to feel.

When our container is large enough to hold discomfort, everyday life doesn't phase us as much and we’re naturally able to stay present most of the time which is the true meaning of being regulated.