Perhaps becoming more aware of “the body in therapy” is an idea you have heard lots about in recent years and with which you agree in principle? However, as a potential therapy client or even an interested professional, you still don’t necessarily feel you have a complete hold on – why and how does the body actually matter in therapy?
Tag: #polyvagaltheory
Orientation
Orienting is a skill you already have (because it’s hard-wired into your nervous system). But you can learn to strengthen or recover it during stressful times to help to communicate to your brain and body that you are safe during times when stress and overwhelm take you back to traumatic memory or forward in anticipation of something difficult.
Orienting helps you to focus on your external environment and lean into cues around that tell you where you are now, is safe.
The popular grounding technique of tuning into the five senses uses orienting to bring you into the moment:
Name
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can feel
2 smells and
1 taste
You could also try:
👀 Look around you and name one item to the front, one behind you, one to the left and one to right. Add extra detail if you like by going up then down.
✏️ Choose an object nearby and describe it in detail to yourself
🤚🏽 Reach out and touch the nearest wall or surface. Place both hands on and describe the feeling in detail.
👣 Take your shoes off and stand on the earth.
Psychology is full off fancy words for natural, inbuilt strengths which we can use to our advantage. I love uncovering the brilliance in our systems. As always, these strategies are even more powerful when they’re happen in the presence of another.
My childhood best friend and I used to ask each other “can you smell your nose?” then we’d curl the tips of our noses round into themselves and genuinely investigate 🥰 I still do it sometimes and find it really soothing.
What orienting strategies do you already use or could you build on now you know the idea behind it?
Rhythm is regulating
Our introduction to rhythm begins in the womb, when the sound and pressure of our mothers beating heart provides a core and constant rhythmic input to our organising brain. While as teeny babes we haven’t yet developed the cognitive capacity to “remember” the consistent presence of that 60-80bpm rhythm, holding and soothing us, the ancient lower regions of our brains are absolutely online, and will associate this predictable beat with feeling warm, quenched and soothed forever more.
As new babies (outside the womb) a similar rhythm creates the same sense of safety (you’ll know this if you’ve had a newborn), and perhaps more noticeably, any unpredictable rhythm or beats far outside of this range, run a much higher risk of activating our immature threat systems – if it’s new, it might be dangerous.
Bruce Perry uses The Tree of Regulation model to describe the foundations for health in developing infants. Here, rhythm and regulation lay down the roots of good health, exactly synonymous with early networks in the brain which build and spread like roots under the right conditions, to create capacity for self- regulation in later life.
Bilateral Stimulation
Bilateral stimulation – the repeated and rhythmic stimulation of left then right side has many hypothesised mechanisms in psychotherapy. In a formal therapy setting, especially if your therapist uses EMDR (Eye Movement Densentitisation and Reprocessing), we use eye movements, tapping or the butterfly hug to create this rhythmic stimulation. At the most fundamental level, it creates a soothing reassuring pattern or rhythm (similar to a steady heart beat) which feels really regulating.
Additional outcomes might include an increase in your ability to think flexibly about an issue or problem, and a capacity to distance yourself from the intensity of experiences (thoughts, feelings, memories).
Bilateral Sounds
There’s lots of fun to be had with bilateral sounds. You can search up “bilateral beats” and listen to music using headphones. You will notice that this beat has the same left – right effect. Save a track you like and tune in when you need that extra level of soothing in your system.
I often listen to these beats while i’m walking or running outside.
As well as music I love waves, taps, running and dancing.
What’s your favourite way to experience rhythm?
In psychology, and particularly attachment theory, the concept of “good enough” refers to a parent who best serves their developing child by being “enough” rather than perfect. I love this. While a child needs an attentive and loving parent, they also benefit from seeing the reality of life, the struggles, emotions and challenges in manageable amounts.
The main interest of your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is your safety.
If you are ever anxious, frightened, sad, unsettled, overwhelmed or angry, but logically can’t make sense why, you might feel frustrated or betrayed by your body and mind… like they’re conspiring against you to make life hard.
Applying knowledge of the nervous system to invite the body into regulation
In Polyvagal Theory, the “vagal brake” is the slowing down of a threat response by using cues of safety to hold us when we might otherwise slip into fight, flight or shut down.
Mind-body dualism was a legacy of Philosopher Descartes in the 1600s: the idea that the mind is separate to matter (the body).