How To Calm Your Nervous System

Your body knows how to stress out and feel anxious. It knows the heart-pounding, chest-thumping, ears ringing, muscle-clenching, shallow breathing, mind-racing hell that is anxiety. For you, maybe that is all too familiar and you spend more time there than you would care to admit. Life has an uncanny way of throwing everything we don’t want at us all at the same time. During these times we may find ourselves feeling overwhelmed more than we know what to do with. We need every bit of help we can get to keep us from going over the edge we find ourselves dangling so close to.

Even when life is going alright we all have moments when our bodies need a little help calming down. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to getting there. Sometimes a deep breath or two might be all you need. Other times you may be able to repeat a positive mantra to remind yourself that things are going to be ok. Moving your body by going for a walk or doing yoga might do wonders in helping your body relax. Or perhaps getting a hug from someone you love or cuddling with your pet. Any and all of these things can do wonders for helping your body slow down and relax when you need a break from stress and anxiety.

Today I would like to share with you a mindfulness and relaxation technique that I teach all of my clients. When you read it you are likely going to think that it is way too simple. To be fair, it is incredibly simple, but it is also incredibly difficult to put into practice at times. When you are experiencing anxiety it can be hard to focus on anything else, and even harder to believe it will ever end. Being prepared with a few techniques you can use to help calm your nervous system can ease your mind. This is just one more thing to add to your arsenal of relaxation techniques.

Step One:

First, notice how you feel in your body at this moment. Is your body tense? Is your heart racing or is your breathing shallow? Do you feel antsy in part or all of your body? Does your mind feel like it’s buzzing? What do you notice right now? Take a few moments just to notice and let yourself be aware of your experience. This might feel a little scary to do, and the experience may become a bit more intense as you allow yourself to notice. That is alright, just concentrate on letting yourself be aware of how your body is right now. You don’t need to change anything, right now just notice.

Step Two:

Next, find where you feel grounded, neutral, or calm in your body. Give yourself time to find the spot in your body that holds a feeling of calm, groundedness, or just neutrality. You are likely feeling quite stressed or anxious right now, after all, you are trying to calm your nervous system for a reason. When you are feeling anxious, stressed, or even overwhelmed it can be hard to notice anything else. Give yourself time to slow down and notice what else is happening inside your body; notice where in your body you do not feel anxious or stressed. Notice the experience of calm, neutral, or groundedness. I find that most often when they let themselves have a few moments to look for this spot in their body, my clients are able to find it. It is very rare that they cannot find a place that feels grounded, neutral, or calm.

Step Three:

Lastly, let yourself focus on the part of you that feels grounded, neutral, or calm, and notice if anything changes as you do so. Give yourself some time as you do this step. When you rush you may miss something. Instead, focus on the part of you that holds the positive, relaxed state. As you do, you might find that more of your body can also relax. It might not be all of you, and you might not relax all the way. Allow yourself to take in the subtle shifts as you center your attention away from your anxiety and onto your experience of calm. You can stay here as long as you need to.

This is a practice that I learned at a training where they referred to it as The GNC Spot, like the vitamin store. G for grounded, N for neutral, and C for calm. I find the acronym an easy way to remember the skill. Find your GNC spot: take a moment to locate where you feel grounded, neutral, or calm in your body. This deceptively simple technique gets easier with practice, but there will still be times when it is very hard to find that spot. I like this technique because it is something that you can literally do anytime, anywhere. Whatever you are doing, you can always take a moment to notice how you feel in your body and where you feel calm. I find it extremely helpful to practice this technique not only during moments when you are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed, but throughout the day as well. In fact, this technique will help you connect with your body and be more aware of what you are feeling.

I invite you to give this a try a few times throughout the day. Just see what you become aware of. Notice if it is easy or hard to find a relaxed spot in your body. Notice if your body relaxes at all when you connect with that part of you. And if you notice that feeling anxious and stressed is something that you are struggling with a lot, you might consider starting therapy to get some extra support. If you are interested in getting started click here to contact me. I would love to talk with you more to see if I might be a good fit for you.