A Blissful Life 2/18/25: How To Self-Regulate

One of the most beneficial things I’ve learned was how to regulate my nervous system without needing something external. Living in today’s society can commonly stir up uncomfortable feelings such as stress, anxiety, overwhelm, worry, fear, frustration, and anger. While it is completely normal to experience the spectrum of emotions, without proper understanding, these feelings can seem extra intrusive, amplified, and overbearing. They can also cause confusion, particularly if you have been reacting to them in a specific way for years. For example, if you grab a cigarette every time you feel anxious, you might eventually confuse the feeling of anxiety with the urge to have a cigarette, blurring the lines of what is really going on. The good news is that with awareness and knowledge you can learn how to see the emotions for what they are, experience them, and let them pass without having them overstay their visit or create a lasting imbalance.

So, how do you do it? Yoga is a great way, particularly the meditation piece of the practice. I remember experiencing a huge ‘ah-ha’ moment around this during one of my very first meditations. For many years, I had a difficult time identifying when I was hungry versus when I was anxious or stressed. During this particular meditation, I sat down and very abruptly started to feel ‘hungry’. Since I had just begun my meditation, I told myself that I would finish the fifteen minutes and figure out food after. Releasing the urge to act upon what I was feeling, I let my awareness drop deeper and deeper, surrendering into the peaceful presence that meditation brings. What I thought was hunger quickly faded. Coming out of the meditation, I felt completely refreshed– calm, yet awake. I felt my nervous system regulated. There was nothing I needed to feel good, I was completely satisfied. This was mind-blowing to me, and I realized that more often than not when an urge comes on quickly and out of nowhere, it is probably a reaction to stress. I concluded that when this happens, instead of reacting it would benefit me more to take a moment to pause first, and try using my tools to self-regulate.

Meditation is definitely my number one tool for self-regulating. When you learn how to meditate properly, it feels like a bubble bath for your nervous system. The reset that happens with even a short meditation helps you to remove yourself from the storyline you were caught up in in your mind, balance the physical body, and come back with a fresh perspective.

Another tool from yoga that I use to calm my nervous system is breathwork. There are many, many different types of breathwork that you can use to help you center, increase your energy, find calm, focus better, etc, etc. A simple one to bring you from the sympathetic ‘fight or flight’ part of your nervous system into the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ is the ‘Two-Part Breath’, where you make your exhale two times the length of your inhale.

Finally, movement paired with the breath is another effective way to loosen burdensome emotions and bring the body into homeostasis. Stretching and opening the body, along with engaging muscles, while presently breathing can act as a beautiful reset for body, mind, and spirit.

Join us at Ocean Bliss Yoga and learn the tools you need to keep your nervous system calm and balanced, mood stable, body healthy, mind clear and sharp, and spirit happy. Sign up for classes at oceanblissyoga.net. All are welcome. Additionally, Ocean Bliss Yoga’s 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher Training starts Friday, February 21st, 2025! Classes take place every other weekend for 10 intensive weekends, giving you the opportunity to integrate what we learn in between sessions. Last chance to enroll! Call me at 917-318-1168 for more information.