Calming down is not taking your fight with your partner into your meeting at work.
Calming down is doing what you need to not yell at your kids in the grocery store.
Calming down is getting yourself together so you can show up to your sister's babyshower without bursting into a puddle of tears.
There are lots of ways to calm down to get yourself through those moments & why calming down only brings a few minutes/hours of relief. None of them are nervous system regulation.
Regulation is about first turning inward, toward your body sensations (not turning away, which calming down does).
It's about learning to tolerate those sensations (which is where much of the work lies. Building capacity for external & internal sensations takes time & practice.)
It's about learning how to release the trapped survival stress & then building capacity for the relief that follows. (That's a step most people miss!)
Then it's about restoring flexibility to your nervous system so that you when you do go into your emergency state (which you will), you can come back out quickly.
Can you see the difference?
The latter is what I teach, because nervous system regulation sets the stage for neuro-endo-immune regulation that's required for a healthy pregnancy & reducing your risk of pregnancy complications.
Ready to move away from calming down to do the deeper foundational work of regulation & supporting a healthy high-risk pregnancy? Click here to learn how I can help.
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