Regulate and centre yourself with Controlled Breathing and Naming Five Things…

Psychology and neurobiology informs self-management of our stress – through practical understanding and regulation of the four strands of our being in any given moment:

• cognitive (distorted thinking)
• physical (stress hormone surges)
• emotional (negative emotional reasoning)
• and behavioural (self-sabotaging).

We are a beautiful machine of biological engineering – and we can build tools to regulate our body when we have unhelpful dysregulation: when we notice that we are trippy (anxious / sizzling with adrenaline and oxygen / stressed and hopped-up in fight or flight), we can self-regulate with the following proven exercises:

Breath it down – take a long slow breath in through the nose – hold for a few beats – then exhale long and slow through the mouth – and repeat.

This controls the levels of oxygen in our body – stress hormone surges are typically an overload of adrenaline + oxygen + cortisol – but when we control the oxygen intake and output in our body consciously and intentionally, we take down and balance the adrenaline and cortisol surge too. Feel your belly go in and out, feel your diaphragm go up and down, feel your amazing body and the power you have to understand and manage it.

Next: distract and regulate your mind in that moment – do the name 5 things exercise:

Name five things you can see – look around your current environment, notice things you otherwise would not have noticed – art on the wall, a pattern on a rug, a paint chip, the type of window, anything…

Name five things you can hear – close your eyes, focus, inside noise from a clock or fridge, outside noise of people or pets or birds, anything…

Name five things you can feel – be aware, feel the weight of your feet on the floor, feel the weight of your back on the chair, feel the fabric or wood beside you, touch your skin, touch your hair, put your hands together, anything…

And… back to breathing it down – with your new hyper present information – be still, be present, anchor and centre...

Then stand up and shake it off. “I’m just a little trippy, I’m ok, it’s ok”…

Download this handout as a PDF for easy viewing and printing: Breath and Name Five Things