Everyone can feel anxious now or then, it is completely normal! If you find yourself feeling nervous or anxious it can be really helpful to soothe with your senses. Self-soothing strategies are skills that will help you calm your mind and body. By doing this it will help you to feel more grounded and bring you back into the present moment. Self-soothing techniques help you calm and relax when you are feeling overwhelmed both physically and emotionally. They help you to “regulate” so that you can feel like yourself again. There are several self-soothing techniques you can try to stay calm and grounded using your senses. I suggest you try some of these soothing with the senses techniques and see what resonates and then keep these in mind, and certainly come up with your own techniques using your senses and make it yours! When you soothe with the senses you want to immerse yourself in the activity and really take in the moment mindfully.
Vision- Vision is very important to humans. In fact, a large portion of our brain is devoted solely
to our sense of sight. The things you look at can often have very powerful effects on you and so finding images that have a calming effect are beneficial.
Look at old photos
Draw a picture of your favorite place
Start a gratitude list
Make a collage
Stargaze
Take a Drive
Sound- Certain sounds can soothe us. Listening to gentle music, for example, may be relaxing.
However, each one of us has our own tastes. You have to find what works best for you.
Listen to ambient sounds
Call up someone you love
Get lost in music
Vlogs/ ASMR/ Podcasts
Listen to an audio book
Recite positive affirmations
Taste- Taste is also a very powerful sense. Our tongue has distinct regions of taste buds on it
to differentiate flavours and tastes of food. These sensations can also trigger memories
and feelings, so again, it's important that you find the tastes that are pleasing to you.
Try a tea subscription box
Make a home cooked meal
Eat dark chocolate
Chew gum
Use fresh herbs while cooking
Eat mindfully
Smell- Smell is a very powerful sense that can often trigger memories and make you feel a
certain way. Therefore, it's very important that you identify smells that make you feel
good.
Bake sweet bread
Put on lotion
Make fresh brewed coffee
Buy fresh flowers
Burn a scented candle
Use a diffuser
Touch- Our skin is our largest organ and it is covered with nerves that carry feelings to our brain. Certain sensations can be very pleasing and calming.
Cozy up in freshly clean sheets
Snuggle with your pet
Give yourself a massage
Try restorative yoga
Wear soft fabric
Give yourself a hug
Use a soft blanket
How to Self Soothe
- Self-soothing requires mindfulness skills.
- Observe, describe and fully participate. Notice details.
- Pass no judgment. Recognize what works well for you.
- Practice, practice, practice. This does not work on the fly.
- Make a good faith effort of at least 5-10 minutes.
Barriers to self-soothing
- Beliefs that pleasure and enjoyment are wrong and unacceptable.
- Beliefs that soothing comes from other people.
- It’s selfish to be soothed.
- Beliefs that you don’t deserve to be happy.
Self soothing with the senses is a great way to improve distress tolerance and emotion regulation. This is great to be able to depend on yourself- your senses - to find comfort without depending on others.
Enjoy this exploration and share below for any feedback or what you liked best about the concepts and even if you have tried any!
Be Beyond Well,
Jen
Add comment
Comments