Nervous System
Suddenly becoming angry, overwhelmed, or emotionally reactive can sometimes be a sign that this system has shifted into a state of dysregulation.
What is the nervous system?
This practice involves intentionally paying attention to what is happening right now rather than getting lost in the past or future.
What is mindfulness?
This is something we can control even when we can't control what other people do.
What is our own response?
This communicates what you are willing and unwilling to do.
What is a boundary?
This emotion can become especially noticeable when we experience the loss of someone important to us.
What is grief?
When your heart races, muscles tense, and your mind starts scanning for danger, your nervous system may be entering this state.
What is fight-or-flight / sympathetic activation?
In this grounding exercise, you identify things you can see, hear, feel, smell, and taste.
What is the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise?
Intentionally thinking about the good things in our lives.
What is a gratitude practice?
Instead of saying, "I shouldn't feel this way," self-compassion invites us to respond to ourselves with the same kindness we might offer this person.
Who is a good friend / younger version of ourselves/ someone we care about?
Grief can occur in circumstances other than death, name one other situation in which grief may present itself.
What is relationships, health, independence, roles, routines, homes, abilities, and dreams?
After a stressful conversation, you take several slow breaths, relax your shoulders, and notice your heart rate settling. What are you helping your nervous system do?
What is regulate/return to a calmer state?
When practicing slow breathing, making the exhale longer or at least as long as the inhale can help communicate this message to the nervous system.
What is "I am safe" / "there is no immediate danger"?
You're sitting at home replaying the same conversation over and over, wondering what you should have said differently. What is this pattern of repetitive thinking called?
What is rumination?
You notice yourself saying, "I should have known better." You replace it with, "I made the best decision I could with what I knew at the time." What practice does this demonstrate?
What is self-compassion?
This psychologist famously wrote about finding meaning even during profound suffering.
Who is Viktor Frankl?
A person can become nervous-system dysregulated without feeling afraid. Name ONE other way dysregulation might show up.
What is numbness, restlessness, racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, etc.?
In mindfulness, we practice noticing thoughts without automatically doing this one thing with them.
What is believing them/acting on them?
Someone repeatedly criticizes you. Your first impulse is to immediately fire back. Instead, you pause, breathe, recognize your emotion, and choose a response that fits your values. This is an example of what skill?
What is responding rather than reacting?
When we make a mistake, self-compassion asks us to respond with understanding rather than automatically doing this to ourselves.
What is criticizing/judging ourselves?
A birthday, anniversary, holiday, song, smell, or familiar place suddenly brings back intense feelings about someone or something we've lost. What is this commonly called?
What is a grief trigger?
This concept describes the zone in which we are regulated enough to think, feel, connect, and respond effectively.
What is the Window of Tolerance?
You notice a painful emotion and resist the urge to immediately get rid of it. You simply notice where you feel it in your body and allow it to be there. What mindfulness skill is this demonstrating?
What is nonjudgmental awareness/acceptance?
DBT teaches that two seemingly opposite things can sometimes both be true. This is called this.
What is dialectics?
Someone is depressed and has stopped showering, eating regularly, answering the phone, leaving the house, and taking care of basic responsibilities. Rather than waiting until they "feel motivated," one helpful approach is to do small healthy actions first and allow motivation to follow. What principle is this?
What is behavioral activation?
Viktor Frankl emphasized that even when we cannot change our circumstances, we can still search for this.
What is meaning?