🛟Regulation Bingo: Agitated State Edition🛟

Let's Play Regulation Bingo

Polyvagal theory acknowledges our neurophysiological responses to stress; it theorises 3 states: hyperarousal (agitation), hypoarousal (collapse) and rest.

Imagine your nervous system like a thermometer, our comfortable temperature (window of tolerance) will be unique to us; as the temperature rises (moving towards agitation) we'll have unique sensations and emotions. As it drops (moving into collapse) we'll experience unique sensations and emotions.

There are some exercises that we can do as our temperatures shift to bring us back into our window of tolerance.

Agitation Bingo Card - Activities to try to regulate from hyperarousal

Agitation can feel like needing to move our bodies - like there's so much pent up energy and we need to either beat the shit out of something, or flee. It's energy. It's intense (when the temperature is hot) and we need release so...

Here are some for agitation (entering into hyperarousal):

✨count backwards in 7s

✨scream into a pillow

✨hold ice on wrists

✨box breathing

✨listen to birdsong

✨psychological sigh

✨punch a pillow

✨stamp feet on carpet (or pillow)

✨barefoot outside

Be mindful, if and where you can with the activity - notice the physical sensations of screaming into the pillow, for example: what do my vocal cords feel like, the temperature of the pillow when I scream, the rasp in my voice, the energy leaving my body.

As our nervous systems regulate, our cortex lights back up again (it switches off when we enter these states and we are wholly manned by our back brain (emotions)) - we connect back to reason, rationale and logic.

I'll pop some regulation bingo cards on my website as a downloadable resource at some point for you to include in your own toolkit 🙂

#regulation #wellbeing #agitation #fightorflight #therapy #polyvagaltheory #windowoftolerance