Creating a Safe Space for Our Nervous Systems

Inside & Outside the Workplace

A practical tool to recalibrate & manage our heavy emotions

In a world that constantly strives to capture our attention, while teaming up with our brains’ pleasure centres craving more and more ‘quick hits’, and allied up with suspenseful drama across world media, you’d think that we would be able to find at least some refuge throughout or days, wouldn’t you?

However, with high-pressure deadlines, multi-tasking marathons, and attention-demanding screens, our cortisol levels have just about risen up to quite the roller-coastery ride.

Surely, going home at the end of the day would give us some self-care space and a chance for our minds to breathe, and stress-levels to ease?

Concerningly enough, a lack of free time, consumed by family commitments, household tasks and even more screens, it’s no wonder our nervous systems are screaming out to us loud and clear.

Yet, have we been able to hear that call?

Image created by Sarah Egan

The aim of this guidance article is for us to build our awareness around our nervous systems

and hear their call.

So, Let’s check in:

How are we feeling?

What are we feeling?

Where are we feeling it?

Image created by Sarah Egan

Some of us aren’t aware that we might be in a constant state of fight-or-flight, and some of us may be even stuck in freeze mode, possibly from the shock of what we’re globally swimming in.

This guidance article aims to help build self-awareness and self-observation around:

observing ourselves without any judgement, and to be aware of ourselves, without any self-criticism.

Kind and compassionate self-observation and warm self-awareness bathe or nervous systems, whereas, self-judgement and self-criticism can fire it up even more.

Image created by Sarah Egan

The objective of this safe-space-creating article is to guide us in putting our finger on exactly what’s hiding that calm and centred space we used to calibrate in, so innately.

Where did that go?

What happened to our safe space we used to feel into?

When did we become so anxious?

I’d like to invite you to place one hand on your chest and one on our belly (if you can) while reading this guidance.

This is the first step in coming home to ourselves, on the quest of creating a safe space for ourselves from within.

Take in a soft and very slow deep belly-breath all the way, until our belly inflates, hold for a few seconds and exhale softly, slowly and deeply until our belly deflates, and hold for a few seconds.

Let’s repeat this connecting-to-self breathing for 10 rounds, keeping our hands on our bodies.

A heart-centred feeling will start to awaken as our nervous systems bathe in balance, cradle in calmness and are held in harmony during this exercise, facilitated by us, from within.

This Connecting-To-Self exercise is a practical tool we can use every day, every morning, every evening or whenever we check in with ourselves and notice that we’re off, or if our stress and anxiety levels are going through the roof.

This is our new safe-space sanctuary, created by us, from within.

Image created by Sarah Egan

We are the ones who can create our own safe spaces, that innate safety haven, that’s always available to us, and which has never left us.

It’s just that we might have gotten lead astray.

All we need is, to start small, and build up this new self-care habit back to safety,

One breath at a time.

This article is to not only help us build our awareness around our nervous systems but to also realise that these short pleasure centre hits that we get from scrolling, these attention-demanding shorts, reels, and post rants, that we find our eyes glued to, are taking up so much space in our minds, and can cause our nervous systems to go off balance.

So now, it’s up to us:

It’s our responsibility to be kinder, be gentler and hold space for our precious selves and minds.

With the power of our breath, intention and coming home to ourselves we can innately create that safety from within, that we sometimes tend to seek outside of ourselves…

…one breath at a time.

We can feel safe from within, anywhere, despite any outside circumstances.

We have the right to be in a safety haven, regardless of world events.

We deserve to feel safe and supported, which is endlessly available to us from within,

One breath at a time.

Whether at work,

At home,

Before a presentation or serious meeting,

Coming up to deadlines,

Or family commitments.

Our safe-space sanctuary exercise will help us to remember that we have the ability to:

Recalibrate our energy,

Restore our calmness,

And soothe our nervous systems,

One breath at a time.

And so, let’s ask ourselves some introspective questions:

How often should we start checking in with ourselves?

Are we paying attention to our breathing and nervous systems?

What times of the day can we practice our connecting-to-self exercise?

Where can we give ourselves more self-care space?

What’s triggering for us?

When can we sense our nervous systems being pushed?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and if this exercise has helped you or anyone you know in anyway at all.

Wishing you a calm & centred, safe, internal space.

Take care,

Sarah

Main – Photo by Sage Friedman on Unsplash