CHAPTER FIVE Resetting Your Thermostat—Using Polyvagal Therapy to Find Balance If you’ve been feeling too hot, too cold, or bouncing between both, it’s time to gently reset your nervous system’s thermostat.
Polyvagal Therapy can help you to move out of these stuck states and into that place of “just right” balance.
Here are some simple ways to begin this process:
1. Cooling Down from Sympathetic Activation (Too Hot)
1:1 Breathing: Count your in breath and then make your out breath the same length. Just breathe comfortably, without forcing yourself to take deep breaths, until your in and out breathe is more even.
Squeeze and Release: Tense and then release your fists several times to let go of pent-up tension.
Bursts of Movement: Try a full body shake out to release some of the heat in your body, by jiggling your arms and legs vigorously for 30-60 seconds.
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