Turning Down The Dial: Relief From Overstimulation

Phone notifications, noise, work demands, bright rooms: many of us hit our limit before the day has really begun. This guided practice gives your nervous system a break from too much stimulation, whether you’re overwhelmed, running low, or recovering from burnout. It’s for anyone, and autistic and neurodivergent listeners may especially benefit. You’ll begin by noticing your body in space, then turn down the dial one sense at a time: finding a quieter spot, or settling into steady white noise if silence isn’t possible, then closing your eyes to give your vision a rest. From there you’ll look for a pocket of stillness, even if your thoughts are racing, such as a body part that feels neutral, like your feet resting on the floor. You’ll finish by slowly returning your awareness to the room around you.

Transcript

Modern industrial life has us in a near constant state of overstimulation. We don't even have to step outside the house to experience this. We pick up our phone a few hundred times a day, Most of us, And add the demands of our jobs, The sensory elements of the environment, And we're very quickly already at our threshold. This keeps our bodies cranked up in the literal sense. And it makes our sympathetic or fight or flight response. Stuck on overdrive. This is worth taking seriously because our brains are the same brains our early human ancestors had. Aside from hunting and gathering, They had much more time to decompress. So let's turn down the dial together. I'll have you start shifting your awareness to your internal state. Noticing your body in space. And then we will drop different sensory elements if possible. If there is a way to. Get into a quiet space. You can pause this. If needed, But we'd like to ideally be able to block some sound. Over the ear headphones. I realize a lot of us may not have the ability to Mute. Our surroundings, But if there is a possibility there. That would be a great start. And then we'll move on to the next sensory element. If it feels okay to do so, Feel free to close your eyes. We are blocking out visual stimuli. And again, You can try both, See what's most comforting. But we'll just spend a few breaths here. Giving your visual cortex some time to rest. And if you're not able to. Reduce the sounds in your environment. Perhaps you can focus on just one. Perhaps if there's a fan running. Can focus on a white noise. And just enjoying this again for a few more breaths. Giving our bodies time to recalibrate. Acclimate to the sensory reduction. And then I'll ask you. To turn that spotlight of attention inward. To your physical body. And to try to find where that quietness exists within. Find the places in your body that feel soft. Or neutral. I often go to the sensations of my feet. It's a fairly neutral stimulus for me. This is an important practice because our minds can go a million miles an hour if they want to stay thinking, Thinking, That's fine. This is about just finding a place in the body. Where there is some stillness. Now combining this with the sensory reduction. And our external surroundings. We'll just spend a few more breaths enjoying this. And then we will slowly begin to reintegrate into the environment. So if it feels right, You can wiggle on. Part of your body. Blink your eyes open, Notice what you see in your physical environment and taking one final cleansing breath.