Serenity Wellness E15: Emotion Regulators

Explore various emotion regulation tools and what they can do for you. Learn about the research and the benefits of earthing, forest bathing, gardening, walking meditation, and connecting with the energy of the earth to balance your mind and body. Add some additional wellness tools to calm your inner self and get to the middle ground.

Transcript

Hello, Welcome to Serenity Wellness Podcast. My name is Nicole White and I'll be your host. This podcast is dedicated to helping you tap into your full potential of how you can heal and balance your mental, Emotional, And physical wellbeing. Together, Let's explore our inner self, Connect to our strength, And manifest your true nature, One full of love, Purpose, And passion. Welcome to episode 15, Emotion regulators. Thank you so much for spending time and space with me today, And I hope that you're continuing to find these podcasts helpful for you in tapping into your own awareness and exploration of the various ways you can begin to balance and rewire your system for natural and holistic healing. Today, We're going to explore various emotion regulation tools and what they can do for you. We've started looking at breath as an emotion regulator. For example, Looking at how chest breathing can really keep us in that anxious body cycle or stress response system, And how that 4-4-8 count helps us calm down and relax. And by moving that diaphragmic breath or moving that breath down into the diaphragm and fully helping our body breathe, We can also regulate our system. We've also looked at muscle tension holding and how we can really just hold on to tension through our day without even realizing that our shoulders are up by our ears or we're all hunched over or clenching our jaw or that our tongue is at the roof of our mouth. So we started exploring various ways we can expand and tap into this awareness through breath, Through body, Through muscle relaxation and tension release. And we've also started looking at thoughts and words and what they do to elevate our emotion and keep us stuck and trapped and break down our understanding and communication with ourselves, Our relationship with ourselves, But also our communication and relationships with those around us. Our last episode, We just started gently and on the surface looking at some different ideas in relation to emotion and emotional ladders and tapping into some of the various exploration that we'll go further into in terms of the things that keep us stuck and the patterns we get into and those fears. But as we start that exploration, We want to also expand on our emotion regulation techniques and tools so that we have that building block as we go deeper. It was actually pretty cool. That last episode, We talked about emotional ladders and a few days later after some serendipitous and synchronicities, I had the opportunity to spend some time with two guys, Dustin and Phil who are walking across the US and they were able to share a lot about their passions and the things that led to them following this journey. But also I was part of co-hosting the Dennis Allen podcast where we interviewed them and in that interview, They talked about how this journey for them so far, They're only a couple weeks in, It's going to be an eight month situation for them. They're from Cali, They came over to New York, Started their walk there at the Hudson and then they're going to be walking back to California. So it's going to take them eight months at least. And so this is just the beginning part of the journey. But on the podcast, They talked about how so far in this journey, It really let them tap into emotion awareness in a different way than what they might have expected in terms of that emotional ladders and the extremes of emotion. And so you might be interested in checking that out. It was a cool episode and that podcast in itself, The Dennis Allen podcast is great. It's about homesteading and music and stuff like that. So you can check that out at DennisAllen. Com, A-L-A-N, Or you can search Dennis Allen on any of your podcast platforms. Yeah, So anyway, That was just a cool little thing that happened right after because again, It just kind of worked its way into the podcast and they talked about emotional ladders themselves. Back to today. So today we're going to, Again, Start exploring some ways that we can emotionally regulate through various different techniques. We're going to talk about one area called grounding and grounding can be done in terms of grounding with the earth and using that earth energy as a way to ground our system and then grounding in terms of things we can do to pull ourselves back to the present moment, Which is a technique that allows us to reconnect to presence and regain mental focus as well as regulate emotion. So with the first idea there, This grounding to the earth, There's a couple of different techniques and strategies that you can do to use the earth energy in order to ground our own physical body and our own system that's working within that physical body. One technique is called earthing. It's often also called grounding in itself, But grounding can be a lot of different things, But earthing is one form of grounding and that is when we have our bare feet on the earth. I rarely wear shoes. I don't wear shoes at work. Anytime I'm outside and I can be barefoot, That is my first choice. I know I can't always do that, But yeah, I would far more prefer to not have shoes on than to have shoes on, But earthing is when we're actually out in our bare feet and connecting to the earth itself. So that would be on grass or soil, Sand or water. It's not the same when we're on concrete or asphalt, But earthing is when our bare feet are directly connected to the earth and the earth energy. And what happens is the earth energy is a negative charge and our physical body has a positive charge, Which can get elevated and I won't get too much into the science behind this elevation and everything, But our physical charge of our body is this positive charge and then there's this negative charge of the earth. And when we do this earthing for 15 to 20 minutes a day, You can even get earth mats if you can't get out on the actual earth and it can do the same thing, But this charge difference, The negative charge of the earth, The positive charge of the physical body, What happens is it restores and stabilizes our bio electrical currents in our body by having this connection. It actually also, The soles of our feet is an acupuncture and acupressure. It's known as the K1. So it's a really direct channel if you would to get into our system for balance in a lot of different ways and it's used in acupressure and acupuncture, For example. And when we are earthing and we're connecting our bare feet to the earth, We're also directly connecting through that K1, Through that channel there in the bottom of our feet and those electrodes from the earth are helping to change the charge and stabilize the charge of our body system. And what has been found in research and what this can do, It's amazing. Number one, You could kind of feel it just when you're doing it, When you're having your feet connected to the earth, If you practice that mindfulness and just connect to that feeling in your body, You can feel the difference and the change. But also what it's showing is a decrease in chronic pain and inflammation. We started here and there talking about inflammation. Research is just expanding and exploding to help us understand further inflammation. I mean, Inflammation in our body is correlated to just like everything when it comes to disease and imbalance and emotion and it's a big thing. Sorry for that loud truck that just went by. But inflammation in our body system is huge when it comes to a lot of just stuff that's going on that's making us not feel so great. So earthing helps with this decrease in chronic pain, Inflammation cycle in our body. It improves sleep. It's an emotion regulation tool because it calms the central nervous system. It actually aligns and helps balance our circadian rhythms. So it does lots of awesome, Awesome things to our body by getting out there 15 to 20 minutes at least. If you can do it more, Do it. It feels great here in Pennsylvania. We're in the spring finally. So nature's cooperating with us to get out, Enjoy and absorb that earth energy. I know many of you listeners are in various other places away from Pennsylvania. I know some of you might have opportunities far beyond just our opportunity that we're getting into now. We're just getting out of the winter season here in Pennsylvania. But I know I have a lot of listeners in California. Shout out to Callie. Thank you for all your listening out there. So you guys I know have lots of opportunity for this outdoor stuff. And earthing. So that's one thing, Earthing. And then another connection to the earth energy is a way of balancing and grounding ourself is forest bathing. Forest bathing is used a lot in Japan. But forest bathing is when we get out in the forest. You know, It's when you're out there hiking. You can even just go a little into the forest and just sit there and connect to the trees and nature and what it does to the body system again is just amazing. It helps spending time in the forest. It has shown cortisol, Pulse rates, Blood pressure, Central nervous system activity all improve. It helps with sleep cycles, Again inflammation cycles in the body, Just getting out there and spending some time in the forest. Germany did a study and it looked at the effects of living by the forest and what it did in changes in the amygdala. So if you remember in that anxious body cycle and we might have talked about it some in the or I might have talked about some in the rest, Relax, Restore one. But that amygdala is that emotion regulation center in the brain. It's where that trauma center kind of sits and lies. So in this study in Germany, It was able to show that people who lived really close or in the forest that it changed the amygdala and allowed for greater emotion regulation response systems within the body. It improved memory and attention span and decreased the longevity of aggression or agitation among many other things like the earthing does as well. So earthing, Connecting bare feet to the ground, To the earth, Forest bathing, Get out there, Get around trees, Get in the forest and let yourself connect to nature. You can also lay on the ground, Just laying, Connecting, Absorbing, And then gardening. Getting your fingers in the dirt. We're just kind of like, I don't know, Afraid to get dirty. I remember being a kid and my hands were always in the dirt. I used to make mud pies. I don't know. I might've even eaten them some. I don't remember, But I was always wanting my hands in the dirt and playing in the dirt. And we don't seem to do that as much anymore, Especially as kids. But as adults, Let's not forget, Get your hands in the earth. Connect to it, Allow it to help you and your body system. When it comes time, Which is right around the corner here to do some weeding, I not only just love that feeling, But I also let the weeding experience kind of be that mindful connection and think about weeding out the junk in my life and in my brain and letting it be a refresher and renewal for me too. So a little side note, You can do some mindful weeding as you're earthing and connecting and being present with nature. So gardening. And gardening, There's a study also that looked at gardening and women who practice gardening in their life and what it did to their longevity of being and how it improved happiness, Improved connection to others and sociability, But also it had a 12% reduction in mortality rate. So again, Making them even live longer, Women who are gardeners or getting their hands in the earth. And then there was another study that looked at individuals who are recovering from surgery and allowing them opportunities each day to spend time in front of the window and staring out into nature, Particularly trees and forest areas. And the study showed that it helped to speed up recovery of surgery. So these are just some studies out there. They're starting to expand even more. There's a lot of studies out there looking at hiking and what hiking does because that's incorporating movement. It's getting you in the forest, That forest bathing, Do it barefoot. I had an awesome experience. I went to, Boy, I just lost the name of it. Ricketts Glen, I think is what, Yeah, Ricketts Glen. It was like last year or something around there. And I did a six mile hike barefoot. It was awesome. It was up and down and all over the place with these beautiful waterfalls. And it was just a completely different experience of going through that hike with no shoes on and really connecting. It was quite lovely. So all the different ways that we can connect to nature as a way to get us grounded, Get our central nervous system more balanced, Decrease the inflammation cycles in our body, Improve our overall motion regulation. And it just kind of makes you happy. You know, Being out there and being one with nature, It can really do a lot in terms of just, Well, Those things we just talked about as well as just overall feelings of happiness and wellbeing. So those are some ways to connect to the earth as a way of emotionally regulating and letting that earth energy support us and looking at the various ways that you can give yourself the opportunity to do that. Even if it's 15 to 20 minutes a day, Get out there and connect. Some other ways that we can regulate our system. So again, We've looked at breath some ways. I mean, There's a ton of different things that you can look at in terms of breath and regulation and we'll talk more about some of the other ways. But just, You know, Again, Thinking about some of the breath work that we looked at in terms of moving chest down to diaphragmic breathing, Using that 4-4-8 count, Using that dot-dot experience, Using breath as that reconnector to bring space from thought. And then also looking at awareness of body tension, Trying to release some of that body tension, Being more mindful when we're holding tension and using those various mindfulness practices and techniques that we have been starting to work on and explore in terms of connecting back to the present. What am I doing right now in this moment? And allowing those to be emotion regulators and guides. Some other things that you can also bring in are, Well, We talked about the one actually and that's using those five senses. So connecting through five senses, You know, Five, What are five things I see, Four, What are four things I hear, Et cetera. So using that, The 5-4-3-2-1 with our senses, Using that body scan like we did in progressive relaxation, Just kind of gently checking in through top of head, All the way down, Checking where we're holding tension. You can also do a brief foot massage. So sitting down and gently massaging the soles of your feet and reconnecting with that grounding experience of just slowing down the system and reconnecting to your body. Baths are another wonderful grounding and reconnecting tool. You can take an Epsom salt bath, Which you can also add a couple drops of essential oil in the Epsom salts, Mix that up and throw it in the bath. Essential oils that are great for relaxation in your bath. You can add some lavender and then a couple drops of even peppermint oil. You can feel that peppermint oil massaging your muscles and gently releasing some stress and tension in your body system. And then the Epsom salt is giving you awesome magnesium for your body. Many of us are depleted in our magnesium, Which back to that inflammation cycle, Yeah, Get yourself some magnesium. It will help you also there. So Epsom salt baths are an awesome way to do that, But it's also a way to just relax, Unwind, Bring down emotion. So you can get back into the middle ground or the lower ladder, The lower levels of your emotional ladder. So baths using maybe some Epsom salt even, Or some drops of essential oil in there with it and let that be a guide to relaxation. You can also just use essential oils. You can use some lavender on the bottom of your feet. That K1 I talked about, It's right in the middle of your foot. You can put some lavender oil right there as a quick way to get it to help relax your system. You can put it on a tissue, Maybe under your pillow at night to help you sleep or regulate. You can diffuse it in your house through a diffuser, But you can also just put it on your wrist. Again, It just helps to calm down the central nervous system. So some other ones would be Cedarwood, Patchouli, Polissanto. Those are all grounding essential oils that you can use. You can also dilute oils using jojoba oil or coconut oil as a way so that you're not using them direct if you're more sensitive to oils. That's a whole nother topic, But I just want to give you at least a little pointers today because these are great emotion regulators. If we're feeling high anxiety, High stress or tension, High anger or frustration, Even higher levels of depression, These are all ways that we're just trying to support ourself and add different tools and techniques that we can utilize when we want to regulate and get more into an effective way or an effective level so that we can better manage and regulate the emotions as we feel them and experience them. Crystals are another way and that's actually connecting to some of that earth energy as well. Crystals each have their own vibration. We use little tiny bits of quartz crystal, For example, In electronics because it holds information. So again, That's a whole nother topic and discussion. But if you're feeling like your elevation is high and you would like to bring it down some, Some quick go-tos are black obsidian and hematite. They are both very grounding crystals that will help to balance and ground you. And then meditation, Just spending some time, Whether it be in the everyday mindfulness stuff that we've been talking about, Connecting back to the present moment, Bringing yourself back into the awareness of where you are or a more structured sitting meditation for a short period of time, Maybe, You know, Seven to 10 minutes. And I'm going to actually be talking about that the next episode of how to get yourself into maybe a slight routine of a more structured meditation, But just thinking about mindfulness and connecting back to the now, Back to the presence of where you're at or a little bit of a meditation and a sitting practice. You can use a mantra in your mind to help calm and regulate. I am calm. I am grounded. I am relaxed. Just repeat it a few times in your mind because it's going to get you away from the mental messages that are help elevating your system. Again, It's not going to completely take away and get you into a great place of deep, Deep relaxation. But all of these methods are things that you can do to support yourself so that you can get more grounded and stabilized in your emotion. And as we've been talking about, The more we can get more grounded in our emotion and more connected when we are on those lower ladders of the emotional ladder, Then the more we can regulate, Understand, Communicate, And really manage our system in a whole new way of understanding. With that, It is our episode for today of just helping you to understand, Again, Just some different ways that we can regulate our system, Regulate our emotions, How we can use the earth, How we can use nature as our supportive tool, And just some everyday additional ways beyond what we've started to explore already of techniques and tools you can bring in in your everyday life when you notice that you're up that ladder, That you're starting to be that firefighter, That you are climbing houses and on top, That you are maybe throwing in things to the fire like those expectations, Assumptions, Or the bricks we carry in our backpacks, Which we'll talk much more about what all those mean as well. But these are things that as we, Again, Continue to further down the line in episodes, Explore our emotion safely and compassionately connect to our emotion, We want to make sure we have regulators. It's not always easy to get ourselves down to a place in emotion that is more doable, That's more able to be processed for ourselves and understood. So the more we practice these things, The more they are readily available and the more our emotions really begin to support its own cycle of regulation. We just have to train ourselves. We have to give ourselves permission and the opportunity to use these techniques and tools as a training ground and understand that it's not going to be a pass fail like you try it and every single time it's going to work perfectly. It's a training process. It takes time. So giving yourself the time and the patience to have that work for you as well. Thank you again for joining me today. I greatly appreciate all of you. I really can't thank you enough and how much it means to me for all your ongoing support and encouragement. I really do appreciate all of you. If you want to learn more about what's going on with me or the other practitioners or services we have going on, You can check us out online at serenitywellnesscenter. Com. You can also go to serenitywellnesstools. Com. It will direct you to the same website right now, But I am working on developing that other website for some other things that I'm going to be opening up for everybody. So you can go there and check us out, See what we've got going on. This Saturday we do have a worry reduction workshop with Sakara Ray from two to five. It helps you get rid of those unwanted and unneeded worry patterns and help develop more positive connections to yourself. And then we still have our weekly yoga and meditations going on. I will be teaching the Asui Holy Fire Master Reiki class next weekend, Which is, Sorry, I lost the date in my brain, April 6th and 7th. And then also April 7th from seven to 830, Stephanie Koller and I are going to be doing that restorative yoga and Reiki workshop. I'm super excited about that and what it's going to bring. And I look forward to also opening up the new services and workshops we have coming right around the corner here. So you can check us out there. Thanks again for joining me. Please continue to send me your questions and feedback and I will continue to provide you with the resources and information I can that I think might be helpful for you and your own journey of developing that wellness toolbox and tapping into your true nature, All the ways you can balance and heal yourself. Thanks everybody. You have a beautiful day. Bye.

Reviews

Really nice discussion. I used to be a barefooter before medical conditions made that less-than-ideal, though I still try to be barefoot as much as I safely can. I have practiced shinrin yoku (forest bathing) my entire life, though I only learned a year or two ago that it actually had a name and was a "thing" elsewhere. I've done preliminary research for my various degrees that included the effects of greenery (and the type of greenery) on creative tasks, and the effects of different types (and delivery) of nature sounds in an open office floor plan on productivity and stress levels among county social workers. Nature really does help to heal and rejuvenate and invigorate people. Even a large photograph of a landscape in an otherwise windowless office (my situation and that of my staff for many years) is helpful. It was good to hear other ideas for self-care in this same vein, too. (I was planning my spring garden when I decided to listen to this for continued motivation and inspiration.)

Thank you for sharing this with us. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤️🤲🏻

Wonderful! Thank you for sharing your insight and knowledge!

So much knowledge and recommendations, thank you very much! Namaste. 😊👍🏾

Such great insight and helpful tools, thank you!!

Thanks for gathering multiple techniques together for us. I enjoyed the podcast and decided to follow you to hear more. I suggest slowing down your speech for a calmer listening experience.