6 Powerful Techniques For Psychic Self-Regulation - Quality Of Life, Self-development

“Managing your mood,” “relaxing easily,” “becoming alert and energetic when needed” sounds tempting, doesn't it? All this is possible with the use of techniques of psychic self-regulation. Self-regulation also helps to save money: both on the services of a psychologist and on medications. After all, our somatic health is very closely related to the mental state

Mental self-regulation is the control of one's psycho-emotional state with the help of words (thoughts), images and bodily functions.

What prevents us from practicing self-regulation?

For some, this is a lack of time. Yes, we live in a crazy rhythm, and self-regulation is often associated with something like autogenous training or meditation (both methods are very effective, but they really take time to master and practice a skill). However, modern psychology offers techniques that can take only a few minutes and still be effective.

Someone is of the opinion that "the body must cope on its own. " Whatever concept of human origin you believe, I think you will agree that it happened a long time ago. And the stresses at that time were different. Of course, the basic system of self-regulation is “built in” into the human body, but, firstly, it does not provide for the current loads, and secondly, we do not really listen to it. For example, do you always go to bed if you feel the need to? I think no.

And of course, what we call laziness in everyday language (“you have to fuss, do something new”) interferes. But no, nothing new, in fact, will not have to be done. Because we are actually engaged in self-regulation all the time: by drawing pictures of a terrible outcome of events for ourselves, we trigger an alarm; "Turning on" before bedtime a string of restless thoughts - we provoke insomnia; convincing ourselves that "everything will work out," we reassure ourselves, as our parents once reassured us.

We invite you to do this more consciously, in accordance with your goals and needs. Well, shall we try?

A six-step self-regulation regimen can be incorporated into your daily hygiene routine (such as brushing your teeth or washing your hands) and assessing the result after three to four weeks

While doing psychotherapy, I see that one of the most in-demand skills now is the ability to stop internal dialogue (constantly scrolling thoughts).

To do this, you need to plunge into a state of "here and now", when, as they say, "the past is gone, and the future has not yet come."

This can be achieved by practicing meditation, which is very helpful but requires some skill. We offer a simpler option.

Exercise 1. "Five"

You can perform the exercise in whole or in parts, the required time is from 10 to 30 seconds (agree, quite a bit).

• Pause.
• Take a look around and notice the five objects of different colors that you see.
• Focus and listen - what are the five sounds that come to you?
• Note the five bodily sensations you are currently experiencing (the feeling of clothes on your shoulders, your back against the chair, etc.).

If attention starts to slip (for sure), just notice it and return to the task. If thoughts come to mind, say to yourself: "Thank you, I heard you" - and again return to the task.

Exercise 2. "Thoughts on paper"

It is useful to use either at night, before falling asleep, or if you feel that your "head is swelling from business."

Take a piece of paper (or create a new document on your device) and write down all the thoughts that are "spinning" in your head in a chaotic manner, regardless of their importance. And so on until the feeling that "everything, nothing is left in my head."

After such a transfer, the information remains in the outside world and there is no need to keep it in RAM.

Exercise 3. "Stretching" thinking

Our thinking usually works according to the usual patterns, but they are far from always the most effective. Effective thinking is one that helps to solve problems, achieve goals and not "drive yourself" into fear and negativity. Therefore, if you notice in yourself a tendency to pessimism and anxiety, try to "stretch" your thinking (make it more flexible) with the help of mental games.

Every time you notice a catastrophic thought or thought “how bad this is”, continue it with the phrase “and this is good, because …”. Probably, ideas will not appear "as if from a cornucopia", do not give up. If nothing comes to mind at all, connect your imagination: what if we were talking about another planet? Or about another world?

For example, "today is terribly cold weather … and that's good, because if the winter becomes abnormally warm, then the summer will not be normal either." Or "I messed up with the report again … and this is good, because next time I will definitely see this error and will not miss it."

The purpose of the exercise is to knock yourself off the trodden (including at the level of neurons) paths of negative assessment of the situation

Exercise 4. Useful imagination

In psychotherapy, the directed use of images is called visualization. Imagine now that you are cutting off a slice of lemon. Or bite a green crispy apple. Have you presented? If so, you probably felt saliva in your mouth. This organism reacted to the image, although in reality nothing happened.

Our body trusts very much the images that we create in the psyche. Please remember this if you like to play pictures with terrible outcomes in your head. And don't be surprised that it gets really unsettling. How can you use this feature?

In short, if we want to become, for example, more vigorous, we must imagine ourselves that way (and it is desirable to accompany this with images - for example, how the sun sends energy through its rays and they fill us with energy).

If you need to relax, then other images are at your service - for example, as after a bath or massage, you drink aromatic tea. And imagination will also help to react to emotions, for example anger: it is not necessary to beat dishes or office equipment in reality, you can do all this in imagination, the effect of relief will also be there.

Exercise 5. Relaxing breathing

In the bodily sphere, we are interested in breathing and muscle tone, since these two components are closely related to the mental state.

To complete the exercise, you need an internal count, count "to yourself" at the pace of the movement of the second hand ("one-and-two-and-three-and"). Inhale through the nose in 4 counts (one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and), pause for 2 counts (one-and-two-and), exhale through the mouth for 6 or 8 counts (ideally for relaxation, the exhalation should be 2 times longer than the inhalation), then again a pause for 2 counts. Then repeat the entire cycle 10–20 times.

Attention!

If, on the contrary, it is necessary to mobilize, we inhale longer, and exhale sharply, forced.

Exercise 6. Muscle relaxation technique

Starting position - lying or reclining. Focus your attention on a muscle group in the lower body (this can be the muscles of the feet, calves or muscles of the legs in general - it all depends on the time and desire, but the smaller the muscles, the greater the effect).

Maximum strongly tighten these muscles and hold this voltage for three - five seconds, and then on the exhale relax your muscles. Thus, in the direction from the bottom up, all muscle groups (or at least the main ones) are worked out.

Important! It is best to avoid the muscles in your eyes, especially if you have vision problems

So, as you can see, there is nothing complicated in these techniques. The main thing is to take care of yourself and enjoy it. Take care of yourself

You can read more about this in the books:

• J. Rainwater. It's within your power. How to become your own psychotherapist.
• E. Milyutina. Psychotherapeutic recipes for every day.
• A. Friedman, R. Devulf. 10 dumbest mistakes people make
• V. Capponi, T. Novak. Himself an adult, a child and a parent.