#write28days of Nervous System Regulation: Day 24: Savor
Welcome to #write28days! My topic is Nervous System Regulation, and today’s focus word in the community is “saver.” I really didn’t know what to do with that one. So I pivoted just a bit, and I’m going with SAVOR. Savor is a big deal in nervous system regulation.
Verywellmind.com defines “savoring the moment” as –
In psychology, savoring the moment refers to intentionally focusing your attention on the positive aspects of an experience. When you do this, you notice the sensations, perceptions, emotions, actions, and thoughts that are linked to a particular moment, event, or experience.
One of my favorite regulating practices that I learned in Primal Trust is about savoring. You sit quietly for a few moments and take a few calming breaths. Then you let you gaze slowly move to the right, and find anything within your vision that interests you at all. Then look at that thing with fascination, like you have never seen it before. It may take a little bit of fake it till you make it, but eventually you will hopefully feel a soft or warm or excited feeling rise in you as you contemplate the doorknob that was the only thing to your right. 😉 Gaze on it for a few moments, then gently and slowly move your gaze towards the left, and do the same thing – find something in your gaze that stands out to you in whatever way and contemplate it with love, or interest, or excitement. The exact items or feelings don’t matter, it is the “elevation” of emotion from nothing to a positive emotion that matters. Do this for a few minutes, going gently back and forth across your space.
I like this regulation practice because it doesn’t rely on imagining a scene or a memory, which I am horrible at right now. I can just sit in my room and go, “Wow! Look at the texture on that blanket! Wow! Look at that dust bunny!” LOL
If you give this a try, let me know what you think!
This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalm 118:24