How to Regulate Your Nervous System
One of the best ways I have found to intentionally regulate your nervous system is through the TIPP strategy from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy developed by Marsha Linehan. This strategy has four easy steps to help you to manage and also reduce stress and anxiety levels. This makes it an excellent choice for anyone who has difficulty controlling their emotions.
TIPP is one of my favorite coping skills. In fact, I teach at least one part of this skill to all of my clients. Having a better understanding of how to regulate your nervous system helps all of the other things you learn in therapy work more effectively.
Here are the four steps of the TIPP strategy:
Temperature - This is the most helpful step in moments of extreme crisis. The best way to utilize this step is by putting your face in ice-cold water for at least fifteen seconds. This will activate the Mammalian Dive Reflex. (Learn more about it here and why it’s the opposite of Fight or Flight.)
Intense Exercise - This step helps your body release pent-up stress.
Paced Breathing - Intentionally paced breathing is essential for this step, where your exhale is longer than your inhale. This slows your heart rate and can calm you down.
Paired Muscle Relaxation - While you’re concentrating on pacing your breathing, this step focuses on tensing your muscles while breathing in and relaxing them while breathing out. Tensing and relaxing your muscles while inhaling and exhaling results in a release of built-up stress in your body.
TIPP is designed to help the nervous system calm down and regulate itself during physical and emotional overwhelm. By intentionally shocking one’s system in icy water, releasing stress through exercise, and using both breathing and muscle exercises to release stress, TIPP has proven essential for my clients in times of crisis. Every step is easy to implement and can be performed by anyone, regardless of age, gender, or health, which makes it my preferred method for managing overpowering anxiety.
