Is Nervous System Regulation a Core Democratic Skill?

Unequivocally, yes.

The ability to maintain an even keel, despite whatever is happening around you, and knowing how to re-regulate your nervous system once your cool is lost is the key skill to being able to stay in action defending the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all beings. 

Psychology is THE political power now

Since WWII, those seeking power have been studying and using the power of psychological principles to manipulate minds for political gain. In the 1960s psychological manipulation entered the mainstream with advertisers using psychological principles to manipulate consumers into purchasing products, whether or not those products were truly wanted or needed. And now, so-called “news” channels, political influencers, and even political parties themselves have whole-heartedly embraced mind manipulation through information overload and emotionally-driven fear tactics to entrance their would-be followers–with emphasis on follower. 

A fearful mind is an easily manipulated mind.

Why? When our nervous system becomes dysregulated our reasoning centers in the left brain dim and our right-brain emotionality sky-rockets. We literally become unreasonable. If you want to impair critical thinking and block access to a leveling inner wisdom, keep folks constantly incensed, reactive, fearful, and enraged. Once off-balance, people are much easier to direct and control. They are robbed of their inner sovereignty. In the age of swift social media information downloads, we are all susceptible to almost instant outrage.

Our childhoods are political minefields

I want to add here that most human beings are not entering the domain of world events unscathed. If you experienced childhood abuse and neglect, your system is primed for dysregulation. You know the symptoms: Your heart pounds, you feel numb, you can’t concentrate, your body buzzes, you get clumsy, small things irritate you, one or all of these can happen with the slightest trigger–a loud noise, a sad or terrible news story, an image of your most aggravating public figure, someone cuts in front of you. Given the stakes of what is happening now in our political system it is easy to extrapolate the levels of extreme nervous system arousal happening across the nation. People are being destabilized at epidemic levels. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you can do something about this that is direct and, well, doable. And you can start doing it right now. 

Take back your power

So how do you claim this superpower? There are so many ways to bring our nervous system back into equilibrium, but here are 10 easily accessible emergency actions to inspire you (there are so many), plus one book where you can truly get support to become a regulation master:

• Name that tree: Turn off the noise, the news, the screen, the desire to swipe, and go outside. Take a slow look around and consciously notice the details of the sky, the clouds, the trees, the plants. Name them: trunk, leaves, petals, bees, etc…do this for a minute or two or five. You are in nature after all. 
• Name that shape: If you cannot go outside: Look around the room you are in, pick one shape (circle, square, rectangle, etc…)  and consciously try to find as many objects as you can that share that shape. Say “square, square, square or circle, circle, circle at each one you see. Try a few shapes. Do this for a minute or two.  It doesn’t take long. 
• Power Up:Take a “bathroom break” to get away from a triggering person or sound, etc…then stand in a power position: Legs spread, arms raised above you, fingers outstretched, maybe stick your tongue out for a few seconds, relax your mouth, and then stand there and breathe for a minute. 
• Stamp your feet. It helps you come back into your body. 
• Hum. The vibrations stimulate the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in calming your nervous system. Try it out right now and feel the power of the HUM!
• Change your breathing pattern. Slow it down, in particular, the exhale. You can find many free breath practice recordings on Insight Timer.
• Press your tongue to the back of your teeth. It helps ground your body and can be used unobtrusively when you with other people.
• Eat some protein. Stress eats up your body fuel. A good meal is incredibly grounding and nourishing at both the physical and nervous system level. When stressed, you may want carbs, but what you need is protein.
• Kidney Hold: If you have someone close to you nearby ask them to sit next to you and cup their hand over first your left and then your right kidney. Just a few minutes is incredibly calming. One minute of physical contact is a potent regulator–much more powerful than talking.
• Shake it up: Shaking is a well known tool to release stress. (Animals do it automatically) Get a little bouncy, let your body, arms, and head wiggle and bob, shake your legs out. Make some noise while you are at it and let it all go.

• Read and master the material in this book: Re-Regulated by Anna Runkle.  Ostensibly this book is about freeing the system of childhood complex PTSD. If you had an idyllic childhood, chances are you don’t suffer much from dysregulation (Wonderful, please run for office!!). However, consider this: Our current political situation is profoundly violating and full of betrayal. Functionally, this administration is at war with the American people, and this kind of betrayal is core to the experience of PTSD¹. This means our entire nation is experiencing disruptive events, including negative information overload, that are overwhelming to the point of being traumatic. Trauma sets nervous systems back developmentally² and robs people of previously mastered developmental capacities. It is very serious, and in Re-Regulated Anna Runkle offers functional, practical, and immediately applicable insights and skills to get you back into your best brain, your best being, your best self.

Doing what is right for yourself is doing what is right for the nation, for your community, and for your family. A regulated human is a beautiful thing. A regulated human has full access to their total integrated brain capacity, big-hearted wisdom, and love. The world needs these qualities more than ever.

All action begins in rest.

—Lao-Tzu

1. Shay, J. (1995) “Achilles in Vietnam Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character” documents how the experience of betrayal inflicted by those in authority results in significantly higher rates of PTSD in the military. ↩︎
2. Herman, J. (2022) “Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.” Judith Herman’s classic (first published in 1992) has been hailed as one of the most important psychiatry works to be published since Freud. In it she documents how previously healthy individuals deteriorate and lose earned developmental capacities in the aftermath of trauma. ↩︎