Observe your states
On any given day we reliably travel between three states of the nervous system:
State 1: Social, engaged, connected and empowered (“I am feeling at ease and can manage whatever comes my way” attitude),
State 2: Driven, mobilized, irritated, anxious (“I am getting overwhelmed and have hard time keeping up” attitude),
State 3: Immobilized, disconnected, withdrawn, lost, shut down (“I am buried under a huge load and I cannot get out” attitude).
Read more about those states and how we get there >
This week try to notice how much time you spend in each one of those states and map them throughout your day.
HOW TO: When you are wake up in the morning, ask yourself “Am I feeling engaged, frantic or disconnected”? Then check in with yourself again at lunchtime, again around 3pm and once again in the evening, before you go to bed. Take a mental note of which state is the most prevalent for you during the day. Is this how you want it to be?
You can use this simple worksheet to track your states, or just draw something similar on your own.
This is a tough one! I often feel that everything I have learnt during yoga and meditation vanishes during the hectic day. This challenge reminds me to take a breath and observe my body and mind with given words. The hardest part is to remember to do this when you are in a job where you take care of others. Therefore it is so important to rehearse these skills in peaceful environment first.
Couldn’t agree more, thank you for your observations Kati!
I’ve found that it is the quality of my sleep each day that plays a big role in determining my emotional state throughout the day. When I get good sleep, I stay engaged and calm easily. When I don’t, I am disconnected and sometimes veer into frantic. This almost never happens when my sleep has been good.
Not sure if this is relevant, but I know there is a huge correlation for me between the quality of my sleep and my emotional state the next day.
I can see exactly what you mean Cathy. For me, too, getting enough good quality sleep is essential for my state of well-being and effective emotional regulation. And there is physiological foundation for that, too – I wrote about it some time ago, maybe you will find it interesting.