Reflections of a Therapist - A Sigh is just a Sigh, or is it?
It’s a while since I’ve had the chance to hop on here and post anything, but as I’ve just sighed a big sigh, it reminded me of something that happened this week and I want to share it with you.
I’m very fortunate to work with the most amazing people and one such person was able to sigh for the first time in many, many years. Those of you, perhaps like me, who take the act of sighing as a given may wonder what the heck I’m talking about, so let me tell you.
The ability to sigh can be greatly therapeutic because sighing is a reflex that is essential for us humans. It supports biological processes for stability and it allows us to reset our arousal states – us humans thrive in the ‘optimal zone of arousal’ (calm and tolerant).
In this crazy world we live in, we need (or at least benefit from) quick and effective methods of stress relief, so by sighing intentionally it acts as a great coping mechanism and invokes a sense of calm.
Try this simple exercise, known as a ‘physiological sigh’ – perfect for lowering stress, improving your mood and restoring the nervous system back to a state of calm:
Find a place to rest and sit comfortably – lower your shoulders and palms facing upwards.
Rest your head and ground yourself by placing feet firmly on the ground.
Notice your breathing and regulate your breathing so you feel your heart rate slowing.
Take a deep inhale (breathe in to the count of 7) and at the top breath take a further short (2 second) inhalation, followed by an extended exhalation (long and purposeful breath out. Add in a low ‘aaaahhhh’ if it feels okay to do so.
Repeat once or twice and relax.
Well done you just took care of your psyche and soothed that stressful moment with a physiological sigh.
People who suffer overwhelming anxiety, stress and/or trauma often live with debilitating symptoms that can cause great distress or interfere with work and/or home life, often leading to burnout and/or compassion fatigue. The functioning of the nervous system can be seriously disrupted, which may result in dysregulation of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). Essentially, this means that the person is “locked” in either overactive sympathetic nervous system functioning (hyper-arousal) and/or overactive parasympathetic nervous system functioning (hypo- arousal) with severe difficulty accessing the state of calm.
So now you know all this – enjoy the gift of a good sigh. Many of the people I work with have lost the ability or struggle to sigh - it's an honour to help them get their sigh back, free from pain, as they’ve unblocked the trauma that was preventing it.
So after 3 - 1, 2, 3, - and Sigh and relax!
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