How to Connect with Yourself
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it over and over again… to you and most definitely to myself. Healing begins when we connect with ourselves. When we connect with our most inner, true, and wisest selves.
Our lives are so fast-paced. We are always moving from one thing to the next. We are nearly constantly over-stimulated. But what does it mean to be over-stimualted? It means that we are stuck in a place where our bodies are on hyper-alert, processing a ton of sensory input at rapid speed.
As an Occupational Therapist, my expertise is in understanding the complexity of the sensory system and its role in how we experience the world. Our brains and bodies are constantly picking up on millions of sensory inputs. While you read this text, your brain is simultaneously processing through sensory input from your clothes, the noises outside, the random thoughts in your head, the smell from the kitchen, and so much more. It takes a lot, to just be. And if you are neurodiverse or have anxiety/depression, there’s a good chance that you are actually more sensitive to all of this sensory input. When our bodies and brains are overwhelmed by the demand of processing sensory input, it can cause dysregulation. When we are dysregulated, we are more tired, irritable, anxious, and disengaged. Sound familiar? Yeah… me too.
We all have days of dysregulation, extra anxiety, or feeling disconnected; it’s a part of life. But the good thing is, we can be there for ourselves. We can take care of ourselves through the challenging days.
Thankfully, there are a number of ways to do this, but I encourage you to turn towards activities that limit your body’s requirement to process sensory input. Which is a fancy way of saying, get off your phone or turn off the TV. I invite you to choose an activity that is inherently regulating for your body. One example is walking outside because our nervous system’s response to walking is calming and often offers clarity. Another example, and one of my personal favorites, is taking a bath. And not just any bath, the ultimate bath, that targets each sensory system to support deep, whole-being relaxation and re-connection. So when you need a moment to yourself to reconnect, to heal, to regulate… try this meditation and self-care bath ritual.
The Ultimate Bath Ritual for Self-Connection
Run a bath with warm water. You can use Epsom salt or a favorite bath bomb, bubble bath, etc. This affects our tactile responses, offering soothing warmth and immersion in water.
Light a candle or diffuse your favorite essential oils. This affects our smell sense, which is directly tied to the limbic system (home of emotions), offering deep relaxation and comfort.
Turn down the lights or turn the lights blue or green. This affects our visual sense, one that is often very over-stimulated in our busy world. You are also invited to close your eyes, helping you to more deeply connect within.
Grab headphones or use a speaker and play the album Hymns of Spirit by Beautiful Chorus. This affects our hearing sense, but the music and words also target a sensation much deeper, which we call our intuition. This piece is key to finding self-connection.
Notes:
If you typically have a challenging time relaxing into meditation or bath, try going for a walk or doing a 5-10 minute slow-flow yoga video before you jump into the bath routine. It can be helpful to move excess energy as well as provide relaxing input into our muscles and joints.
Each of us is different, so adjust where and what you need. Engaging in self-care occupations is also an incredible opportunity to listen to what you and your body needs. Be with yourself. Care for yourself.
I hope you chose to take a little time for yourself this week, whether it is with this amazing bath routine or something else. You are so deserving of care and deep love. You are so deserving of taking care of yourself and deeply loving yourself. If you give this a try, leave a comment below to let me know how it goes.
Wishing you peace, love, and sunlight.