By Sarah Curless
Staying grounded in today’s modern world is difficult enough.
With phones demanding our attention, hustle culture wanting to consume us, it’s no wonder our nervous systems are the first to take a toll.
We may think that travelling is a nice ‘break’ from it all, but in reality it can make us even less regulated without the right techniques.
This is why families tend to have more arguments, or why you might have heightened anxiety, because there’s so much new stimuli for your brain to take in.
Don’t let this discourage you, there are so many great ways to regulate your nervous system no matter where you are in the world.
Here are my favourite ways to come back to myself and my calm no matter what circumstances I’m in.
Your calm moment
You can’t always control where you are in the world or the environment around you,
But what you do have is a tool that can transport you anywhere: your mind.
This may sound too good to be true, but you’d be surprised at how powerful visualisation can be.
If you don’t believe me, try it. I want you to close your eyes for a moment and think of a time where you have felt the most inner peace.
If you are yet to experience this, invent one in your mind. Bring to mind the most tranquil scene you can think of and put yourself in the picture.
You could also think of your ‘happy place’ or a moment in life where you’ve felt most alive or happy.
Spend a few moments visualising it with all the concentration you can muster and stepping into that moment. Think of the sounds, the sights, the smells, the people.
Now open your eyes, and notice how different you feel.
What if I told you you can return to that feeling whenever you want?
What you’ve now created is a power within you, a way to tap into your inner peace whenever you need it.
This is why actors use this to tap into certain emotions, because your mind already knows what they feel like and you have the power to experience them whenever you want.
Think of yourself as an actor, and life as your stage: you can choose how you want to feel.
Visualise the golden light
This one may sound a bit ‘woo woo,’ but we’ve already seen the power of visualisation, and you can take this further.
There are ways to use this amazing tool our mind has to help us generate positive and calm emotions.
From people pushing in a queue to people being generally hostile; the world is sadly filled with this ‘negative energy.’
Whether you believe in energy on a spiritual level or not, you can’t deny that it has an impact on you.
Energy rubs off on people, that’s why people say smiles are ‘infectious.’ When you’re surrounded by positive people, you immediately feel a little brighter, and the opposite is true when you’re around negative people.
But just like we used visualisation to come back to our calm, we can use this same power to protect against the negativity of the world.
So, maybe first thing in the morning, or whenever you have a spare moment, take a moment to close your eyes and visualise a golden bubble of radiant light around you.
Imagine this as a powerful energy force that is filling you with positive energy and making you feel brighter from the inside out.
Whenever you feel like the world is negatively impacting your mood, try your best to come back to this feeling.
This can help you to be less reactive, if there’s just too many crowds, you’re stuck behind a slow walker or someone has rubbed you the wrong way.
You’d be surprised at how these simple visualisations can drastically alter how you show up in the world.
Slow travel
If you’re hopping from place to place at a rapid speed and trying to cram in all the sights, it’s no wonder that you feel dysregulated.
Whilst it isn’t always possible, try your best to travel slowly when you can.
If that means seeing less sights, that is miles more valuable than seeing a million but not really seeing them.
Instead, curate experiences intentionally, give yourself enough time, and make sure that you fully experience them.
Instead of rushing to the next big landmark, take a moment to really ground and soak in the moment.
Take some time to sit and stare, be curious, read all the information.
Not only is this so much more valuable, but it works wonders for your nervous system.
Little grounding rituals
How do you regulate your nervous system while you’re at home?
Is it your morning cup of coffee? Or curling up with your favourite book in an evening?
You may not be able to replicate these completely when abroad, but you can find ways to recreate them.
For example, if you know reading calms you most, always have a book on hand.
Travel can feel completely different and turn your life upside down, so having that sense of familiarity can help to ground you.
If you don’t have anything in your life at the moment that makes you calm, it’s time to start finding this before you travel.
When you experiment with ways to regulate your nervous system in an environment that is comfortable to you, you can then take these anywhere in the world.
Use ‘in between’ moments
When you’re away, it can be hard to get into a routine with mindfulness and grounding rituals.
For example, when you’re at home you can have daily habits to regulate your nervous system, such as morning meditations or night time journaling.
But this isn’t always possible. Maybe you’re out in the evening or just have to dash out in the morning.
It’s easy to think that you just ‘don’t have the time.’ But this could not be any less true.
Think about the last time that you travelled and how many ‘inbetween’ moments there were.
How often were you stuck in a never-ending queue? Or waiting for a train?
What do we normally do in these moments? We reach for our phone, or get agitated and wish the moment away.
But what if we could use these moments to come back to ourselves and regulate?
It’s not often that you get a golden opportunity to be still and pause, so why do we never use them to our advantage?
Next time you’re on a long train journey, or stuck ‘waiting,’ reframe your mindset around it. Use it to take a moment to breathe or do anything that calms you.
You’d be surprised at how differently you show up in the world.
The world today seems against us having calm nervous systems; everything is so fast-paced and crazy.
But hopefully this has allowed you to find that sense of calm within you.
Remember that no matter where you are in the world, what you are doing, you have an inner peace within you that you can always come back to.
If you can learn to tap into this, you have unlocked a tool more valuable than anything you could pack.
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