How to regulate your nervous system with Anchoring
Have you ever heard a song play, or smelled a certain scent, and it takes you straight back to a vivid memory? It could have been years since you even thought of this memory, yet you remember it like it was yesterday with this song or scent as the cue!
Now this is not necessarily something you chose to remember; it just happened. The cool thing is that you can use similar science involved with this to instead choose something to evoke a positive emotion.
This is what we call anchoring, and it’s a really effective tool to use when brain-retraining, to create a positive emotion and receive the chemical reaction of that emotion through our body. This influences our body and mind together in creating an optimal healing state. We know stress and a dysregulated nervous system can be the cause of a lot of symptoms, and this is one simple and effective way to shift our state into “heal mode”.
You can use anchors to bring in positive emotions (like joy, for example) by associating those feelings of joy with a physical touch point on your body. Let’s use your right pointer finger knuckle, for example. You can try this now.
Close down your eyes for a moment, and when you press that knuckle (imagine it’s your ‘joy’ button!), feel the feelings (what does it look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, feel like) to be JOYFUL?!
Relive those experiences just like it’s happening right now. Allow the positive emotions to rise up and flow through your body. Maybe even a smile on your face appears, too!
What type of anchor is right for you?
It is always helpful to know what style suits you best.
Are you a feeling person? If so, the body touch method for anchoring is great for you.
Are you a visual person? It might help to have a specific image or physical object to anchor to,
or maybe you’re an auditory person? If so, choosing a song or sound effect that you can anchor to is going to be a good option to try
Alternatively, you can use all three methods (a physical touch point, a visual object/scene, and a song/sound!) for an all-round, even more effective and deeper experience. Wherever you’re at right now and what you chose now, is perfect for you.
Give it a try and see how you CAN create these feelings of joy, or maybe you would like to feel peace, joy, confidence or freedom… whatever you need most at the moment, to assist you in moving your nervous system into a healing state. To strengthen your anchor go through these steps 5 times in a row. You now have a strong anchor that you can use to shift your mood and nervous system state!
So, when and how do I use my anchor?
The beauty of anchoring is that you can very easily use it in your day-to-day life, whether you are at work, at the shops, travelling, at social events, anywhere really! It can be done seclusively, which is great for when you’re around other people and in public. Healing is not just what we do in the privacy of our own space; it’s how we can use these tools while living in our everyday lives!
For example;
You may be sitting at your desk at work and can take a moment to recenter. You place your hands in your lap under your desk and fire away at that knuckle and access your joy!
You could be sitting on public transport on your commute to work and put your hands in your lap, press that knuckle to bring you peace.
You could be stuck in traffic on your way to work and have a moment to press your knuckles to feel confident, or on your way to an important meeting where you want to engage the most confident YOU.
You could be at a social outing feeling a little overwhelmed, so you go to the bathroom and have a moment to yourself to access your confidence.
You can create multiple anchors, say one for confidence using a specific knuckle on your left hand, then another for joy when you clasp your palms together or when you press your right knee with your hand. This way, you can quickly access positive states of emotion whenever you want. You can also have multiple emotions in that one anchor point. e.g., Joy and connection, which are all related to the memory you pull up and the same anchor point on the body.
Accessing your anchor is a simple yet effective thing that you can do basically anywhere, anytime, to shift your state! Believe in yourself that you can do it and trust your body to follow through with the beautiful flow-on effect it creates within your nervous system. Find out about other easy and effective tools to regulate your nervous system in Brainfood.
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About Luanne Hopkinson
Luanne Hopkinson (GradDipHumNutr, BSc, ADipNutrMed) is a clinical nutritionist, neuroplasticity coach, and founder of Happy Without Histamine. After navigating her own MCAS and histamine intolerance journey, she now helps women with MCAS and histamine sensitivity stop chasing triggers and start creating real healing.
Through her 5R Histamine Modulation Protocol™, Luanne combines gut microbiome repair with nervous system regulation to help the body feel safe again, so reactions settle, and life expands.
Because healing histamine intolerance isn’t about shrinking your world, it’s about getting back into it.
