Maycember! It’s the most fabulous time of the year. ;) Recitals, teacher appreciation week, spirit days and classroom parties, finals, projects, AP tests, promotion ceremonies, concerts, and non-stop sports. And don’t forget prom and graduation. Add in Holland-specific Tulip Time with Dutch dancing and parades requiring costumes and uniforms, and you have our very own Dutch version, MAIcember! There’s a lot happening… except sleep.
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Maycember was coined by viral video creators, The Holderness Family, and has taken on a life of its own on social media. Articles are written about it by ABC and Parents magazine. It’s a THING. And having lived it before my kids moved on to college and grad school, I remember the madness well! (I wrote about it last year, too, though with a different perspective reflecting on what we post on social media & what our kids remember.)
So with all the craziness you may be experiencing right now, I wanted to share a couple of ways to regulate your nervous system in the spare moments you find.
The first is a 7-Minutes to Calm video I shared in this blog from December 2023. It’s seven minutes of breathwork and mindful movement to help get you out of your head and back into the present moment. These simple movements can also help release some of the build-up in our threat buckets. Here’s more on doing PACE to help find your center and refocus, and ending in a hook-up. And if something more active is what you’re looking for, try dancing it out! (This post also explains more about the vagus nerve and polyvagal theory.)
Besides these techniques we’ve already talked about, today I also want to bring you a new option: eye movement to calm your nervous system. Just like our peripheral vision is important in our sense of safety and well-being, so too do our eyes play a role in regulating our nervous system. Dr. Arielle Schwarz, speaker, author, and clinical psychologist who is widely recognized for her research and clinical advancements in trauma treatment, says:
When we are stressed we tend to furrow our brow which contracts the muscles around your eyes making them appear smaller. When we are tired our eyelids grow heavy. When we feel connected and excited to see someone our eyebrows lift and our eyes appear brighter and larger. While you might try to hide your true emotions by controlling the muscles of your face, you really can’t stop your eyes from revealing how you really feel. This is because the eyes are closely tied to your autonomic nervous system…
Many yogic practices also facilitate integration between left and right hemispheres of the brain through movements that engage left and right sides of the body… The vagus nerve and eye movements are interconnected… Your vagus nerve passes through your belly, diaphragm, lungs, throat, inner ear, and facial muscles. Therefore, practices that stimulate or relax these areas of the body can influence the tone of your vagus nerve through the mind-body feedback loop. Within the medical field, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), also referred to as neuromodulation, involves surgically implanting a bioelectronic device or using a non-surgical transcutaneous (through the skin) device which sends a stimulating yet undetectable electrical current to the vagus nerve. You can also naturally stimulate your vagus nerve to relieve keyed up or shut down nervous system states.
Eye movements are particularly powerful because they have a direct connection to the suboccipital muscles that sit at the base of your skull. As you move your eyes you create subtle movements that help to release tight muscles in your neck which in turn can reduce tension around the first and second cervical vertebrae.
This video explains more about the vagus nerve and eye movements and invites you to try an exercise (the explanation is first, the exercise begins around 4:00). When I did it, my shoulders lowered, and my tension headache eased significantly!
So here’s hoping something here can help you through the rest of May. And if all else fails, there are only 11 days left. :)
