Feeling Stuck in the Ups and Downs of Life? Cincinnati Therapist Offers Five Tips for Developing Mental Health “Sea Legs”
Imagine you are on a boat in the middle of an unsettled sea with the waves churning and the boat rocking. How do you feel? How does your body feel? Are you comically lurching from side-to-side, like the crew under attack on the old Starship Enterprise? Or maybe you’re wobbling down the stairs to a lower deck with a seasick stomach - anything to get that motion to stop.
Back when I started my formal training to become a drama therapist, I came across a metaphor comparing the intention of drama therapy to developing “sea legs.”
Rather than fighting, denying, or trying to find a way to stop life’s constant ups and downs, the goal is to “help us feel comfortable in the swaying boat in a rough sea, not only to walk on solid ground” (Johnson, 2009, p. 90).
This metaphor resonated with me. I have experienced the instability of life: being rocked by a stormy sea that is tossing me and my loved ones around like rag dolls. Stiffening my legs, with a knot in my stomach, fighting for control, hoping to white-knuckle my way through, has often been my go-to in such situations. Yet these reactions only increase the nausea, fear, and chance of being tossed overboard.
Are there other ways to deal with the inherent instability of our world and the fear and shutdown that can come along with it? What can drama therapy, expressive arts, and polyvagal theory offer to help us center ourselves in a flexible, dynamic balance that will help navigate the churning seas of life?
I offer five tips for developing your mental health sea legs:
Activate your curiosity
Instead of pushing away or hiding undesired feelings and thoughts, get curious about them. What about this situation is bringing this up at this moment? Where do I feel this? What is the emotion signaling to me? Be curious about what is showing up in your body and mind in moments of overwhelm, anger, numbness, or fear and what is showing up when you feel safe and secure.
Befriend your body
Your body is literally wired to survive. When an experience happens, internally and/or externally, your body and brain are hard-wired to respond, kicking off emotional and somatic arousal that is focused on assessment and protection.
As we know from polyvagal theory, fight-flight-freeze describes states of our autonomic nervous system (ANS) that can engage in an instant. Felt safety and social engagement are also part of this system.
Exploring these felt responses in the body via the processes of drama therapy can help deepen understanding of our own healing capacities.
Embrace your imagination
Your imagination is a resource. If you feel lost in the dark forest surrounded by tall trees, take a pause, zoom out and look at the whole forest. What do you see? Use your imagination to reframe your perspective. Imagination opens possibilities: “As we engage with the arts, for example, writing a poem, imagination expands our thinking and takes us on a journey beyond our fixed reality.” (Richardson, 2016, p. 7). In drama therapy and the expressive arts, we tap into the imagination to help bring inner experiences out where we can see patterns of behaviors, thoughts, emotions in fresh, new ways.
Lift your head and look up
When I feel rocked by the seas of life, lifting my head and looking up and out toward the horizon can help me attune to the meaning beyond my day-to-day challenges. Experiences in nature can generate feelings of awe which engage that felt safety of the nervous system.
Own your bravery
“Bravery is not some ethereal quality. It is built into the fabric of our being” (Richardson, 2016, 48). While the upsets of my life can be loud, I need to listen to the “sometimes quiet, yet profound voice of bravery” (Richardson, 2016, 48).
Join me in listening to these quiet voices and celebrating our resilience. And if that voice asks for help, reach out. Own your bravery.
REFERENCES:
Richardson, C. (2016). Expressive arts therapy for traumatized children and adolescents: A four-phase model. Oxfordshire, England, UK. Routledge.
Johnson, D. R. (2009). Developmental transformations: Towards the body as presence. In David Read Johnson & R. Emunah (Eds.), Current approaches in drama therapy (Second, pp. 89–116). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
PHOTOS
Waves - Photo by Mario Caruso on Unsplash
Woman Looking Up - Photo by Brock Wegner on Unsplash
Man Looking Up - Photo by Brock Wegner on Unsplash
As a drama therapist and licensed professional counselor, Mimi (she/her/hers) offers a creative approach to help you get out of your head and into the life you want to live. Some of Mimi’s specialties include, Drama Therapy, Expressive Arts, Narrative Therapy, and Eating Disorders. We are thrilled to have Mimi as a part of our Rooted Compassion Counseling and Consulting team.
The Rooted Compassion team is made up of a group of counselors who have a variety of specialties in order to best serve our clients. We recognize that every person has his/her own personal and unique life experiences and that one modality will not work for every client. Listed below is a summary of our counselors’ specialties at Rooted Compassion:
Emotional Freedom Techniques
Grief Counseling
Somatic Focused Counseling
EMDR
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Mindfulness-Based Practices
Trauma Responsive Care Techniques
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Drama Therapy/Expressive Arts
If you are interested in learning more about what Rooted Compassion is all about, please contact us today, look through our website, or find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Rooted Compassion Counseling is Ohio’s leading practice for trauma therapy through the lens of the nervous system. Our focus is to walk alongside clients as they heal from depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and/or loss. If you or someone you know are seeking to explore and build an inner sense of calm and safety, please contact us today. We would love to help you to find a counselor and counseling techniques that will guide you on your mental health journey to healing.
