The 5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Feel Safe

Self-care includes helping you to feel safe.

In the current climate, it can be difficult to feel safe.

Our fight or flight response can be easily triggered, leading to feelings of fear and anxiety.

But, there is hope!

By building felt sense of safety into our nervous system, we can learn to cope with these feelings.

Why should you build safety into your nervous system?

When we feel safe we feel loving, calm, present and connected.

When we feel unsafe we can feel irritable, anxious and have physical stress symptoms.

How can we stay in our zone of safety?

By regulating our body and nervous system, we can gain access to feeling safe.

Self-care includes helping you to feel safe.

Here are a few tips to feeling safe right now:

Find your safe person, place or animal.

This is a positive safe place or relationship that helps you “drop” your guard and provide you with a sense of belonging. This triggers your body to “relax.” When you are feeling unsafe, come back to this as a positive trigger for your well-being.

Look for Safety Signals

What is safe around you that you can recognize and orient yourself towards in your environment? An example of this could be flowers, noticing your feet on the floor or noticing music in the background.

Establish healthy boundaries

Boundaries provide us with intentional protection and control. Is there a boundary that needs to be drawn right now to help you feel safe? Consider internal and external boundaries. For example, an internal boundary is “I am going to limit social media doom scrolling to 5 minutes.” An external boundary is: “I don’t answer work emails during the weekend.”

Savoring

What are some things that you are experiencing that provide pleasant expeirences or sensations? For example, when you are eating a nice meal, enjoy and savor it with your 5 senses. If you are hearing a nice song, perhaps moving your body to the beat. Savoring helps engage our dopamine pathways for pleasure, joy and connection.

Check In with Yourself Often

Checking in with yourself is the practice of interoception or attuning to yourself. By checking in with yourself, you are able to tune into your needs and provide yourself with a sense of care.

Remember to be patient with yourself as you navigate your journey towards feeling safe.

With consistent effort and support, you can maintain a sense of safety and build resilience in the face of anxiety and stress.

In your health, Dr V