Sensory Signals and Sensory Solutions

I have been glad this week that I am aware of my sensory world and how it interacts with my wellbeing. It is helpful that I have practised paying attention to what my sensory inclinations are telling me and how I can utilise sensory experiences as a tool. 

I have just begun some rather heavy and intense therapy work and have really noticed the impact in a sensory way - both as a signal of how I am doing and as a solution to how I am doing. 

I found this interesting because although sensory awareness tasks are often used for grounding, I didn't expect to see the effects of doing this difficult work in a sensory way. The work is cognitive and emotional: the after-effects should be too. Of course, they are, but they are also sensory, and noting that is helpful to me as it is easier for me to observe in myself than just guessing how I'm feeling. And if I were in danger of forgetting that I can use sensory experiences to calm and soothe, spotting the signs of unrest in a sensory way reminds me I can address the unease directly rather than getting caught up in cognition and emotions, which are infinitely complicated. 

It is important when you leave the sessions to leave what happens there as much as possible, to try and minimise the effect on daily life: it is even suggested to change clothes when you get home. As someone who can find transitions difficult anyway (although I do like to compartmentalise, which works in my favour here), when I came out of my session on Thursday I didn't feel ready to jump straight in the car and back into life. I felt I was in a hurry as there had been other things I was hoping to do, but I knew I needed to listen to my body. It wanted to have a little walk and calm and reorientate itself with its senses so that's what we did. I bundled Baby Peggy up and we took a slow and mindful (sensory-engaged/sensory-led) circuit of the Wander Path around the car park. I thought I had post about this path before but cannot for the life of me find the post to link to!

Cold air, bright sun, dark shade, birdsong, trees. Soft conifers to brush hands through, and their scent on your fingers after rubbing the fronds. This smell has grounded me well many times over the past two and a half years. I often used to return to the lingering remnants of sap on my fingers after sitting in my favourite pine tree in the hospital grounds. Even after washing them they would stick together, and the distinctive scent cut through whatever else my brain was trying to do.

And so I calmed and regulated myself with my senses and returned to the world when my body told me it was ready.

And then as the days went by I kept noticing that my sensory tolerance was not as accommodating as usual. I have been fine introducing solids to Baby Peggy and dealing with the mess, wet and stickiness but on Friday I did NOT want his Ready Brek on me. (And it was EVERYWHERE! Have you ever seen someone eat Ready Brek by the handful? Apparently it needs help to get from the spoon into the mouth...) On Saturday I did NOT want him touching my skin (other than hands!) and twizzling with my clothes. On Sunday I needed to use my Tangle to keep me grounded like I haven't for a long time. Which in turn became associated with times when I relied heavily on them. Which then required more grounding. My nails, which need cutting, are driving me mad. The flipsy-flopsy slappery flimmery labels on muslins and clothes are more bothersome than normal when they TOUCH me. (I know those aren't words you will have heard of, but they are my best way of expressing the yucksome experience of such a sensation.)

But the daytime contact naps that have returned with Baby Peggy having a cold mean his warm relaxed weight calms my body. The walk with the trees and the birds refreshed me perfectly. The snug cocoon of the duvet soothes my whole system. My stims like nail-rubbing regulate my general anxiety levels. And simply noticing that my tolerance is below par means I can choose to minimise stressful activities as much as possible, be kind to myself and do things that help me recover as much as possible. 

Snuggles always help!

Sensory awareness is such a useful tool as both a signal of problems and a solution to them, and because I can use it for myself, I can also use it as an aid to inform me about what other people around me might need - Baby Peggy, pupils in my work environment, even friends, family and acquaintances at times. Yay to signals and solutions!