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Wound up or flat?

For when you feel off right now: notice whether you are wound up or flat, breathe to match, or look around the room instead. About three minutes.

6 steps, drawn from 2 books on IFS.

Checked: each step was read against the book passages it rests on, and stays inside them.

Read every step first
  1. Which is closer? Check how you are right now. Afraid, agitated or restless is wound up. Sleepy, spacey, heavy or far away is flat. Pick the closer one. Neither is fine too.
  2. A longer out-breath. Let each out-breath be slower and longer than the in-breath, as if blowing gently through a straw. There is no need to hold your breath at any point. If watching your breath makes it worse, skip this and look around the room instead.
  3. Look around. Now look around you. Let your eyes land on a few things, one at a time, and name each one to yourself.
  4. Any change? Notice any change in your breathing, your body or your mood. A small shift counts. No shift is fine too.
  5. How loud is it now? The same scale you used at the start. Lower is worth noticing. The same is fine too: it does not mean you did it wrong.
  6. That is the check. Your state can shift through the day.
  7. A few fuller breaths. Take a few deep breaths into your whole torso, pushing each one out right away, then noticing the air fill you again. If the breathing makes things worse, skip it and look around the room instead.