How Does Your Unique Nervous System React to Sensation

Recently, I spoke to Temple Grandin on the phone. She mentioned how helpful her squeeze machine was to help her calm when she was anxious.

I mentioned that I had tried her famous squeeze machine when I did a week of intensive therapy at the Ayres Clinic in Torrance, California.

“Did it help you?” she asked.

“Not really.”

“Well, some people seek pressure and others don’t.”

Aha. That was why I didn’t find it particularly calming. I also don’t like tight clothes. I do, however, like bear hugs???

Every nervous system is unique

To change behavior, you need to know how your unique nervous system reacts to sensation: what sensations calm; what sensations alert; what sensations stress, and in what times and under what conditions.

Some people seek hot tea, others grab for an iced latte. Some like bland food. Others like spicy food. Some gravitate to New Age music, others to hard rock.

Armed with this information, you can better implement sensation to help quiet you when anxious; perk you up when bored; and uplift you when sad or depressed. When arousal is too low, you can employ alerting sensory input to tune into the situation at hand, for instance by drinking an iced cold drink, or listening to fast, loud music. When arousal is too high, you can employ calming sensory input to lower your arousal to a calm/alert place, for instance by rocking slowly, or listening to quiet music.

In general, avoiders tend toward primarily calming sensation to unwind from sensory overload, while seekers tend toward primarily alerting sensation to tune into the world.

For more information on identifying how you react to sensation, see: Holistic Self-Regulation Workbook, Discover the Power of Addressing ALL Body/Mind Systems to Balance the Nervous System.