Hypoarousal is a low energy, foggy, under-responsive state in our nervous system marked by feeling shut down, emotionally numb, kind of 'blah' and disconnected from yourself and others. Understanding your own hypoarousal indicators and learning to regulate your nervous system can be a powerful strategy for reducing and preventing depression and can lead to significant improvements in your emotional and mental well-being.
In this post, we’ll explore how current neuroscience informed tips, including somatic therapy tools can help, along with understanding the surprising mental health benefits of singing and humming.
Understanding Hypoarousal
Hypoarousal often involves feelings of emotional flatness, low energy, and detachment. Although we all feel low energy states from time to time, chronic hypoarousal patterns can contribute to the onset or worsening of depression. When our nervous system activation drops too low, it can lead to feelings of hopelessness, low motivation for self-care, brain fog and difficulty in thinking clearly. This state impacts how the brain processes emotions and responds to stress, creating a cycle of emotional numbness that can be challenging to break.
Neuroscience Insights: The Autonomic Nervous System
Understanding the autonomic nervous system (ANS) gives us crucial information about how to shift hypoarousal patterns for depression help. In our nervous system we have an optimal arousal zone, where when we are regulated within it, we feel grounded, present, connected and able to manage life with more ease and clarity. The ANS, which regulates stress responses and emotional states, can become triggered by day to day life struggles, conflicts in relationships or moments when past trauma memories get activated. Sometimes experiencing the trigger of a past trauma or relationship wound can make our system go into a shut down mode. The hopeful message is that you can do something about it. By gently increasing activity in the vagus nerve—we can regulate hypoarousal, promoting better emotional balance and reducing depressive symptoms.
The Power of Vagal Tone for Greater Calm and Balance
Vagal tone refers to the activity and health of the vagus nerve, which is a key part of the parasympathetic nervous system. The vagus nerve is one of the longest nerves in the body and extends from the brainstem to various organs, including the heart, lungs, and digestive tract. It plays a crucial role in giving us ability to manage stress and recover from stressful situations by promoting relaxation and counteracting the effects of the sympathetic "fight or flight" response. Strong vagal tone is linked to improved mental health by promoting feelings of calmness, reduced anxiety and overall emotional well-being.
Somatic Therapy: Reconnecting with Your Body
Somatic therapy, such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, offer a gentle and empowering way to improve vagal tone, reconnect with yourself and nurture your mental health. They work on the beautiful principle that our minds and bodies are deeply intertwined, and by addressing both emotional and physiological states, you can foster healing and balance. With gently exercises and harnessing the wisdom of the body, you can regulate the ANS and bring yourself back to back to a calm and connected state.
The Power of Singing and Humming
Engaging in singing or humming can be an effective way to manage hypoarousal. Vocalizing stimulates the vagus nerve, as it involves deep, controlled breathing and gentle vibrations in the vocal chords. The vibrations from singing stimulate the vagal nerve, promoting its function and helping us recover more energy, emotional connection, social engagement and a calm clarity within ourselves helping counteract the numbness associated with hypoarousal.
5 more Tips for Regulating Hypoarousal:
Practice Deep Breathing: Incorporate deep, diaphragmatic breathing exercises into your daily routine. Deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting both a sense of energy and aliveness as well as a calm, grounded self and reduced feelings of disconnection.
Engage in Mindful Movement: Activities like yoga, tai chi, or gentle stretching can help reconnect you with your body. These mindful movements support emotional regulation by gently waking up your system so you have a little more activation. Also movement increases body awareness and improves overall vagal tone, which will help prevent depressed mood from returning.
Utilize Sensorimotor Techniques: Explore Sensorimotor Psychotherapy or similar approaches that focus on connecting with your body so you can notice the signs of shutting down and learn how to re-activate your nervous system. By becoming more aware of physical sensations and their emotional connections, you can better address hypoarousal, feel more awake and enhance emotional resilience and vitality.
Incorporate Music Therapy: Engage in music-related activities, such as listening to music, strumming a guitar, tapping rhythmic patterns on a table or humming. I like to create uplifting playlists full of my favourite upbeat, empowering songs. Music can stimulate emotional responses and activate self-expression leading to increased feelings of vitality and aliveness.
Establish Re-vitalizing Self-Care Practices: Start incorporating simple tools that you enjoy and make you feel more engaged. Coming back into aliveness can be difficult when you've been shut down, so start by making little changes that you feel you can manage like gentle movements, stretching, nature walks or simple humming along to your favourite song. Journaling or talking to a trusted friend or therapist will gently wake up your system and open up self-expression. Over time these little changes can become regular self-care practices and can help maintain emotional balance and reduce symptoms of chronic hypoarousal.
A Hopeful Approach to Emotional Well-Being
Simple practices to regulating hypoarousal is a hopeful and actionable approach to reducing and preventing depression. By gently incorporating the insights from neuroscience, somatic therapies, and the therapeutic power of singing, you can feel more alive, connected to your self and discover that you have control over your emotional health.
If you’re experiencing symptoms of hypoarousal or depression, consider these tips to support your journey towards greater emotional connection and resilience. Also, be sure to connect with a somatic therapist if things feel too hard.
Remember, healing is a process, and there are effective, supportive methods and compassionate somatic therapists available to guide you toward a more balanced and fulfilling life.