OUR RIVERS

The 'Window of Tolerance' is a concept originally developed by Dr. Dan Siegel - UCLA, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry. It describes the optimal zone of physiological “arousal” for each of us to function in our everyday lives. Siegel says that when we are in this window (or river), we can effectively manage and cope with the stress and demands of our everyday life and most easily communicate with others. It could be considered our calm zone or our area of flow.

When our nervous system gets too aroused we can move out of our window and enter a state of "too much" or hyper arousal - our land of fire. Here, our bodies are stressed and we can react in a fight or flight response. We can also move out of our window by being 'switched off" and this is called hypo arousal. When our bodies react this way we may feel numb or spaced out, in our land of Ice.

It's helpful to remember our bodies are often responding in ways that keep us safe when they feel stress, but we can learn how to widen our river and cope more easily with life's challenges.

The river can be a useful metaphor to notice, understand and respond to yourself. It also helps when wondering about others. Within sessions we may talk about and experience some of the different things that move us in and out of the river.

The river doesn't hold any rules, you don't have to stay in a state of flow at all times. Expressing the big sensations that come with hyper and hypo arousal is useful too. This story just gives us insight into our nervous system responses and provides ways to shift it, when want to.