I had a friend once who swore by the TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF THE TOOTHBRUSH!
I kid you not. He believed that random tooth-brushing could change lives.
And not for dental reasons at all.
He asserted that any funk or slump in energy or mood could be remedied by a good teeth brushing!
I thought it was pretty obtuse, on first hearing...
But decades on, I actually 'get it'.
And I get it because I understand the neurology and psychology of the any-time-of-day dental cleanse 🙂
Hear me out. This is the process:
- You become increasingly aware and MINDFUL of a flat mood, a lack of productivity or a general 'meh-ness'.
(The first step in most emotional regulation processes is AWARENESS). - Your OBSERVANT FRUSTRATION with the 'meh-ness' reaches critical mass, and you CHOOSE to ACT.
(i.e. you recognise your emotional state, but tap into a deeper, more robust and resilient part of yourself that can challenge this state). - You TAKE ACTION. The decision is made, you rise, approach a basin, and perform a ritual that generally represents starts and finishes (of days). This would likely trigger all sorts of neural associations with freshness and beginnings - and thus any time you deem can be a MINI MORNING.
- You exit your restroom newly invigorated, and perhaps now more energised to approach a task list or set of chores and challenges.
I know this works, because I just applied it. And I've done so, from time to time, over the years.
And smiled at my old friend's wisdom.
I’m writing this up for you on a SUNDAY. I have shared elsewhere how I tend to find Sundays a little anticlimactic. The flurry of a busy 6-day week spits me into a Sunday morning, and the pressure feels ON to squeeze every ounce of life out of the day off with my family. But it doesn't always play out like that, and we sometimes end up still in pajamas at 2pm.
Feeling a little relaxed, a little frustrated, and a lot like we've wasted the day.
At 2pm today, I realised enough had to be enough! And so I hopped into a shower, washed my hair and SCRUBBED THESE TEETH (for the second time today 🙂 ). And indeed, all the truth of the teaching kicked in - here I am, fresh as a daisy, and ready to do Sunday afternoon/evening with gusto!
I am not naive, and know that actions such as these are not going to heal depressive episodes and bipolar disorders. But I ABSOLUTELY believe that we are all able to do our part to help ourselves... In whatever small, self-preserving ways we can.
And this is part of my message on this platform - part of why I started THE SHRINK ON YOUR COUCH.
I'm ALL about helping people to heal their intimate relationships, through COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTION.
And, on the INDIVIDUAL front, I truly believe the world would be a better place if we all learnt the magic of emotional regulation... Of "turning down the volume" on overpowering difficult and troublesome feelings.
And we can emotionally REGULATE by applying SMALL actions to SHIFT feeling states. Because feelings are not facts, and feelings change with the wind, the clock, our hormones and how well we slept!
I hope you benefit from this too, now that you have heard it!
And if you're in a funk, I highly recommend that you take some toothpaste to those pearlies and feel the transforming power in action!
Much love,
Debbie
