Let’s Talk Self-Care: Brain Dumps, Inner Child, & Nature
🎙️ This is a transcript of Episode 9 of the Nervous System Care & Healing Podcast with Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist of color. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube to receive notice when future episodes come out.
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01:36 Brain dump: what's your processing style?
07:51 What does your inner child need?
12:50 Nature-based care: connecting with the elements
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NOTE: This icon, 🔗, indicates that link will open in new tab.
🔗 The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4378297/
INTRO
Hey everyone, I wanted to create today's episode for anyone who feels like they're in a rut with their self-care routine. So if you have kind of run out of ideas of how to take care of your nervous system or the usual things that you're doing aren't working as well anymore, this is an episode where I share some ideas just to help you shake things up.
My hope is that you'll leave today's episode with one or two ideas that you're excited to try or to double down on.
As a heads up, we know that everyone's body is different, everyone's brain works differently, and also that something that works for you on Monday might not work as well on Tuesday because there are also variables like mood or energy or shifting capacity.
Just know that everything I share today is simply an idea or an invitation. Think of it like a buffet that you can pick and choose from and then set aside anything that does not resonate with you.
(1) BRAIN DUMPS
All right, I'm gonna share three main categories of self-care, three creative ways that I think about how to take care of our nervous systems. so the first category is called the brain dump.
This is where we take any of the thoughts or the stuff that is swirling around in our minds that is taking up space in our heads, in our mental real estate, and we find a place to dump it. Or maybe a gentler word here is we find a way to really let the thoughts and the energy in our minds to live somewhere outside of us.
You might have noticed that it doesn't feel sustainable to just hold everything in your own head, right? To hold all of the to-do lists and how you feel about everything and then your 50 million different thoughts. Sometimes we just need to clear out some space in our minds so that we can actually have space to breathe and rest and enjoy our lives.
Another term for brain dump that I've heard in other spaces is cranium catch. So that's some cool alliteration. You can choose which phrase makes most sense to you.
So when I think about a brain dump, I actually think about all of the subcategories of our different processing styles because some of us process verbally. We like to talk through things.
COGNITIVE PROCESSING
Some of us process more cognitively or intellectually, where our brains really need to make sense of something to understand the mechanism or the why before we can really set it down. And then there's other processing styles like being more movement-based or more emotional-based or visual, etc.
So if you are more of a cognitive processor, maybe your brain dump looks like writing or journaling. So you set a timer for 15 minutes and you just write down all of your thoughts, get it down on paper, and that process of translating what's in your head or in your mind into words and language that lives on a paper outside of you, that can feel incredibly relieving. I know that I often feel lighter and more clear-headed after I even if what I wrote down in the journal doesn't actually make sense or it's even illegible my handwriting can be pretty messy but just that process of writing it out does something completes a process in the nervous system.
VERBAL PROCESSING
Meanwhile, if you are more of a verbal processor, your brain dump might look more like talking. Talking it out. If you have someone in your life that you can call up or you can turn to in person and say, hey, I just need a vent for 15 minutes or like, do you have time to talk? Do you want to catch up? Then maybe that's your brain dump.
If you don't have that person available or you prefer to have a more private experience, you could turn on the voice memo app on your phone and just start talking and let the voice memo capture everything. You can listen to the recording if you want to or you can just delete it.
I find that for whatever reason just that act of starting the voice memo and then ending it is like opening a door and closing it and it feels different than just talking into the void without a container to capture what you're saying.
KINETIC PROCESSING
Next type of processing is kinetic processing. So this involves movement and moving the body. If you are a kinetic processor, your brain dump might be walking, If you've had a really long day at work and your head is just buzzing with thoughts and to do lists and slack messages, you could transition from work by going on a 15 minute walk in the neighborhood and just feel how the stress or the tension of the day releases from your body with each step that you take.
As a fun fact, walking is also a type of bilateral stimulation, which in therapy talk means an activity that engages both hemispheres of the brain, right and left. So as you take a step with your right foot and then your left, and then you alternate, that is allowing conversation and connection to happen between the different parts of your
VISUAL PROCESSING
Next, if you are a visual processor, if your brain thinks in images or colors or shapes, then you could brain dump by drawing or doodling. So take out a piece of paper, take out your favorite art medium, whether it's paints or crayons or colored pencils or pastels, and translate whatever is happening in your mind, in your heart into some visual on the page.
Some people will crumple it up or burn it or file it away if they don't want to destroy what they drew. But the point is you are releasing something from inside of you and letting it exist on paper outside of you.
AUDITORY PROCESSING
Finally, if you are an auditory processor, your ears really like to be engaged in whatever you're doing, then maybe you incorporate music into your brain dump. You could turn on a playlist of your favorite music and then just jam out to the songs for 15, 20 min.
What I like about music is that music creates an auditory landscape where you don't have to hold everything alone. The song can hold your grief with you.
If you're listening to this list and thinking, I already do a lot of these things, is exactly the point. That we already naturally gravitate toward cognitive processing through journaling or kinetic processing through movement. Our bodies just know what we need.
We can also combine different processing methods. So you could listen to music while you're drawing, or you could walk and talk at the same time.
(2) INNER CHILD
The next category of self-care is all about connecting with the inner child.
I know that many of us are healing our relationship with our inner child or Maybe you had a childhood that was really tough, it wasn't what you really needed as a kid, so then as an adult it's kind of a second chance at doing the things that you weren't able to do as a kid. So the questions that I would ask myself are:
What would your child self want to do?
What did you not get to do enough as a kid you have access to now as an adult?
Maybe your inner child really wants to blow bubbles. Maybe you did not get to do that enough as a kid or maybe you did it all the time, but then when you became an adult, there was this implicit social rule that adults do not do silly things like blowing bubbles.
And by the way, think that some of the rules around how kids are supposed to play versus how adults are supposed to enjoy themselves, it's kind of an arbitrary rule. There is really no reason or law that says that you have to stop doing kid-like things just because you turn 18.
As an added bonus, with blowing bubbles, it's also forcing you to take deep breaths and to be mindful about the exhale. From a mindfulness or nervous system regulation perspective, something as simple or childlike as blowing bubbles actually has a really positive health effect for everyone.
That's just one example. If blowing bubbles is not your thing, it's never been your thing, maybe what you want to do for your inner child is connect with a character from your favorite children's book. That just feels so nostalgic and sweet even as I say it. So whether your favorite character was Pippi Longstocking or Minnie Mouse or Curious George or Winnie the Pooh, look up a picture of that character and just let yourself reminisce on those early childhood memories and hopefully the comfort and care that those books or those shows brought to you.
Or you could journal about some of your favorite qualities of those characters. Or if your imagination works like this, you can envision the presence of this character sitting next to you or sitting in the room across from you and just feel how resourcing, how comforting their presence is.
Another idea here is if you were a kid who really loved to explore fantasy and magical realms and you had entire universes or worlds that you would visit during playtime all in your mind's eye, then let yourself go back there. Let yourself play and imagine and explore more of this fantasy world. Even if it seems silly or ridiculous or immature (and I'm putting all of these adjectives in quotation marks, because I think those are subjective judgments)…
If it brings joy to your heart, then that's the most important criteria here.
And again, I don't know why we have this rule in society where adults are not allowed to play in the same way that kids are, but again, I would follow your heart.
You could also sing or listen to your favorite songs from childhood, that your family would sing at special gatherings, or that were really popular in media and culture at the time that you were growing up, things that you would hear on the radio and sing along to. Let yourself revisit that if that is resourcing to you.
If the music takes you to a really dark and scary place, then I might avoid that if that's not your intention right now. So this is all about discernment and just choosing what works for you.
Finally, you could also look at old photos of yourself as a kid if you do have access to them; a photo of yourself when you were three or five or eight or twelve. Notice if there are particular ages you feel more connected to versus less connected to if you feel more compassionate or less compassionate like more judgmental toward yourself at certain ages, and just being curious about that.
For the most part when we look at photos of ourselves as kids this tends to build self-compassion or it can soften judgment and criticism that we feel toward ourselves because for whatever reason, it is a lot harder to be so harsh on your five-year-old self compared to how you might talk to yourself now at your present day age.
(3) NATURE-BASED CARE
The third and final category of self-care that I'm going to talk through is more nature-based self-care. The question here is:
Which element of nature do you feel drawn to?
So don't think too hard about an answer. Just go with the first instinct that you feel in your body. Between the elements of fire, water, earth, and air, I'll share examples for each element of nature of how you can connect to that element and how that might really support and soothe your nervous system.
FIRE
If you're feeling drawn to fire: maybe you light a candle and you just sit with that candle and enjoy the flickering flame. If it's scented, maybe you enjoy how nice it smells for the next hour.
You could also combine this with journaling or listening to music or talking to your inner child. Right? All these self-care practices can overlap. But the purpose of lighting a candle here is number one, it's very visually soothing. For me, it wakes up this part of my brain that feels like, I'm sitting around a bonfire with community and, you know, I'm safe and I'm taken care of right now. It activates something very ancestral in me, just the simple lighting of a candle. So that's why I would do it. Maybe it evokes something different in you.
Another way to connect with fire as an element, again, in a safe and accessible way, sometimes this is more like metaphorical than literal, is to lie under a heated blanket if you have one; letting yourself feel the warmth and the heat.
Or you could enjoy a warm meal. So think about soup boiling on the stove. Fire is an element that allows us to nourish ourselves, to cook food, to transform a raw ingredient into something cooked and hearty. So these are all some ideas of where you could go with this element of fire.
WATER
Next is water. You could take a shower or bath and you can feel the stress of the day washing off of you. You can feel the energy being cleared off of your body.
If you have access to a body of water, like a creek or river or ocean or lake, sit next to that water or walk around it. Really take in the whole sensory experience, especially the sounds of waves lapping over each other or a creek bubbling and moving, or maybe it's complete stillness and silence.
There's something so therapeutic about being around water for a lot of us.
Another idea is to pour yourself a cup of tea or drink a glass of water. We all need to hydrate. This is a daily constant need.
Also, in so many cultures, drinking tea or enjoying a beverage, hydrating with each other, is a form of ritual and a way to connect in community as well.
EARTH
The next element is Earth. Explore grounding your feet into the earth. That is a super, super direct way to connect with this element. Just step outside, take your shoes off as long as it's not freezing or snowing where you are, and feel the contact between the soil, the ground, and your skin.
You can also put your hands on the earth or feel the tactile sensations of the trunk of a tree or gently stroke a leaf and just take in this whole sensory experience.
There are some really interesting studies that show that earthing, which is any way of connecting physically to the earth, allows free electrons from the earth's surface to spread over and into the body, and this can have antioxidant effects. This can decrease inflammation in the body.
So these scientific studies are really proving and affirming this age-old wisdom that so many cultures, so many communities have known for millennia: that being in connection with the earth, feeling it in and on our hands and feet, generates health and generates life.
Now, if you do live in an area where access to nature is limited, maybe you're in a city, then I would look for signs of nature and earth within your inside environment, wherever you are. Maybe you have houseplants that you can spend 15 minutes every day really intentionally spending time with and tending to them, watering them with care and love, talking to them. Because plants, your pothos, your snake plant, they are living beings.
AIR
The fourth and final element here is air. If you have access to fresh air, really take that into your lungs.
If you like to sing, singing is a wonderful way to regulate the nervous system. It also moves air through the lungs and moves energy through the body. So you could sing alone or with others.
If you're not into singing or you're just not feeling it that day, you could try a mindful breathing practice. There are tons of practices out there. One of my favorites that I go to over and over again is alternate nostril breathing, also referred to as Nadi Shodhana. It's where you alternate breathing through your left nostril and then your right nostril. And then you alternate covering one nostril and then the other. And I find that this really helps get the air circulating it feels like through my whole body and kind of balances out the left and right sides of the brain and body as well.
FINAL NOTES
Remember that your energy will look different from day to day. So what you need will change from day to day. And that's why it's nice to have a menu of options, a buffet to choose from so that you don't feel like you're just stuck having to do the same thing over and over again or wondering, is there something wrong with me?, if the thing that worked yesterday is not working today.
I'll also note that there are short versions of these practices and then longer versions and that we always just have to work with whatever amount of time we have. So if all you have is five minutes in the morning, then maybe you self-regulate by splashing some warm water on your face. Whereas if you had a full 20 minutes, you could self-regulate by taking a shower. And if you had a full hour, then maybe you would choose to take a whole bath.
So keep in mind that you can always adjust the practice based on the time available to you.
I'll end by reviewing the three categories of care and let you reflect on which one feels most relevant to you right now.
(1) How do you need to process right now? Through words, images, music, movement, or talking? How do you want to do your brain dump today?
(2) What would your child self want to do? What did you not get to do enough as a kid that you want to do now?
(3) Which element of nature do you feel drawn to? Fire, water, earth, or air?
Just notice how your answers change from day to day, even from moment to moment. And I hope that you'll get some space to take care of yourself in whatever way you need. Thanks for being here.
If you need help taking care of your nervous system, I’d love to support you.
Online Therapy in Colorado | Coaching Worldwide
Helping highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults heal their nervous systems & connect with their authentic selves.
About the Author
Liz Zhou (she/her) is a neurodivergent therapist, coach, and speaker. She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves, using brain-body modalities (Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, psychedelic integration) that are quicker & more effective than traditional talk therapy. Liz offers Nervous System Healing Intensives online worldwide.
