How to Use Rapid Eye Movement to Master your Emotions and Build Resilience

Life is a journey of many ups and downs that can send shockwaves through our neurological system. Sometimes our emotions can trigger responses in us that feel beyond our control, especially at the most unexpected times. When we’re met with challenges, it can trigger emotional reactions in us that catch us off guard and can result in feelings of helplessness and guilt, adding to the issue! But did you know that in the realm of these challenges lies an innate resilience, a capacity to self-soothe and self-heal that, with the right support and guidance, can help you to navigate your emotional storms in a way you may’ve not known before? We all possess the tools to regain emotional balance and inner equilibrium which helps us master our emotions and build up resilience. Think of it as your superpower which but can be tapped into anytime in emotional chaos!

Introducing Rapid Eye Movement as a Self-Help Tool

You may have heard the term Rapid Eye Movement (REM) as something we do in our sleep. It’s a pivotal part of our deep sleep cycle, not only vital for our physical health but also instrumental in restoring emotional and mental equilibrium. Beyond its neurological connection with vivid dreaming, REM serves as our internal recalibration tool, a problem-solving mechanism, and a facilitator of overall mental and emotional wellbeing. It’s the process responsible for sorting through our emotions, feelings and memories, while we’re in a restorative nightly slumber.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) associated with our sleep cycles is responsible for:

• Emotional Processing
• Memory Consolidation
• Creative Problem-Solving
• Stress Reduction
• Learning Enhancement
• Mood Regulation

If our eyes can move simultaneously back and forth in our sleep, can we do it whilst awake?

Yes! Although Rapid Eye Movement is associated with sleep, it’s a powerful process that can be applied whilst we’re awake. It’s an effective tool that can be used in day-to-day life to rebalance our emotions and help us “move on” from stuck patterns and stuck emotional states.

This discovery of “awake” Rapid Eye Movement (REM) derived during the creation of Neuro Linguistic Programming, which has since evolved into an incredibly effective tool when dealing with emotional trauma, particularly within the realm of EMDR psychotherapy (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing).

REM as a self-regulating tool offers a profound, instant solution to bringing ourselves back into emotional balance and equilibrium.

Awake REM can help with the following:

• Clarity on Higher objectives
• Dismantling of blocks and obstacles
• Transformation of destructive patterns
• Re-balancing Inner Mental Agility
• Emotional Alignment
• Positive Physical Wellbeing
• Taking Action!

What Happens When we’re Stressed?

During moments of intense stress or lack of sleep, both brain hemispheres can get disrupted and struggle to cooperate in an optimal way. Our emotions get “stuck” and can impact our natural emotional regulation system. If you imagine an email with large attachments, it would struggle to send the information; the same applies with stressful memory imprints and times of emotional turmoil. If sleep is disrupted or our emotional experiences are too big to break down, our natural processing doesn’t always take place and this can cause many symptoms such as:

• Emotional Breakdowns
• Strong Emotional Triggers
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Forgetfulness
• Nightmares

When under stress, the brain undergoes a sophisticated dance of chemical changes which trigger heightened stress responses and alters the subtle balance of neurotransmitters (hormones that influence our mood and emotions). To restore equilibrium, the brain will try to activate REM but it’s not always successful. I go more in- depth in my FREE 3 part video series about the effect of stress and how people can use the art of rapid eye movement to rebalance their emotions.

Wrap Up

What I’ve discovered through working with hundreds of clients, is that we all have similarities in common; we all share fears and have a distinctly human reaction to emotional turbulence. Whether you’re a successful Leader in a Blue-chip company or a young person navigating the university of life, these experiences can cause ripples of discontent and knock us off balance. Restoring our emotional equilibrium is the complete foundation of how I structure my coaching approach, to facilitate people into balanced mind-alignment and personal empowerment.

Combining all my knowledge and experience over the past 15 years, I’ve devised a Master Training Course that can help people learn how to use rapid eye movement as a self-coaching tool and in particular for anxiety and stress. Perhaps you know someone who may benefit? Further information on my most advanced training course to date can be accessed here.

With the right guidance and support, we can activate amazing tools that naturally occur in our intricate human biology!