Braving the Hot Mess
Check out Braving the Hot Mess on Facebook
  • Blog
  • My Story
  • Documentaries and Videos Worth Your Time
  • Books I Love
  • Vegan Recipes
  • Meditations
  • Affirmations
  • Tracy's Upcoming Events
  • Contact
  • Testimonials

Window of Tolerance

1/15/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
“Window of Tolerance” is a term originated by Dr. Dan Siegel and is used to describe brain and body reactions and describe the zone of arousal in which a person is able to function most effectively. When people are within this zone, they are typically able to readily receive, process, and integrate information and otherwise respond to the demands of everyday life without much difficulty.

The size of our ‘window’ depends upon how much we are able to tolerate mild fluctuations in mood, energy levels, and the challenges and demands of life, while remaining in this "Optimal Zone". T
he ‘wider’ we can expand our window of tolerance, the more resilient we can become in the face of life’s challenges.

Each individual's window of tolerance is different, we don't get to choose how wide the window of tolerance we are born with is...different people are born with different brains and capacities. Also, adverse events in early childhood and throughout our lives can shape our brains and affect the width of our window of tolerance. 

​
Those who have a narrow window of tolerance may often feel as if their emotions are intense and difficult to manage. Others with a wider window of tolerance may be able to handle intense emotions or situations without feeling like their ability to function has been significantly impacted.
Picture

When in the optimal zone, we are calm but alert and engaged in what we are doing. Stress and threat shrink the window of tolerance. When we are outside of our window of tolerance, it's very difficult to take in new information. This is because these states of hyper-arousal and hypo-arousal are ancient physiological survival mechanisms.

The stress of a traumatic or otherwise negative event may have the effect of “pushing” a person out of their window of tolerance. People who have experienced a traumatic event may respond to stressors, even minor ones, with extreme hyper- or hypo-arousal. They may come to believe the world is unsafe and operate with a window of tolerance that has become narrow as a result. A narrowed window of tolerance may cause someone to perceive danger more readily and react to real and imagined threats with either a fight/flight response or a freeze response.

For people who have experienced significant stress or trauma, it's common for the brain to become ‘stuck’ in high levels of activation or deactivation. People who frequently operate outside of their window of tolerance may experience mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.

Next week's post will highlight some ideas for how to manage our window of tolerance and spend more time in the optimal zone. 
Picture

Diagrams taken from the article "Your Window of Tolerance" written by Mindfulness & Clinical Psychology Solutions.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archive 

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Picture

      Please sign up to receive weekly new blog posts. 

    Submit
Proudly powered by Weebly