# Step 1 Calm Shit Down ##### Untangling Pain ---  --- ## tl;dr - Step one is to calm the nervous system by helping your body feel safer and less stuck in fight or flight. - Start by identifying your own DIMs and SIMs, the pieces of your pain puzzle. - Reduce the DIMs you can, then add more of the SIMs that help you feel safe and confident. - Look across what you do, say, think, sense, where you go, who you are with, and what is happening in your body. - Threat can be real or perceived, so the same activity may feel different depending on your context. > [!abstract]- Transcript > > Step one, we're gonna calm shit down. So we're looking at DIMs and SIMs. > > This first step , all about calming things down. We need to calm down the nervous system. We need to make sure that the brain and the spinal cord know that we are safe so they don't panic and produce pain or inflammatory response or anxiety. > > We're looking at calming the nervous system down in terms of the sympathetic nervous system. Reducing that fight or flight response. Basically we're looking at creating a safe, regulated, calm, rested body. We can do this by breaking this down into three steps. > > Step number one is to identify your jigsaw puzzle. Your DIMs and your SIMs. > > We've already gone through DIMs and SIMs before, but this is going into more of your DIMs and SIMs and I'm gonna give you examples and we're going to find out what exactly are your DIMs and SIMs. > > Number two, we're gonna reduce the DIMs. Where possible. And step number three is we're gonna add in more SIMs. > > Now, I highly recommend that you grab yourself a pen and a paper so that we can start creating your list, start identifying your jigsaw puzzle and putting this into action. > > We're gonna identify your DIMs and SIMs. > > DIMs and SIMs are your jigsaw puzzle pieces. They are all the pieces that contribute to or help with your pain. And I've said it so many times, pain is multifactorial and it's not just one thing, it's a puzzle with lots and lots of different pieces. > > And these pieces, we name them DIMs and SIMs. > > As a recap, a dim or danger in me is anything that activates that fight or flight response. It's anything that sets off the fire alarm. > > A dim is anything that is dangerous to you and this isn't just about pain. It's dangerous to you in terms of your body or your life or your lifestyle, your job, your happiness, your day-to-day functioning. > > It is anything that is a threat to you as a person. > > Remember as we've gone over before, this danger, this threat can be real or it can be a perceived one. So something we're worrying about, something we think might happen. And it might not be that we are actually thinking about it. It might be our brain subconsciously thinking about it. > > But remember, it's a threat to you that is either real or perceived because the brain will still treat it exactly the same. > > Now, a sim. Or safety in me is anything that makes you feel safer, that makes you feel stronger, better, healthier, more confident, more certain about yourself and within yourself. > > It's the stuff that calms your nervous system. That, reinforces that feeling of safety. In your body, and again, stuff that calms your nervous system. > > As I mentioned in part one, DIMs and SIMs are an idea from the book Explain Pain. They say that DIMs and SIMs can be organized into seven different categories. > > Number one things you do. Number two things you say. Number three, things you think and believe. Number four places you go. Number five, people in your life. > > Number six, things happening in your body. And number seven, things you hear, see, smell, taste, and touch. > > Again, make sure you've got a pen and paper handy and as we go through these, I want you to think about your DIMs and SIMs and what you could possibly have in each one of these areas. > > These DIMs and SIMs are examples, and they are some of them of my own and some of them are mixed in with other clients, and these are not the only ones, again, they're gonna be very personal to you. These are just examples and I'm gonna talk you through why these matter. And help you identify your own DIMs and SIMs. Next lesson → [[Untangling Pain – Module 4 Lesson 03 – Things you do & things you say|Things you do & things you say]] %% ## Extra ## Version 1: Full Step One: We’re Gonna Calm Shit Down We’re looking at DIMs and SIMs This first step is all about calming things down We need to calm down the nervous system We need to make sure that the brain and the spinal cord know that we are safe so they don’t panic and produce pain or inflammatory response or anxiety We’re looking at calming the nervous system down in terms of the sympathetic nervous system Reducing that fight or flight response Basically we’re looking at creating a safe, regulated, calm, rested body We can do this by breaking this down into three steps The Three Steps Step number one is to identify your jigsaw puzzle → your DIMs and your SIMs We’ve already gone through DIMs and SIMs before, but this is going into more of your DIMs and SIMs I’m gonna give you examples and we’re going to find out what exactly are your DIMs and SIMs Number two, we’re gonna reduce the DIMs where possible Step number three is we’re gonna add in more SIMs I highly recommend that you grab yourself a pen and a paper so that we can start creating your list, start identifying your jigsaw puzzle and putting this into action DIMs and SIMs Are Your Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces DIMs and SIMs are your jigsaw puzzle pieces They are all the pieces that contribute to or help with your pain Pain is multifactorial and it’s not just one thing It’s a puzzle with lots and lots of different pieces These pieces, we name them DIMs and SIMs What is a DIM? A DIM or “danger in me” is anything that activates that fight or flight response It’s anything that sets off the fire alarm A DIM is anything that is dangerous to you This isn’t just about pain It’s dangerous to you in terms of your body or your life or your lifestyle, your job, your happiness, your day-to-day functioning It is anything that is a threat to you as a person This danger or threat can be real or it can be a perceived one Something we’re worrying about, something we think might happen It might not be that we are actually thinking about it → might be our brain subconsciously thinking about it It’s a threat to you that is either real or perceived because the brain will still treat it exactly the same What is a SIM? A SIM or “safety in me” is anything that makes you feel safer That makes you feel stronger, better, healthier, more confident, more certain about yourself and within yourself It’s the stuff that calms your nervous system It reinforces that feeling of safety in your body Again, stuff that calms your nervous system DIMs and SIMs: The Categories As I mentioned in part one, DIMs and SIMs are an idea from the book Explain Pain They say that DIMs and SIMs can be organized into seven different categories: 1. Things you do 2. Things you say 3. Things you think and believe 4. Places you go 5. People in your life 6. Things happening in your body 7. Things you hear, see, smell, taste, and touch Make sure you’ve got a pen and paper handy As we go through these, I want you to think about your DIMs and SIMs and what you could possibly have in each one of these areas Personal Examples These DIMs and SIMs are examples Some of them are my own and some of them are mixed in with other clients These are not the only ones They’re gonna be very personal to you These are just examples and I’m gonna talk you through why these matter And help you identify your own DIMs and SIMs ⸻ Resources or Mentioned Book: Explain Pain ⸻ ## ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Calm Shit down - build shit up BLOG.assets/women & Pain Part 4 slide-5.jpeg|women & Pain Part 4 slide-5.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Calm Shit down - build shit up BLOG.assets/women & Pain Part 4 slide-6.jpeg|women & Pain Part 4 slide-6.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Calm Shit down - build shit up BLOG.assets/women & Pain Part 4 slide-7.jpeg|women & Pain Part 4 slide-7.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Calm Shit down - build shit up BLOG.assets/women & Pain Part 4 slide-8.jpeg|women & Pain Part 4 slide-8.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Calm Shit down - build shit up BLOG.assets/women & Pain Part 4 slide-9.jpeg|women & Pain Part 4 slide-9.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Calm Shit down - build shit up BLOG.assets/women & Pain Part 4 slide-10.jpeg|women & Pain Part 4 slide-10.jpeg]] --- ## Watch the lesson %%