Meditation is one of the oldest forms of self-regulation and is not just limited to sitting and observing your breath.
Regulation comes in all forms and was provided by the religions before science took the spotlight and we were told to stop jiggling our legs, rocking, humming and chewing gum.
Any form of repetitive motion is regulation, so long as you focus on the motion. I will focus on the conscious embodied type with my protocol.
The basic function of (concentration) meditation is to create a ‘latch’ so that your dopamine system can achieve regular signalling. Regular dopamine signalling is what enables us to process thoughts and release emotions, even encode memories. Erratic dopaminergic signalling is what results in them getting trapped in our minds and our bodies, and why we struggle to release trauma.
Since religion is not an option for many of us, I will sciencify it.
Higher levels of dvar mean that your system is more agitated and you need higher levels of stimulation to stay on task.
A dysregulated dopamine system means naturally higher levels of dvar. This is why we flit around, unable to focus, or why we can’t get a thought out of our mind at night. You become both unable to sit still and unable to stop ruminating about why you can't sit still.
With all forms of meditation I recommend *not* setting a timer and *not* setting a target. This is likely to become yet another agitator; another way to push yourself too hard or wind up feeling inadequate. You want the meditative action to be the only latch.
All meditations should be done alone. You can have music for the high-dvar meditations but I recommend having quiet for the mid- and low-dvar ones because they are or calming down the smaller vibrations that remain in the body.
Vipassana sitting meditation is insight meditation and not necessary for daily regulation. Vipassana is the grandfather of mindfulness, and this is how you can release a lot of your trauma, but it requires a foundation of concentration before you can undertake it effectively.
Step 1 = regulate (concentration meditation)
Step 2 = insight (mindfulness / vipassana meditation)
You need to still the waves in the pool before you can extract the monsters from the bottom.
So:
identify your dvar value
choose a meditation based on that value
step down the meditations as your dvar decreases
call it a day when you feel better
Simple.
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