Sensory Wellness

Baby crying. Dog barking. An overflowing garbage can. Dishes covering the countertop. Bright toys scattered on the floor. A toddler banging the table with their spoon. The sun glaring in your eyes. The phone pinging. And all of a sudden the dishwasher is too loud, you feel hot, your clothes feel too tight and you flip your lid. 

Sensory overload or overstimulation in motherhood can make us feel like we're about to explode. It can deplete our cognitive, emotional, and physical abilities to show up for our kids, our partners, and ourselves in meaningful ways. It can lead to shutdown. 

There are changes in the brain that occur during pregnancy that prime us for caregiving, which also make us prone to sensory overload. In combination with the societal expectations and demands placed on the modern mother, the environment is often set up to leave a mother without the support she needs to care for herself in the ways that she needs. 

Neurodivergence, trauma, and attachment styles add a layer of complexity to our sensory needs.

Sensory Processing is the way the brain receives, interprets, and organizes sensory information in order to create meaningful action. Everyone has a different threshold for different sensory inputs, but we all have a limit.  

When we experience overstimulation, it can send our body into fight or flight, contributing to acting in ways where we don’t recognize ourselves. 

Meltdowns don't feel good. 

There are tools and strategies rooted in science for discovering your sensory preferences and sensitivities and strategies to address these preferences in a personal and intentional way. 

Discovering our sensory processing preferences and thresholds - the type and amount of sensory input needed in order to achieve “just right” balance - can help us cope with the demands of mothering.

Sensory processing is just one factor that can contribute to dysregulation, but one worth noticing. Sensory based strategies help combat overwhelm in motherhood when we can't think our way through a situation. They can be a powerful tool to start feeling like yourself again. 

Becoming aware of your sensory preferences, discovering tools and strategies to use both in the face of dysregulation as well as prevention of meltdowns, can help you mother from your true self.

Contact Flourish to find out how sensory strategies can help support your mental health in matrescence.