Practice SIFT
If you sometimes find yourself worked up yet unsure of what is happening inside of you, I have a tool for you. It’s called SIFT. This tool was created by Dr. Dan Siegel, a psychiatrist and pioneer of Interpersonal Neurobiology. Dr Siegel recognized that when we “flip our lids” (or become overly reactive), it means that we have lost access to our prefrontal cortex (PFC) and are stuck in our limbic system (emotion, memory, and survival.)
To get back to a regulated state of being, we need a way to bridge the gap between our wise mind (PFC) and our survival brain (limbic). This is where SIFT comes in. It stands for:
Sensations
Images
Feelings
Thoughts
If you are feeling off, a good way to connect with yourself and recenter is to move through these four areas. Take a few deep breaths and then turn your attention to your body. Notice any sensations. Don’t judge or try to fix them; just notice. Then, slowly do the same with the other categories - images, feelings, thoughts. And if helpful, you might do this as a journaling exercise to slow yourself down and get some perspective.
I consider this a contemplative skill. The goal is to get a 10,000-foot view of your experience rather than feeling lost in it. Once you’ve worked through each step, the next part is to see if you can leverage some curiosity and compassion toward your experience.
Ask yourself …
1) “What is my inner world trying to tell me?”
2) “Can I have compassion for myself in this state?”
Practicing SIFT is not intended to get rid of uncomfortable symptoms. It is a tool to bring your PFC back online so that you can work with your uncomfortable symptoms and positively care for yourself rather than letting your survival brain run the show.
So, this week, if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, shut down, numb, angry, or whatever, take some time to practice SIFT. Learn to bring your PFC back online and use your wise mind to get curious about what you’re noticing. Then, be a good friend to yourself. Do something positive to nurture your discomfort.
Happy SIFTing!
Tom Page, LCPC
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