Reducing the after-burn

After-burn is the time during which we're anxious after the event.

During after-burn, we still have the physical symptoms of anxiety, even though we might know that we've no longer anything to fear.

Our parasympathetic nervous system helps us to return to a state of rest - each of us is different, and each of us takes a different time to calm ourselves, but there are things we can do to help soothe ourselves more easily:

Think about what soothes you - some people want to be with other people, some want to be alone, sometimes creating a soothing image in our head helps, as does saying soothing things inside our heads - "It's OK, I'm safe, breathe slowly..."

Being harsh with ourselves - we forget to take things slowly, to soothe ourselves, to get what help and support we need - this may be taking time to relax, exercise, getting a massage, anything which helps us be gentle and tolerant of ourselves.