Superpower

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Would it be super strength, the ability to fly, teleport, or make time stand still? Would you opt for mind-reading or shape-shifting? Perhaps you’d control the elements or have the ability to regenerate?

A superpower is an extraordinary quality that provides an advantage in navigating circumstances in your favour or an ability that helps protect you and others from adversity. Wouldn't it be nice to have one?

With this in mind, I realised that there's one superpower that no one knows about and that we definitely need to talk about.

Unlike fictional powers that exist only in movies, what if I told you this one is real?

Clear and Present Danger

Last weekend, I was travelling back to London after a family visit. Sitting alone on the train, I realised something strange was happening—a tense, undeniable sensation grew inside me as if my chest couldn’t contain it, like something was about to pop. In the carriage, I felt as if I was holding my breath, though I was still breathing, definitely alive. What was this?

My body was reacting to something—what could it be? I’d just spent the day feeling angry, irritated, and disappointed due to a few familiar interactions with my family that pushed all my buttons and then some. Finally, alone, I was decompressing, allowing uncomfortable sensations and thoughts to rise, flow, and abate unimpeded. My breaths slowed, and so did my heartbeat.

By the time I got home, I was feeling pretty decent. I brushed it aside, thinking, “I’m okay now; well done, girl. Same old family nonsense, hey ho.” However, I realised something still wasn’t right the next day. I practised some Restorative, then slept for what felt like an eternity.

To the Rescue

Overnight, I thought I'd dreamed a caped crusader had come. Protecting me with a force field as we plunged deep into the Earth’s core. There, a ball of twisted metal extracted itself from my chest as it melted and disintegrated into nothingness. I rose like a phoenix, unscathed, back to the surface. Whatever I needed to let go of in such dramatic fashion, I was sure—it was gone.

Who was the superhero who came to my assistance? Ostensibly, no one - it was only me. I had come to my rescue wielding the steady sword of self-regulation.

What is self-regulation? It’s the ability to manage one’s emotions and bring one's internal state to a place of calm-centredness. It involves the capacity to flex or at least encourage the nervous system to adjust at will.

Our proficiency in self-regulation varies from person to person. Each of our nervous systems is built for responsiveness but develops unique grooves based on life experiences, exposure to stress, threat and security, and the extent of each. Some individuals may develop dysfunctional or maladaptive internal systems due to childhood or ongoing trauma, while others are highly attuned to easeful flexibility. Most of us probably fall somewhere in between.

Powerful Forces

Whatever our baseline settings, the autonomic nervous system operates at lightning speed, faster than our conscious minds can comprehend; the body decides before we even realise we’re bothered.

Powerful forces are at play, influencing our every move. Little critters like memories and emotions bombard the nervous system unawares. When they go unchecked and unregulated, they can make us withdraw, lash out, or procrastinate. Our emotional discomforts often push us toward distractions like food, social media, and substances to nullify the pain.

Stephen Porges, the Author of The Polyvagal Theory, says that despite believing our lives are chosen by rational intent, we are, in fact, driven far more powerfully by our physiology and biological reflexes. This highlights the unconscious and automatic ways that we behave and make choices and explains why we can't always blame ourselves for being the way we are.

In a twist of the plot, emotions are not the actual villain in this piece. The real enemy is the cloak that covers our awareness and the disconnection to attunement, which allows us to be puppeteered by passing feelings.

Super Yoga

Emotional stability, self-regulation, nervous system attunement, and control of the stress response—however you label it—this is an ability worth pursuing. But how can we harness this superpower for ourselves?

Regulation can be understood through embodying our physical sensations since any dysregulation stems from the body. Mind-body and somatic sensing practices like yoga demonstrate how this connection can be forged and strengthened.

“It’s how we regulate our body that creates the platform that allows us to understand who we are, develop our strategies and to succeed” - Stephen Porges.

This graphic, by Dr Sat Bir Singh Kalsa, one of the world’s leading yoga researchers, brings together the mechanisms through which yoga is theorised to promote well-being, with self-regulation being a key component.

The Force Be With(in) You

By engaging with the body willingly and owning your inherent birthright to move, breathe, and feel deeply, you can gift yourself the practice of regulating your state of being. As we become more accustomed to living in a state of calm, we increase the access to our inbuilt healing mechanism of homeostatic regulation.

One myth, however, about mastering individual self-regulation is that it’s a panacea, making us bulletproof to emotional turmoil. While altering our inner landscape can absolutely transform our relationship with the outer world beyond recognition, it doesn’t always create a perfect reality.

Because a superpower, however epic, is kind of pointless in isolation. Learning to self-regulate alone is one thing, but applying it in relationship with others is where the hero gets to hone their skill and test out this ability in real life.

Saving Ourselves & Each Other

With great power comes great responsibility. Next-level is the capacity to regulate yourself, recognise other people’s states of regulation (or lack thereof), and even help others regulate alongside you (co-regulation). I envision what this daddy of superpowers looks like in full force and potency:

The parent who can contain their child’s tantrum with unconditional love and acceptance, regulating their child’s distress and their own with acute awareness. The friend who provides a sense of security during difficult times while managing their own sadness and discomfort. Those finely regulated people by whose mere physical presence our heartbeats sync and settle with their energy.

Believe me, these superhumans live among us. Why couldn't we be one of them?

Power Up

I defined a superpower as something that provides an advantage in navigating life's circumstances or an ability that helps protect oneself and others from adversity. Given the opportunity, which would you choose?

I've always been drawn to invisibility, considering my nosy and self-conscious nature. However, I've realised that self-regulation may be one of the greatest superpowers on Earth. If I nurture it, I get to explore new realms of being and relating—where I no longer need to be invisible. 💪

We cannot turn back time, erase memories, or control the attitudes and behaviours of those around us. However, we can opt for awareness, embodiment, regulation, and choice—allowing us to remain centred, regardless of the challenges we face from past demons or future villains.

Let’s practise.