The Bucket Theory

The general idea behind The Bucket Theory

The Bucket Theory is a metaphorical/visual mechanism to conceptualize how inputs lead to outputs - in this case, how different factors lead to changes in my nervous system. 

As you can see from the image below, I want to keep my bucket filled within the green, Safety zone. When my Parasympathetic Nervous System is in Ventral Vagal, I feel present and engaged with my life and the people around me. But stresses, perceived threats, fear, guilt and shame all add to the bucket and eventually my Sympathetic Nervous System is activated and I enter hyperarousal. This is where my Fight or Flight responses kick in and I usually get very panicky or full of rage. Then, just as the bucket is about to overflow, my Parasympathetic Nervous System starts to activate again in Dorsal Vagal (I may be using these terms incorrectly in sentences, but I don't care) and I have a Freeze response because I just feel very overwhelmed. Then, when the bucket overflows, my Parasympathetic Nervous System is in full Dorsal Vagal mode and I enter hypoarousal. I shut down, feel mentally/emotionally paralyzed and really depressed.

In order to deactivate that nervous system response, there are some release spigots that will get me back to Safety. And I turn those on by using regulating tools, finding perceived safety and finding hope in my life.

What I hope The Bucket Theory does for me*

*Full Disclosure: I haven't started fully utilizing this mental model yet, but I am excited to get started on it.

I have tried to manage my life by managing my emotions and I have tried managing my life by managing my energy, but what I never really realized was that both my emotions and energy were somewhat byproducts of what my nervous system was doing. I'm hoping that being able to identify the physical symptoms of each level in the bucket, I will be able to recognize when I need to turn on a spigot before I overflow.

Right now, I seem float in the orange most of the time, somehow get down to green or yellow very briefly and then shoot up to red. I would love to be able to find a way to spend most of my time in the green. What a life that could be!