Healing the Nervous System Through Cozy Gaming
Do you know why cozy gaming feels so darn regulating? Everytime you open your favorite world like Animal Crossing, Dreamlight Valley, Palia…the list goes on, your body relaxes. Your tongue drops from the roof of your mouth, your shoulders relax. Cozy games run on closed loops, something we definitely don’t get in real life. I’ll explain what this means:
A closed loop is a space that is defined. There are not big surprises, and in a cozy game, certainly no violent or traumatic ones. When a human faces obstacles in life like depression, trauma, and / or illness, life feels like open loops that keep flying at us one after another. Things are uncertain, our tasks are on hold, and it feels there is no safe place to ‘get off the ride.’ And if you are neurodivergent, sometimes this can be amplified.
A closed loop has that one thing we are craving! Two simple words: safe containment. This is huge for those of us needing a refuge until we feel ready to get back out there and face the world. In these spaces we know that energy is limited, and normally there is a bar for it, so we see the character fatigue coming. Better yet, we know how to quickly remedy it. We can make small efforts and know it’s enough without Aunt Nancy or cousin Drew making judgemental comments on something they don’t understand. Woo hoo! For those of us that use gaming, this is nervous system regulation.
However, we can’t stay logged in 24/7. Eventually we have to get back out there IRL, no matter how slow we go. For that very reason I have created a fun download to help y’all attain nervous system regulation with cozy gaming, using a simple printable worksheet.
How does it work? It’s a bit like training wheels for life. They say we never forget to ride a bike, however there are periods in life where we have convinced ourselves we have forgotten and the training wheels need to go back on. That's ok. It's all in our minds, but the mind is a very powerful thing! Once we regain the routine and confidence, we sometimes realize it never left us.
This sheet allows you to check in with yourself, choose a time frame you are comfortable with and a daily cozy game mechanic, then apply it to real life. After you have done your task you can scribble down some notes about how it made you feel. After that just get into your comfies and sip a hot tea!
This framework uses cozy game mechanics as training wheels for real life. This my friend is a completed loop for the day! A small doorway back to life. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Be patient with yourself.
You can click here to download the worksheet.
