Energy Regulation and Sensory Mindfulness Activities

Due to alexithymia, many neurodivergent people struggle to identify their emotions using traditional labels (i.e., sad, upset, happy, nervous). Instead, it can be helpful to describe feelings in terms of energy states, which can be more concrete. This worksheet is designed to guide identification of self-regulation strategies as either alerting or calming (energy up or energy down). It could also be used to promote interoceptive awareness (i.e., noticing bodily cues which indicate one's energy state).

As a bonus resource, we included a simple sensory mindfulness activity. See Autism Level Up's work for more resources on energy regulation.

We recommend using these activities to expand exploration of self-regulation after completing the ND Affirming Self Regulation Toolkit

This resource can support learners of all ages!