🧭 Zone-Based Pacing for ALPIMS
A rhythm-respecting, multi-input strategy for sustainable living
🔍 Why Zone-Based Pacing?
Unlike traditional pacing (which focuses mostly on physical fatigue), ALPIMS bodies are vulnerable to overload across multiple domains:
- Cognitive (brain fog, decision fatigue)
- Emotional (shutdown, irritability, dysphoria)
- Sensory (overstimulation, dissociation)
- Immune (MCAS flares, food reactions)
- Autonomic (PEM, POTS, pain flares)
Zone-based pacing recognizes this by aligning effort with current capacity, not external expectations.
🟢 GREEN ZONE – Flexible Energy
| You Feel | Light, calm, focused, mobile |
|---|---|
| Body | Stable, soft, mobile |
| Mind | Clear, focused, adaptable |
| Emotions | Regulated, connected, grounded |
| Sensory | Sounds and light feel tolerable |
| Needs | Gentle structure, freedom, stability |
✅ What to Do in Green:
- Plan gently—not ambitiously
- Batch low-load tasks (writing, planning, admin)
- Do 1–2 value-aligned activities (e.g., creativity, connection)
- Pre-schedule buffers, not rewards
🧘♀️ Green is for rhythm—not performance.
🟡 YELLOW ZONE – Approaching Limits
| You Feel | Heavy, distracted, reactive, achy |
|---|---|
| Body | Tense, sluggish, symptomatic (e.g., bladder urgency, headaches) |
| Mind | Foggy, scattered, overwhelmed |
| Emotions | Irritable, anxious, disconnected |
| Sensory | Sounds too loud, light too bright, textures too harsh |
| Needs | Reduce input, build in rest, protect boundaries |
⚠️ What to Do in Yellow:
- Restrict effort to 1–2 essential tasks
- Implement non-negotiable recovery windows (30–60 minutes)
- Reduce noise, light, decision-making
- Use co-regulation prompts or retreat to a calm space
- Eat safe, low-histamine foods; avoid sensory-rich meals
🛑 Yellow is your early warning system—respond here to avoid Red.
🔴 RED ZONE – Overload or Flare
| You Feel | Shaky, nauseous, dissociated, shutdown |
|---|---|
| Body | Pain spikes, loss of coordination, hot/cold surges, full crash |
| Mind | Blank, disoriented, word-finding issues |
| Emotions | Numb, panicked, despairing, weepy |
| Sensory | Can’t tolerate noise, smell, light, contact |
| Needs | Total retreat, zero input, passive recovery |
❌ What NOT to Do in Red:
- Don’t talk about feelings
- Don’t try to push through
- Don’t respond to requests or questions
✅ What TO Do:
- Retreat to a pre-prepared sensory-safe space
- Use grounding items: weighted blanket, pressure point tools
- Keep hydration, electrolytes, or emergency meds nearby
- No-contact rule (set visual cue or door sign)
- Track symptoms later, not now
🔄 Red is for full reset. Wait for baseline to return.
🔁 The Rhythm Model: Pace in a Circle, Not a Line
| Traditional Model | ALPIMS Zone Model |
|---|---|
| Linearity (push → crash → rest) | Cyclical (sense → pause → pace → restore → return) |
| Productivity-first | Rhythm-first |
| Physical fatigue only | Emotional, sensory, immune, cognitive pacing too |
🧰 Tools to Support Zone-Based Pacing
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
| Zone Tracking Cards | Use visual symbols to reflect and communicate your zone (home or public) |
| Pacing Planner | Weekly plan with buffer time, rest blocks, zone-based tasks |
| Daily Recovery Protocols | Red, Yellow, Green rest menus to avoid escalation |
| Co-regulation Support Cards | Phrases for support people when you’re in Yellow or Red |
| Body–Mind–Zone Log | Track shifts in zone and associated inputs/symptoms |
💬 Zone Scripts for Self & Others
| Situation | Script |
|---|---|
| Self-awareness | “I’m in Yellow—I need 30 minutes quiet before I crash.” |
| Family/Caregiver | “I’m heading Red. Please speak softly or leave the room.” |
| Public/Work | “I’m overstimulated and need a moment. I’ll reconnect soon.” |
🌱 Final Thought: Rhythm Is Recovery
You don’t win by doing more.
You win by staying in rhythm with your body.
Each time you pace by zone, you protect your future self from collapse.
Each time you stop before Red, you choose rest over repair.