Option A · Digital
Use Navigate Now
The site walks you through the decision process and saves the outcome to your Navigator’s Log.
Show me every digital step ↓Before you begin
What Regulation Navigator is asking you to do.
Regulation Navigator is a way to organize one difficult moment. You notice what is happening, identify the need that requires attention first, select one Navigation Point, follow that Point’s First Course, do one Anchor Action, and then check what changed. You are not trying to fix everything at once.
Immediate NeedThe need that requires attention first right now. It is a starting point, not a diagnosis or identity.
Navigation PointOne of seven support areas that best matches the Immediate Need you selected.
First CourseThe fixed strategic directive for that Point. It answers: what should happen first before you try to solve more?
Anchor ActionOne small, concrete, adaptable action chosen from the selected Point. You choose one—not every action on the page.
WaypointThe checkpoint after you have done the Anchor Action. This is where you notice what changed and decide whether the direction still fits.
ReassessmentA purposeful check after action gives you new information. You can stay with the Point, Change Course, Begin Again, or Finish the cycle.
FinishStop the current navigation cycle because you have enough for now. It does not mean permanently “fixed” or always regulated.
Option B · Paper
Use the materials manually
You make the same decisions yourself using the printed Navigation Point and Anchor Action materials.
Show me every paper step ↓The canonical sequence
The six decisions never change.
Whether you use the website or paper, the underlying Navigation Algorithm is the same. The interface may ask questions for you, but it is still moving through these six steps.
1Notice
2Identify Immediate Need
3Select One Navigation Point
4Follow the First Course
5Choose + Do One Anchor Action
6Check + Reassess
Option A
Using Navigate Now digitally.
Use this path when you want the website to guide the sequence for you. You still make the choices; the site simply presents them in order and records the Waypoint.
Open Navigate Now and sign in.
Go to Navigate Now. Interactive navigation requires an account with Starter, Digital, Complete, or redeemed gift access.
What you do: Open the page and choose to begin a new navigation cycle.
Notice what is happening right now.
Do not diagnose yourself. Start with ordinary language: what feels difficult, blocked, urgent, depleted, confusing, disconnected, or directionless in this moment?
What you do: Focus on the current moment rather than trying to summarize your entire life.
Identify the Immediate Need that fits best.
Navigate Now presents the seven Immediate Need statements. Read each one and choose the statement that most closely describes what requires attention first right now.
If more than one fits: choose the one that feels most important to address before you can continue with the others. You can navigate again afterward.
Confirm the Navigation Point.
The Immediate Need maps to one Navigation Point: Harbor, Tide, Spark, Lantern, Root, Bridge, or Compass. Read the Point name, purpose, and Guiding Question. The Point is a temporary starting place—not a label for who you are.
What you do: confirm that the Point feels close enough to the need you are experiencing. If it clearly does not fit, go back and choose again.
Read the First Course before choosing an action.
The First Course tells you what should happen first within that Point. It is the strategy that organizes the next step. Do not treat it as an outcome guarantee.
What you do: read the First Course slowly enough to understand the direction before opening the Anchor Action choices.
Choose one Anchor Action and one route.
Navigate Now shows the full Anchor Action information for the selected Point. Choose a single action that feels feasible now. Where available, choose the version that fits: on your own, with safe co-regulation, or a gentler/indirect route.
Important: one workable action is enough. You are not supposed to complete every action in the Point.
Do the Anchor Action before evaluating the result.
The Waypoint comes after action. Give the selected action a real attempt in the version you chose, unless it becomes uncomfortable, unsafe, or clearly inappropriate.
What you do: complete what is feasible, then return to the page for the check-in.
Reach the Waypoint: notice what changed.
Now compare the moment after the action with the moment before it. You are gathering information—not grading yourself or proving the action “worked.”
Ask: What changed? Does this Navigation Point still fit? What seems to need attention now?
Choose what happens next.
If the action helped enough, you can stay with the Point or finish the cycle. If the Point still fits but the action did not, you can choose another Anchor Action. If the Immediate Need changed, reassess and select a different Point. If you are done for now, Finish the cycle.
The site records: the Point, Anchor Action, route, Waypoint/outcome, and any note you save to the Navigator’s Log.
Option B
Using Regulation Navigator with the papers in your hands.
The paper process is not a different method. You are doing the same Navigation Algorithm yourself without the website making the sequence visible for you.
Before you begin, put these papers where you can reach them:
Seven-Point Master Map
The page that shows Harbor, Tide, Spark, Lantern, Root, Bridge, and Compass together.
The page that shows Harbor, Tide, Spark, Lantern, Root, Bridge, and Compass together.
GUIDE framework
Gather → Understand → Identify → Do → Explore. Use this as the broad framework around the moment.
Gather → Understand → Identify → Do → Explore. Use this as the broad framework around the moment.
Decision Matrix, if it is in your set
Use it to compare immediate needs when more than one Point seems possible.
Use it to compare immediate needs when more than one Point seems possible.
Individual Point pages
Keep all seven nearby, but pull only one forward once you make your selection.
Keep all seven nearby, but pull only one forward once you make your selection.
Matching Anchor Action pages
Do not spread every action from every Point out at once. Open only the set for the Point you selected.
Do not spread every action from every Point out at once. Open only the set for the Point you selected.
Waypoint / Navigator’s Log page
Use it after the action to record what changed and decide what happens next.
Use it after the action to record what changed and decide what happens next.
Start with the moment, not with a Point.
Leave the seven Point pages on the table for a moment. On scrap paper, in the blank space provided, or out loud, finish: “Right now, I am noticing…” Then finish: “The part that seems hardest to work with right now is…”
Do not explain your whole history. One or two sentences about the present moment is enough to begin.
Identify the Immediate Need before choosing the Point.
Now look at the Master Map. Read the seven need descriptions slowly. If your set includes the Decision Matrix, use it here. Ask: “Which type of support would make the next few minutes or the next step more workable?”
If two or three fit: choose the need that seems most useful to address first. You are not choosing your “main Point,” your personality, or your highest assessment score.
Physically pull one Navigation Point page forward.
Once you choose the Immediate Need, select the matching Harbor, Tide, Spark, Lantern, Root, Bridge, or Compass page. Put the other six slightly aside. Read the Point’s purpose, Guiding Question, and First Course before you look at any Anchor Actions.
Use the First Course as the filter: it tells you what should happen first in this navigation cycle. It is orientation, not a promise that you will feel a certain way afterward.
Move to that Point’s Anchor Action materials.
Now look only at the Anchor Actions belonging to the selected Point. Read enough of each option to decide what is realistic in the current environment, with the time, energy, privacy, support, and resources you actually have.
Choose one. The best choice is not the most impressive action; it is the action you can actually do now.
Choose the form that is safe and feasible.
If an Anchor Action can be done alone, with another person, or indirectly/gently, choose the form that fits the moment. Bridge does not require direct contact with the person connected to the stressor; support can come from a different safe person, place, community, or resource.
Do not force direct interaction merely because the Point involves connection.
Put the papers down and do the action.
Do not keep comparing options once you have chosen. Complete the selected action in the version available to you.
The action comes before the Waypoint. You need new information from doing something before you reassess.
Return to the papers for the Waypoint.
After the action, check the moment again. Notice what changed, what did not change, and whether the original Immediate Need still deserves attention first.
Use three questions: What changed? Does this Point still fit? What needs attention now?
Choose one of four next directions.
Stay if the same Point still fits. Change Course if a different Point now fits better. Begin Again if you need to return all the way to Notice and reconsider the moment. Finish if you have enough for now.
Finish does not mean “fixed.” It means this navigation cycle has reached a reasonable stopping place.
What if I am not sure which Point to choose?
Two or three Points fit. Ask which need requires attention first before the others become easier to address. Start there. You can navigate again later.
Nothing fits perfectly. Do not force certainty. Choose the closest fit only if it feels useful; otherwise describe the need in your own words and revisit the seven statements.
The Point stops fitting after the action. That is useful information. The Waypoint exists so you can change course rather than staying loyal to the first choice.
The action makes things worse. Stop the action. Reassess what you need now. An Anchor Action is adaptable; it is not a requirement to push through discomfort or danger.
A complete example from beginning to end.
Notice“I know what I need to do, but I keep staring at it and cannot begin.”
Immediate Need“I know what I need to do, but I cannot get started.”
PointSpark · Motion & Momentum.
First CourseMake beginning possible by shrinking the first step, reducing friction, and using the energy available now.
Action → WaypointChoose one Spark Anchor Action, do it, then check what changed and whether Spark still fits.
Common mistakes
What the system is not asking you to do.
A navigation cycle begins with one Immediate Need and one Point. Multiple needs can exist, but the method prioritizes a starting place.
“I am a Root” or “I am a Tide” is not the intended use. The Point describes what support area fits this moment.
The First Course organizes the strategy. Anchor Actions come after the Point is selected.
A Waypoint is a post-action checkpoint. It exists because the action gives you new information to review.
No immediate change can still tell you that the action, route, or Point may not fit the current need.
If immediate physical safety is at stake, address the real-world safety problem first rather than trying to regulate your way around it.
The Navigation Loop
Notice → Choose → Act → Review → Adjust → Repeat. The six-step Navigation Algorithm tells you what to do in one cycle. The Navigation Loop describes what happens across repeated cycles as new information appears.
Educational framework: Regulation Navigator is a non-clinical educational system and does not diagnose mental health or medical conditions. If you are in immediate danger, experiencing a medical emergency, or need crisis support, use appropriate emergency or professional resources rather than relying on the Navigator.