Grounding 101

[BloomInWinter]

Heck yes, we are! (((((CraftyCath))))

 

[CraftyCath]

:roflmao: Way to go us!

 

[KP the nut]

It isn't 'one step forward and 3 back' any more but small steps with the occasional trips.

But I don't sink as far nor as long as I used to.

Same here. It is a good feeling when we realise that. Look how far we have come - Yay, go us:tup:. Now, where is the lemon oil:D.

 

[Abstract]

It helped me when I realised that all progress is not linear and it is more like a windy river that winds back on itself. As long as we learn from what we do wrong then it is still forward movement! ;):tup:

 

[Doolali]

I had the strongest flashback yet in front of my therpist the other day, she hasn't seen me that bad before. I was a little girl all over again, backed into the corner of my mother's front room waiting for the physical hit. Everything was exactly the same. All of my senses were going crazy and I was totally oblivious to my present surroundings. It's incredibly scary when it happens so quickly and I have to be reminded to breathe! How do you remember to ground yourself when this is happening? It comes on so fast and without warning. My T is trying to help me work out what triggers me, but sometimes it seems so impossible, it's that deeply ingrained!

I will definitely try to remember some of these tips. If I know my anxiety is rising then I can work on it, but when it happens so suddenly it's tough until it's over!

 

[Venusian]

Doolali, I find it helps if you practice the techniques over and over again when you are not under stress. In different places and different times of the day. Make it something you can do almost automatically without having to think too much about it. Pick a couple that are the easiest and what you think will work for you. Then when you can recall them without thinking about it, add another one, then another. Not every technique will help in every instance so it helps to have several you can try.

 

[Doolali]

Thank you Venusian, that's a very good tip that I missed. I guess it's a bit like meditation or yoga, you have to practise to make it work! I will try doing that.

 

[Mercy]

Maybe, I am having a gut level reaction to the word grounding. To me, it connotes planes made helpless by fog, fox hunters running the fox to ground, burials, covering up crimes by laying the evidence of them in the ground. Going to ground means hiding in a small place to escape extreme danger. Grounded - punishment but I mean torture. sorry can't go on. I hurt all over.

 

[safenow]

Sorry to come into this so late.

 

[Mercy]

I will go on. I will overcome and be free someday.

 

[Venusian]

Mercy, I am so sorry the word triggers you. Your definitions were the first ones that ran through my mind when I first read the term used online in the forums.

I choose to use this definition from the Mirriam Webster dictionary online:
Definition of GROUNDED

: mentally and emotionally stable : admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious <remains grounded despite all the praise and attention>
It is hard to change triggers but I have in the past, knowing where they originate is the biggest hurdle. Once I know that, some of them are no longer triggers, they are just objects or circumstances. Some, even though I know why they are triggers, will probably always be and with some of them I don't yet have the memories to link them to the trauma. Those are the ones that I struggle with to become "emotionally stable" and "admirably sensible" again.

 

[safenow]

I love that definition. It is wonderful. Thank you for sharing that.