Breathing and Grounding

[morgan]

Mental Grounding

*Describe your environment in detail using all your senses. For example, "The walls are white, there are 5 pink chairs... Describe objects, sounds, textures, colors, smells...
*Play a categories game with yourself. Like types of dogs, musicians, songs, tv shows...
*Do an age progression. "I'm 8 yrs old, I'm 9, I'm 10... until you reach your current age.
*Describe an everyday activity in great detail. Like a meal you cook.
*Imagine. Glide along skates away from your pain. Change the channel to get a better show...
*Say a safety statement. "My name is... I am safe right now. I am in the present, not the past. I am located in... the date is..."
*Read something, saying each word to yourself. Or read each letter backwards so that you focus on the letters & not on the meaning of the words.
*Use humor. Think of something funny to jolt yourself out of your mood.
*Count to ten or say the alphabet very s..l..o..w..l..y.:clap:

 

[morgan]

Physical Grounding

*Run cool or warm water over your hands.
*Grab tightly onto your chair as hard as you can.
*Touch various objects around you: a pen, keys, your clothing... Notice textures, colors, materials, weight... Compare: is one colder? Lighter?
*Dig your heels into the floor- literally grounding them! Notice the tension centered in your heels. Remind yourself that you're connected to the ground.
*Carry a grounding object in your pocket- A rock, clay,ring, piece of cloth or yarn... that you can touch whenever you feel triggered.
*Jump up and down.
*Notice your body: The weight of your body in the chair; wiggling your toes;the feel of your back against the chair. You are connected to the world.
*Stretch. Extend your fingers, arms or legs as far as you can; roll your head around.
*Clench and release your fists.
*Walk slowly, noticing each footstep, saying "left", "right" with each step.
*Eat something, describing the flavors in detail to yourself.
*Focus on your breathing, noticing each inhale and exhale. Repeat a pleasant word to yourself on each inhale, such as "safe" or "easy" or a favorite color.:thumbs-up

 

[morgan]

Soothing Grounding

*Say kind statements to yourself, as if you were talking to a small child.
*Think of your favorite things; color, animal, season, food, TV show...
*Picture people you care about. Look at photos of them.
*Remember the words to an inspiring song, quotation or poem that makes you feel better.
*Remember a safe place. Describe a place that you find soothing. Focus on everything about that place- the sounds, colors, shapes, objects, textures.
*Say a coping statement. "I can handle this", "this feeling will pass."
*Plan out a safe treat for yourself, such as a piece of candy, a nice dinner, or a warm bath.
*Think of things you are looking forward to; time with a friend, going to a movie...:occasion:

 

[morgan]

Last but not least!!!

Grounding does work if you-

*Practice as often as possible, even when you don't "need" it so that you'll know it by heart.
*Practice faster. Speeding up the pace gets you focused on the outside world quickly.
*Try grounding for a looonnnggg time (20-30mins.). And repeat, repeat, repeat!
*Try to notice whether you do best with physical, mental or soothing methods, or some combination.
*Create your own methods, It may be worth more because it is yours.
*Start grounding early in a negative mood cycle.
*Make up an index card with your best methods and how long to use them.
*Have others assist you. Teach friends or family so that they can help you if you become overwhelmed.
*Prepare in advance. Locate a place at home, in your car, and/or at work where you have materials and reminders for grounding.
*Create a cassette tape of a grounding message. Consider asking your therapist or someone close to you to record it if you want to hear someone else's voice.
*Think about why grounding works. Why might it be that focusing on the external world helps? Notice the methods that work for you. Why might those be more powerful for you than other methods?
*Don't give up!!!:hello:

PS My mother didn't help me with this after all. I ran out of patience waiting for her to feel like it. LOL:rofl:

 

[morgan]

So... I always try to keep my promises... even when I'm in over my head. ;)

 

[tude]

Thank you very much morgan. I had no idea there were so many. I am certainly going to try them.

 

[pandora]

Thank You Morgan!

 

[morgan]

Y'all totally made it worth my while! You know what they say... If one person gets something out of it, it's worth it.
Don't get me wrong... it was good for me too. But you guys made me feel really good about it.
By the way, you can print it out if you want to. It worked on my Printer.
Thanx for reading it, really... it means a lot to me.
Morgan

 

[baileysemt]

Morgan, thank you for putting all that work into it and posting all those techniques! That is wonderful!!!

I hope you don't mind, I wanted to mention, for when others come across this thread when they are having a bad day and feel frustrated by reading and trying things that don't work... not all the techniques work for everybody!! Personally, I only know of 2 techniques that work for me. Two. :-S So don't feel bad, or beat yourself up, or get all twitterpated if you try something and it doesn't work. That happens to ALL of us. It will take time to try each one on for size and see what works. Be patient with yourself.

I feel like I am making a community service announcement, LOL :)

Anyway I just wanted to post that because I could feel myself getting irritated as I read the lists, realizing that "none of these work for me" ... if I am feeling it, so are others... which means a little reassurance is a good thing. :)

:) Bailey

 

[morgan]

I'm really sorry that these techniques do not work for you. They are just suggestions, but I have found them to be quite helpful. I have to work at it but I am doing a little better every day. Most of my friends that went through the program with me are also practicing these techniques with varying levels of success. It often depends on the severity of your symptoms. That is why you have to practice. Good luck to all of you.
Morgan

 

[Deleted member 93]

Thanks for the thread! I have used the physical grounding described to help during disassociation. Makes me help realize things are real around me before it gets too out of hand. Hmmm I may need to reread the info section, if this type thing is not in there we will certainly put this info there.

 

[vst]

Thank you Morgan. You have added some ammunition to my grounding arsenal.

For me different methods work for different situations. When I am disassociating repeating "This is not happening now" works well for me.

You are correct that it takes alot of practice. You need self-awareness to know you are starting to slip and my self-awareness can be very slow in coming.:crazy:

vst