Grounding is a coping strategy designed to “ground” you into the present moment with your mind, body, and surroundings. Many people have used grounding techniques to cope with flashbacks, dissociation, anxiety, or even upsetting thoughts and memories.
The best part about grounding? Most techniques are portable, meaning you can take them wherever you go!
Processing grief is not about “getting over” a loss but rather learning to integrate the grief into our lives in a way that allows us to move forward while honoring our experiences. Often, we rely on “do you want to talk about it?” to process grief. In this week’s newsletter, let’s see how we can access grief in the body and unlock it through movement.
Have you ever been “in the zone” where everything around you melts away and all of your focus is on the task at hand? Your concentration doesn’t seem to waver and it’s rather effortless to sustain your attention on the task—whatever the task is, whether it’s painting, playing music, or working on menial tasks at work.
However, those moments are infrequent and perhaps happen less than you would prefer. So, this week, let’s discover how we can create more opportunities for us to get into the zone.
Life has a way of sweeping us off our feet and dragging us along through the day, and we just hope we can make it to the end of the day. How can we slow down and savor our moments? Mindfulness techniques offer us a break from the rushing pace and help us appreciate the present.
Last week, we covered the dissociation spectrum: from everyday forms of dissociation to dissociative disorders. This week, we’ll dive deeper into the coping strategies we can use to manage dissociation.
Have you ever driven home from work but didn’t remember how you got there? You made all the right turns, stopped in all the appropriate places, and drove at the right speed limit, but when you pulled into your driveway, you didn’t remember any of it.
Or maybe, you zoned out during a meeting or conversation, daydreaming about your weekend plans or the movie you watched last night. Consequently, by the close of the meeting, you can’t recall what anyone said.
These scenarios demonstrate a couple of everyday forms of dissociation. This week, we’ll uncover the spectrum of dissociation.
Notice your breath.
Slowly inhale and feel your lungs expand;
then, release a long, relaxing breath.
Feeling lighter?
For most of the day, we breathe completely unconsciously, but breathing exercises are a simple, portable tool that can relieve stress and anxiety. So let’s shake things up a little bit and focus on our breath this week.
In previous newsletters, we’ve shared how engaging the senses helps ground us in the present. We’ve also shared steps to build your own sensory kits.
This week, we’re revisiting our senses and building (or adding to) our sensory self-soothing kit!
Occasionally, we like to pop in and see how you’re doing. It’s important for us to pause, breathe, and reflect on what we’ve learned, what we’ve accomplished, and what’s working or not working for us.
It’s easy to become distracted by every social media notification, incoming text and email, and the million tasks that need to be completed by the end of the day. When we’re caught up in a storm of thoughts, worries, and anxieties, trying to keep afloat with all of the incoming information and demands, we tend to lose sight of the present moment.
This week, let’s look at how we can cultivate mindfulness by developing soft habits.
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We look forward to working with you!
