Breathing and Grounding

[morgan]

I've noticed a few cries for help in this forum and something from the hospital just came to me. First, don't forget to breath. It helps really. second if you haven't learned how to ground yourself, talk to your therapist. Hopefully they can teach you some techniques that work for you. If not here are a couple of ideas. 1. Focus on something outside yourself that doesn't cause you any distress. 2. Self talk... tell yourself positive things like "I can get through this." "This is only temporary." (just examples). Whatever you can think of that is realistic to you.
There are other ways to ground yourself. I have them in my handouts if any body's interested. I'd be willing to look through them for you. These I've included are what work best for me. I gotta keep it simple.
I hope this helps. good luck to all.
morgan

[Linda]

Hi Morgan.
This is a good point about breathing. I found it calming to concentrate of how you breathe. My therapist had recommended me this technique, and, although it of course took me a while to make it work, now this is what I try do first when getting angry or upset.
Take care,
Linda

[morgan]

Thanks Linda. I'm glad you wrote that. My concentration isn't so good and there is a little more to say on both grounding and breathing. You can either focus on your breathing or take deep, slow breaths or even count between your inhales and exhales. Whatever works best for you. Sometimes meditation helps too.
Another grounding technique I remembered is to hold something in your hand (some people carry pet rocks) like car keys or a chair you're sitting in and notice everything you can about that object. How it feels. Is it warm or is it cold. notice the texture is it smooth or rough. Is it long or short... you know? stuff like that. Grounding is good to do if you feel yourself dissociating too.
One thing I'd like to add here is that it takes practice. It does work, but you gotta learn it first.
God I hope this post is helpful. I hate that some of us are suffering right now. It hurts my heart to read some of these posts. take care all... and thanks for being here.

[Awakening]

Wow Morgan, for a moment when I read the grounding techniques you wrote I thought my therapist had posted:wink:

I think this is a great thread that you have started. I've tried the ones you mention and as you say it has a cumulative effect rather then an instaneous one. You have to regular exercise your grounding muscles!

My therapist will often point out that I'm holding on to my breath or breathing very shallow. Breath is important one, a very long deep breath in & out. Sounds corny but sometimes I imagine breathing in positive energy and breathing out the negative energy of the trauma.

Some other grounding ideas;

Place your feet on the floor and feel the solidness underneath you or Put your hand against a wall and push with your arm until your arm hurts.

Or looking at your arm resting on the chair, then move to the chair, then move to the floor, then to the wall.

Looking at trees, notice the pattern in the leaves, the bark, absorb yourself in the tree.

Soothing yourself; I'm here on Tuesday at 11 oclock, I am 30 years of age, I'm safe, it's in the past.

Anyone else?

[dshanks]

I found this amazing osteopath who found that, as well as my lymphatic system being shot, my rib cage was compressing my diaphram. This I know is due to physical abuse I received when very young, as well as an accident I had. Once the osteopath was able to work on my ribcage as well as my diaphram I was able to breathe deeply for the first time in 30 years. strangely enough I have not had any anxiety attacks since then and, in general,feel a lot calmer. :smile:

[tude]

Anymore "grounding" techniques/tips? I'd be interested. Maybe it would help me when I get lost in it, especially when talking about it or thinking about it too much. "Getting lost in it" for me, at it's worst, is getting stuck in the images and sensation and not being able to make it stop. Or being physically present but my mind is barely present.

[Eagle]

I have found that very tactile things help when having fbs or other dissociative incidents. For example walking bare foot, rubbing my hands on cold or rough objects, washing my face, leaning against a cold wall or rough wall . Really anything that stimulates my nervous system in the now and brings me back to the moment helps alot. If nothing else helps I call someone and talk about something in the now and this helps. I always have a list of support numbers with me. These are ppl who are willing and able to talk with me when I really need it. This is not to expect them to counsel me but just talk me back if you will.
Eagle

[morgan]

Oh my God! I just spent three hours typing up methods of grounding and they logged me off right when I finished! It's gonna be a while before I can go through that again! I'm pissed and have to ground myself right now! Sorry.

[veiled]

Not sure if your browser does it or not, but if I just hit the back button all my typing is still usually there. Very frustrating losing a bunch of typing! Or if you know you are going to post something real long doing it on notepad is a great way not to lose it.

[morgan]

Thanx veiled. The problem is, I don't really know my way around a computer and I'm not much of a typist so... my mother is going to help me in the next couple of days (thankfully). Sorry it's taking so long, but I promise it's worth the wait, if y'all will just hang in there with me.
Meanwhile there are already some good suggestions posted here. Thanx for your patience everyone.
Peace, Morgan

[rt1967]

Thanks Morgan i found your posts really helpful .sorry to hear you lost all your hard work.Good luck with everything.
Ruth

[logan]

i always try to ground myself before i fly off the the handle i try just remember to breath and ground because i'v been so hot tempered
thank you logan

[morgan]

*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]

*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]

*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]

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

[veiled]

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

[morgan]

I thought I'd bring this back up since there are so many new people here lately. I hate to see it get permanently lost or something. Besides, I worked very hard on this thread.:wink:

[Lisa]

Glad you did bring it back morgan :) This is something my therapist has asked me to work on this week. He has told me to simply say "I know what's happening" when the emotions overtake and flashback begins. He explained to me that it is about getting the thinking logical and verbal part of the brain thinking (as for me there are no words to the specific stuff he's trying to ground me with), because for me at the moment it's all tending to be entirely automated emotion.

It's been helpful to read this post, as I've never read it before...

Thanks
Lisa.

[nic]

Question:
Morgan, one of the things you stated,

"1. Focus on something outside yourself that doesn't cause you any distress"

really works for me. I tend to think of something that is as far away from the PTSD or trauma as possible, and if I can get the trauma "out of my head" and focus on soemthing else, I tend to be okay. BUT, it seems like everyone on this forum says that you have to "work through it," and not just dissociate or anything. I don't get it.

[morgan]

nic, being able to ground yourself after reading your trauma, helps you work through it. I'm not sure if I can explain it right but, I'll try.

As you're reading your trauma, you my begin to have flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and possibly dissociate. When you are done reading you'll want to bring yourself back to the present. That is where grounding comes in.

Grounding is good for flashbacks, dissociation, hypervigilance, anxiety and intrusive thoughts. It is not designed to avoid it is designed to put you in touch with the here and now.

I honestly don't think I did a very good job of answering your question. But that is the best I can do. I'm not very good at explaining things. I hope this helped some anyway.

Take care, Morgan

[Grama-Herc]

If I may add a suggestion to the list. I sometimes will go look into my mirror and tell myself that I am ok and this feeling will pass. I actually look into my eyes during this grounding.

Try this when panic attacks you. That is when it seems to work for me.

[morgan]

check this out Ladies a gentlemen. this is a thread i bring back up every now and then as new people start coming. I hope it is very helpful and that you can get something out of it.

Best wishes, Morgan

[Dylan]

What a terrific thread!

I have also found that tools that may not work when I first try them may
work later on.

I never had any luck with the whole breathing thing. What worked for me was the senses attention (focusing on what I was seeing, hearing, feeling - tactile). Recently, I went back and tried breathing techniques and they're helping.

I also find that, if I'm not badly triggered, arranging my body in a posture that is calm and relaxed a helps. I'm realizing that the physical is much more tied to my mental/emotional states than I ever thought. Just because I felt completely compartmentalized doesn't mean I really was, I guess! :rolleyes:
I practice going from my "triggered" posture (kind of hunched, slumped, eyes very wide) to my "ok" posture (sitting up straight, eye-gaze calm and eyes not open so wide, belly breathing). It's amazing the impact it has.

Lately I've developed a mantra that says, "My experience growing up is NOT my experience in reality now. It is NOT THE SAME" and helps me differentiate between my automatic/historical responses, as if I'm stuck in history and what's happening now, who I AM now.

I also have started doing a 'boundary check' when I start to feel like I don't exist. I narrow my awareness down to just my body: "This is me" and focus on/picture the outline of my body: "This is where I end". I will even rub my arms or something to get that idea of boundary - I can even do it in public - just pretending I'm cold or have an itch.

Also, as others have stated: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

What I do repetitively when calm, will be MUCH MUCH MUCH more available as a usable tool when triggered. The more I practice, the more it will be there.

Thanks for the great thread!

-Dylan

[Junebug]

When I feel a negative feeling coming on or the intrusive thoughts are building, I do deep-breathers and try to take notice of each of my senses in the present: I focus on something to look at and the details, the feel of a surface or object around me - particular, what I hear, the smells. I also remind myself that that was the past, and this is "now" and ok.

After the fact I ask myself, what was the trigger and how did it (try) to make me feel? Then I do some "educated guessing" about when during a trauma I felt like that and what is the similarity. If I can get it down to that, the next time it goes to occur, I think, For example, "That's because the carpetting reminds me of crying at the funeral (I didn't cry publically anywhere else, except once), and "digging my nails into my hand" to not cry, and what a LONG walk it seemed." Then- poof!- When I'm in the same environment the next time, I can think of that but there is no emotional trigger.

[skyp56]

Morgan, thank you so much for your hard work on this thread! Thanks, too, for bringing it back to the top, as I am new to this forum, and would surely have missed it.

I am so new in my dx of PTSD, that I am just learning how it has affected my emotions, my thoughts, my posture, and my reactions to others. I copied all the suggestions in this thread, and put them in my hard drive. I intend to look at them often (ran out of ink for my printer). And I will try to start practicing them, as they jibe totally with things my therapist is telling me.

Again, thanks!
skyp

[morgan]

No problem Skyp. I hope you find them helpful as I do. It takes some practice so don't give up. Give different things a try and a fair chance to work and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck, Morgan

[FlameTachiku]

Hi Morgan,

This is a great thread to learn from others how to get though the tougher stuff.

I remember when it used to feel like I was falling into a black hole or darkness, gently falling into a pit of terror.Horrible. Then things would be ok for awhile and then it would happen again. Then I started thinking about it even when it was not happening :poke:and getting scared. But, I learned to recognize what I was feeling and what was happening to my body and stop that experience before it happen. With self talk, I will not go there, I have a choice, it am fine, and while I talk breathing. I now practice breathing and making the air flow in and out using a figure 8 and then reversing it, with using the chest breathing mixed with tummy breathing.

The tree method of grounding made me laugh. When I am in a room and absolutly am going to jump out of my skin but can excape, I look out a window and if there is a tree, it blurrs and I disasociate. Very fast and very easily. Opps, I am learning here that is not a good tool, dang. I was good at that one!:crazy:

Well Thanks Morgan I am looking foward to trying new techniques that have been introduced in this thread.

Flame