When you have a mental illness it can be quite difficult to stay in the present and focus on what is actually happening. This can be stressful and disorientating to deal with. A way to keep yourself from dissociating from the present is grounding. There are many ways to ground yourself and today I wanted to share some of the best ways that I use grounding.
1. Use all your scenes
This was one of the first ways I learnt to ground myself and is still very helpful with my anxiety. You need to think of 5 things you can see in the present, 4 things that you can hear, 3 things that you can touch (reach out and touch them), 2 things you can smell, and finally, 1 thing that you can taste. This gets you focusing on your body in a present situation and can be helpful for anxiety, ptsd, and dissociation.
2. Listen to instrumental music
This is very helpful for those of you who are auditory learners because it is a way of grounding that only uses your hearing. Listen to any type of instrumental or orchestra music and try to name as many instruments as possible. This will start out hard because you might not be use to hearing the different instruments and knowing their names, but the more you practice and focus, the easier it will get.
3. Use sensory toys
Fidget toys and slime are great for drawing your attention to the present because you are physically holding something in your hands that has a unique texture. I find stress toys and plush animals to be very helpful and useful for this type of grounding.
4. Use positive triggers
I have a few posts about triggers and specifically positive triggers. These can be used to trick your mind into wanting to stay in the present. I use this technique when I'm very switch-y and dissociated because it helps my mind with refocusing on present day.
5. A-Z
Think of a word starting with each letter of the alphabet. This is very simple yet effective. To make this more challenging you could think of only fruits, animal, food, or any set category. The way this could help is that once you are done with all 26 letters you would have been focused for that long and this can help you remain focused afterwards.
6. Use apps
Personally I use an app called TIDE (not sponsored or anything), and this app has sound tracks (rain, storm, the ocean, birds, library, coffee shop, etc), and you can set the sound to play for 15min intervals. I use this when I am trying to do something stressful and need to stay calm and focused (homework, chores, etc). This way you can set smaller goals like 'if I focus for 15mins I will reward myself with a cookie'. This way the more stressful daily tasks seem more manageable.
7. Lick a lemon
I actually did this the other day while was out on a date with my partner. I got very dissociated and in order to bring my focus back, I took the lemon wedge that came with our dinner and put it in my mouth. Let's just say that I could definitely taste it hahaha. I was able to focus again and enjoy the rest of our night.
8. Clench your muscles
My old psychologist told me this trick and it s very helpful for stressful situations that happen in public. Start at your toes and clench them as tight as you can, hold for 5 seconds, and relax. Try to use parts of the body that won't be noticeable if you are in a very public space. Another great body part to use would be your butt haha. No one will ever know and it will be very helpful.
9. Temperature
Hold onto something really hot or really cold. Something as simple as an ice-cube could actually stop you from having an anxiety attack. By holding different temperature you are using your sense of touch to feel something in the present witch will be very soothing. So hold a hot cup coffee, or have some ice cream :).
10. Smell some perfume
Apply perfume to your wrist, sleeve, or a bracelet and when things begin to stress you out just smell the fragrance and you will be able to remind yourself that you are okay. Try to use perfumes that are not too strong as you don't want to give yourself a headache. You could also use essential oils.
Well I hope that you guys found this helpful and that you learned something useful. If you want to suggest something for future posts you can head over to my instagram (@diaryofapsycho1) and send me a message.
I hope that you are having a wonderful day and keep smiling.
Jen xx
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