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APPENDICES
Appendix 2. Grounding exercises
In this section, we have gathered together the grounding exercises mentioned in the training, making it easier for you to find and use them.
No. 1. Grounding the body 44-45 No. 2. The Hug 68-69 No. 3. Progressive release of muscular tension 74-75 No. 4. Creating a safe place 80-81 No. 5. Re-orienting to the present 86-87 No. 6.‘ Squeeze-Hug’ 88-89 No. 7. Feeling the weight of your body 90-91 No. 8. Straightening the back 92-93 No. 9. Square-breathing 160 No. 10. Breath counting 160
Grounding is an important therapeutic approach for handling dissociation or flashbacks, and reducing the symptoms of anxiety and panic. It is important to practice the exercises again and again until the skill becomes automatic and can be called on even during moments of distress. The aim of grounding is to take the survivor out of whatever traumatic moment she is remembering.
1. Grounding the body.( 10-15 minutes.)
Source: Jacobson, Edmund. 1974. Progressive Relaxation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, Midway Reprint.
This exercise can help a survivor to come down from hyperarousal and find a more balanced emotional state. It can also be used to focus survivors who are in‘ freeze-mode’.
Sit on your chair. Feel your feet touching the ground. Stamp your left foot into the ground, then your right. Do it slowly: left, right, left. Do this several times. Feel your thighs and buttocks in contact with the seat of your chair( 5 seconds). Notice if your legs and buttocks now feel more present or less present than when you started focusing on your legs. Now move your focus to your spine. Feel your spine as your midline. Slowly lengthen your spine and notice if it affects your breath( 10 seconds). Move your focus toward your hands and arms. Put your hands together. Do it in a way that feels comfortable for you. Push your hands together and feel your strength and temperature. Release and pause, then push your hands together again. Release and rest your arms. Now move your focus to your eyes. Look around the room. Find something that tells you that you are here. Remind yourself that you are here, now, and that you are safe. Notice how this exercise affects your breathing, your presence, your mood, and your strength.
2. The Hug.( 5-8 minutes.)
This exercise deepens and anchors positive feelings and messages. It is taken from EMDR( Eye movement desensitisation reprocessing), a trauma processing method. The method employs bilateral physical stimulation( in this case tapping), which, combined with positive spoken messages, is said to deepen and anchor positive feelings. The sentence can also be spoken silently.