Breathing and grounding techniques

⌛ 2-5 min

🧳 -

🧘 relaxation, awareness, mindfulness

Instructions: 

1. Put your attention to your breathing: breathe naturally, notice your own rhythm and tempo of breathing at this moment.

2. You can pay your attention to the inhale, little natural pause after the inhale, your exhale, and little natural pause between inhale and exhale.

3. If your attention slips away, you can support yourself by counting with your inhale and exhale, making your exhale a little longer than the inhale. Or you can say to your self: “inhale” while breathing in and “exhale” while breathing out.

4. Continue breathing for at least 8 rounds.

5. Notice what has changed: in your body, in your mind, in your emotional state.

You can also watch this open access video with the “belly breathing exercise” to accompany your mindful breathing: https://ej.uz/belly_breathing 

⌛ 5-10 min

🧳 comfortable space (optional: sheet of paper, drawing materials)

🧘 stress relief, concentration, awareness, grounding

Instructions: 

Find yourself a comfortable and safe space to be.

1. Sit down comfortably: put your both feet stable on the ground, rest your back on the back of your chair or sofa, or if you don’t have any support behind, let your back feel relaxed as possible. Feel how your spine is supporting all your body.

2. Take a deep breath in and out, let the air flow naturally.

3. Imagine that there is a thread coming from the top of your head, that is connecting your body with the sky, stretching it up. And imagine that there is another thread coming from the bottom of your spine, connecting you to the ground, stretching it down. Feel the support and flexibility in your spine, being connected from the sky and to the ground.

4. Sitting straight and relaxed, while being supported by the chair or the floor you are sitting on, notice all the sensations in your body: feel how the air flows through your body, notice any movements or stillness in your body, maybe you will feel warmth or chill, maybe you will feel tension in some parts or relaxation in other parts of your body. Just notice anything you feel and be aware of these sensations. Draw your attention to all the feelings in your body.

5. After this you can take a sheet of paper and draw all the sensations you have noticed in your body by using colours, shapes or images that come to you. See what your body tells you.

⌛ 2-5 min

🧳 -

🧘 to ground, come back to “here and now”, regain the sense of control using our senses

Instructions: 

Notice and name (to someone loudly or to yourself quietly):

• 5 objects that you can see at the moment
  (Optional: 5 green objects, 4 yellow objects, 3 round objects, 2 square objects, 1 object that you like)

• 4 sensations in your body at the moment
  (for example, cold wind on your cheek, the warmth of your legs touching the chair, little pressure on the nose from your glasses etc)

• 3 sounds you can hear right now
  (for example, chatter around, sounds from the cars, birds chipping, your breath etc)

• 2 things you can smell
  (for example, fresh air, your perfume, food etc)

• 1 thing you can taste
  (for example, chewing gum, mint, sweetness or bitterness)