Grounding Yourself
Sometimes it's called reeling ourselves in. Today I learned, at VA Hospital, that in stressful situations there is a excercise called grounding yourself. What you do is sit down in a chair, hold onto chair arms. The look at the floor. Notice what type of flooring it is. Now look around the room and count the pictures. No pictures? count the windows and window panes. Now look around count the plants. This is called grounding your body. Now, you need to ground your mind. Think of a pleasent place, the plants in doctors office, got me thinking of the Land, display in Epcot, WDW. Now thing of a smell associated with this place. Oranges for me, maybe salt from the ocean. Even before a stressful situation. He suggest I do this maybe 6 or 7 times a day.
The goal is to keep yourself grounded in the moment. Not thinking about future, nor about a past event. Today, right now. How many lights in the room. Take a moment and notice others in the room. How many different colors are they wearing. In a restraunt, how many tables, what foods do you smell. I told him that at times I feel adrift, dislocated. Wondering where I'm going, thinking about where I've been. Many times missing what people say, not remembering instructions. The more we do this, not only the easier it gets but, the more we long for the moment we feel grounded. I feel this will really help with meditation. Durning meditation, my mind dosen't wander, it bounces off the walls,floor and ceiling. Don W