05/10/2024
A deep breathing pumpkin 🙂. I like this. Sometimes pain and fear and trauma and panic take us away from ourselves - and finding something to bring us here, home, back to safety really helps. Plunge your hands into a basket of pebbles or shells and slowly pick each one out with a deep breath in and out; go outside and press your palms against the wall of your house, noticing it’s solidity, firmness and safety, run a string of beads through your fingers, inhaling and exhaling as you count each one. All these ‘grounding’ activities, and you might find your own, are soothing to the central nervous system (CNS). At times of high anxiety your CNS is
responding to threat and danger (as if a lion is about to chase you down and you need to fight it or flee from it - dry mouth, pumping heart, shallow breath, sweating etc). Even though cognitively you know there is no danger your body doesn’t believe you. These activities help that terrified part of you recognise this. By slowing down, concentrating on the breath, grounding down where you are, you are slowly but surely and firmly saying to yourself: ‘There is no lion. You are safe.’ It is not easy because the impulse is very very strong, but it does work. I’ll post a link for other ‘grounding techniques’ but do let me know if you’ve found something that works for you ###
This is a lovely one, you can do it on a real pumpkin or even a picture of one, I love fun ways to practice deep breathing!
