if you’re feeling anxious, open this 💞

hi! i’m sorry you’re not feeling too great right now. let’s do some calming grounding exercises together! i’ll walk you through them. we will calm down together, you’re not alone! sometimes it can be easy to push ourselves, but taking a break every now and then is important.

first, find yourself a comfy place to sit or lie down. i like to put on ocean sounds or instrumental music to help set up a calming environment when i’m feeling anxious, but if you’d rather rest in silence, that’s perfectly alright. let any thoughts you encounter pass by, don’t try and push them away. take a deep breath, 5 seconds in, hold it, 5 seconds out.

let’s do a grounding exercise called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. take a moment to look around the room you’re sitting in. find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. using all five of our senses helps connect and ground us to our environment! you’re doing a great job.

now i’d like to teach you a technique called the butterfly hug. wrap your arms around yourself so that each of your hands touch the opposite shoulder. now tap your hands against your back in an alternating rhythm! you can close your eyes, imagine a safe place, take some deep breaths, anything you need while you do this. these butterfly hugs are a helpful tool for anxiety to help make you feel safe and secure.

it’s important that you’ve taken care of your basic needs. i know this may seem obvious, but it can be easy to forget to take care of ourselves when we’re dealing with something as difficult as anxiety.

have you:

1. taken any medications you need to take?

2. drank enough water?

3. eaten enough food?

4. stretched?

5. gotten some sunlight?

6. talked with a trusted friend?

i hope you’re feeling a little better now that we’ve done some grounding skills! have a great day, wonderful human!