Routine 12
(Routine based on the Somatic therapy workbook)
Thought stopping and grounding techniques
Bring your focus to the present. Pull yourself out of the memories and thoughts that bring you back to the past.
Ball under foot is a dual -awareness technique. Put a golf ball or tennis ball under your foot and roll your foot on it. Switch your concentration between two things before allowing the body to balance multitasking.
How?
Grab a tennis or golf ball that you can place under your foot. Slowly apply some pressure to it.
Bring your attention to your internal state for 20 seconds then take 20 seconds to concentrate on the sensation of the ball under your foot.
Focus your attention for a few rounds before simultaneously holding both in your awareness.
Also: Balancing exercises are great for somatic awareness. Stay mindful of the movements of your body. Keep your balance and stay straight. Try it for up to two minutes and see how it affects your mental state.
Counting backward is another instant grounding technique.
Use your mental energy to correctly count down in reverse from any number.
It distracts you from the negativity, consuming your mind and gets your focus on other tasks.
Body senses
What is one thing you taste right now?
What are two things you smell around you?
What are three things you hear around you?
What are four things you feel right now?
What are five things you see right now?
Texture and grounding
Some people carry a small stone or other textured item in their pocket. Play with the texture, note the texture, weight, color, and other specifics to focus your attention.
Three items
In order to focus on the physical instead of your thoughts, shift your focus to the surrounding environment.
Pick three random items. Choose the items and then describe them in detail, one by one.
Mention every tiny detail you notice about them.
Cold water
Interacting with cold water can ground you.
It can shock the system and set it right when you’re overthinking.
You can wash your hands with cold water. Feel the change in temperature and sensation in your hands. Now switch to warm water to note the switch in temperatures. Go back to cold water and keep switching. Ground yourself in the present moment and be aware of your body more so than your thoughts.
Naming categories
Be entirely focused on it. Come up with a few categories to classify objects.
Food items, animals, birds, electronics, cities, countries, etc..
Starting with the letter a, how many of each item can you name?
Another version would be five objects for each category and then move onto the next letter.
Surrounding sounds
Be mindful of every sound that you hear right now. You can close your eyes if that helps. Differentiate each sound-Birds singing, children playing, crickets or other
Sitting sensations
Whatever you are doing, feel it in your body.
When you are sitting, be mindful of each sensation. What is touching the chair?Which muscles are flexing or moving? How does the chair bear the weight right now?
What is your comfort level right now?
Shaking each hand
Your body can get caught up in unfortunate patterns. Shake both hands at the same time -then shake one leg. Then shake the other leg.
Shake as much of your body as you can, slowly but enough to feel it.
Let your heels drop
Each body part jolts out the stress.
Discharge energy from your body so that your nervous system performs well and remains healthy.
While standing, rise up on your toes then relax back onto the heels.
Keep your rhythm slow while letting the weight of the entire body drop down with the heels.
Make a Thudding noise when you drop to your heels.
Swaying side to side
Dance
Do any stretch that you can think of
(Routine based on the Somatic therapy workbook)
Thought stopping and grounding techniques
Bring your focus to the present. Pull yourself out of the memories and thoughts that bring you back to the past.
Ball under foot is a dual -awareness technique. Put a golf ball or tennis ball under your foot and roll your foot on it. Switch your concentration between two things before allowing the body to balance multitasking.
How?
Grab a tennis or golf ball that you can place under your foot. Slowly apply some pressure to it.
Bring your attention to your internal state for 20 seconds then take 20 seconds to concentrate on the sensation of the ball under your foot.
Focus your attention for a few rounds before simultaneously holding both in your awareness.
Also: Balancing exercises are great for somatic awareness. Stay mindful of the movements of your body. Keep your balance and stay straight. Try it for up to two minutes and see how it affects your mental state.
Counting backward is another instant grounding technique.
Use your mental energy to correctly count down in reverse from any number.
It distracts you from the negativity, consuming your mind and gets your focus on other tasks.
Body senses
What is one thing you taste right now?
What are two things you smell around you?
What are three things you hear around you?
What are four things you feel right now?
What are five things you see right now?
Texture and grounding
Some people carry a small stone or other textured item in their pocket. Play with the texture, note the texture, weight, color, and other specifics to focus your attention.
Three items
In order to focus on the physical instead of your thoughts, shift your focus to the surrounding environment.
Pick three random items. Choose the items and then describe them in detail, one by one.
Mention every tiny detail you notice about them.
Cold water
Interacting with cold water can ground you.
It can shock the system and set it right when you’re overthinking.
You can wash your hands with cold water. Feel the change in temperature and sensation in your hands. Now switch to warm water to note the switch in temperatures. Go back to cold water and keep switching. Ground yourself in the present moment and be aware of your body more so than your thoughts.
Naming categories
Be entirely focused on it. Come up with a few categories to classify objects.
Food items, animals, birds, electronics, cities, countries, etc..
Starting with the letter a, how many of each item can you name?
Another version would be five objects for each category and then move onto the next letter.
Surrounding sounds
Be mindful of every sound that you hear right now. You can close your eyes if that helps. Differentiate each sound-Birds singing, children playing, crickets or other
Sitting sensations
Whatever you are doing, feel it in your body.
When you are sitting, be mindful of each sensation. What is touching the chair?Which muscles are flexing or moving? How does the chair bear the weight right now?
What is your comfort level right now?
Shaking each hand
Your body can get caught up in unfortunate patterns. Shake both hands at the same time -then shake one leg. Then shake the other leg.
Shake as much of your body as you can, slowly but enough to feel it.
Let your heels drop
Each body part jolts out the stress.
Discharge energy from your body so that your nervous system performs well and remains healthy.
While standing, rise up on your toes then relax back onto the heels.
Keep your rhythm slow while letting the weight of the entire body drop down with the heels.
Make a Thudding noise when you drop to your heels.
Swaying side to side
Dance
Do any stretch that you can think of
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