Using Your Senses as Self Care: Grounding

Blog by Ashley Simpson, LCSW at Agape Therapy Institute

Your senses are powerful. Your senses link deep in your brain to your memories. Your brain - your amygdala specifically - can bring you back to a time and place that you have been in the past using sensory data. For example, the smell of bacon cooking reminds me of my grandmother.

In some cases this can be unpleasant. If you have experienced trauma, activating your amygdala through your senses can send your thoughts back to a time and place where you have been harmed or threatened in the past. Next your hippocampus is stimulated by this memory, which triggers the fear response… thus, the flashback and stress response. 

Grounding

To calm the fear response in individuals who have experienced trauma, have anxiety, or are experiencing a panic attack, there is a set of coping skills called “Grounding.” Grounding exercises use the individual’s senses to focus on the here and now, calming the amygdala and bringing you into the present, and to relax, calming the hippocampus and nervous system. This allows the person to feel calm, centered, and in control of their emotions.

Using your 5 senses to ground and calm you

So first, let’s review your five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. A wonderful thing about using your senses to ground you is that you can access them at any time, no matter where you are. You can either bring awareness to your senses in the present moment as you are, or you can manipulate your senses to bring a pleasant feeling, ie: burning a candle or using a nice lotion, sucking on a peppermint, turning on soothing music, walking outside, etc.

Another benefit of grounding using your senses is that it forces you to focus your thoughts and attention on the exercise. This can temporarily soothe your mind if your thoughts are anxious, racing, negative, and if they feel out of control.

Grounding Exercise

One of my favorite grounding exercises is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method. 

Take a deep breath in through your nose, and exhale out of your nose slowly.

In this moment, notice:

5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell

Book an appointment with Ashley by clicking here.

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The Power of Gratitude

Blog by Ashley Simpson, LCSW at Agape Therapy Institute

If you enter into a Google search “science behind gratitude” you will get 96,500,000 articles. Obviously, there is something to gratitude. What is gratitude? How is it beneficial? How can I build a gratitude practice?

What is gratitude?

Gratitude is the practice of feeling and acknowledging appreciation. It is focusing, intentionally, on the things that we have, instead of thinking of the things we do not have. It can be focusing on things in your life (your health, your home, your relationship, your kids, etc.), it can be broader things (the sunshine, a sweet smell in the air from spring flowers), or it can be concrete things (a phone call from a friend, a gift, words of encouragement from a coworker). It can be anything that you feel thankful for. Gratitude is noticing those feelings and what you are thankful for.

How is it beneficial?

There are studies about the impact of gratitude on the brain. Practicing gratitude has shown to increase levels of dopamine (the pleasure neurotransmitter), serotonin (the happiness neurotransmitter) and oxytocin (the love/cuddle neurotransmitter) in the brain. Gratitude stimulates areas of the brain that make us feel connected to the world and others, feel heard and seen, and feel happy. It can reduce physical pain, help with sleep, and reduce stress.

Practicing gratitude can literally change your frame of mind. The more you increase your practice of gratitude, the easier it will be to find things to be grateful for, even in tough situations, therefore increasing your resilience. This enables us to better see the “sunshine through the clouds” - that little silver lining that some may see, while others may not. We can see the positives and focus on those things, and that positive frame of mind can help alleviate these mental and emotional symptoms of depression. 

How can I build a gratitude practice?

• Building Intention
  Start noticing things that you feel grateful for. One practice idea is to notice three things from the day before that you feel grateful for. Start thinking about these in the morning when you wake up, when you lay down to go to sleep, when you’re in the shower, or while you are driving; whatever time works where you give yourself a few moments to really notice your thoughts.

• Journaling
  Another form of gratitude practice is writing down the things you are grateful for. This builds your intention by giving yourself a goal and a place to write down your thoughts. An idea that can be effective is to leave the journal on your nightstand so it is there when you lay down to go to sleep, or when you wake up in the morning, and you can have your journaling time at the same time and place every day. One practice could be to write down those three things that you started noticing daily, and make that your practice for 21 days.

• Write a Gratitude Letter
  Write a thank you letter to a friend, family member, coworker, etc. thanking them for something they have done or given to you.
  Write a letter that you do not intend to send. This could be a letter to a loved one who has passed away, or a letter to someone you are not speaking to. Take some time to write to them about the things you are thankful for about them. Then do what you wish with the letter.

• Loving Kindness Meditation
  There is a specific type of meditation called a “Loving Kindness Meditation.” In this scripted meditation we sit with loving, kind thoughts towards others and towards ourselves. This is a practice you can do while you are having a few quiet moments to yourself. There is a meditation hereand here that you could try. 

For more information on gratitude, check out the articles here, here, and here.

Book an appointment with Ashley by clicking here.

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What is your body trying to tell you?

Blog post by Kat Deery, GSCI

Have you ever experienced a break out of acne after a stressful week? Random pains occur in your body without explanation? Or perhaps you're developing arthritis in your thirties, wondering how could this be? Well sometimes these occurrences can be explained through Somatic Therapy.

Somatic Therapy is an approach to therapy that focuses on the mind-body-soul connection. This theory supports the idea that what manifests in the physical is a reflection of what is happening mentally and emotionally. It’s known that stress can take a physical toll on the body: you may be more irritable, your sleep patterns may be disrupted, or your appetite changes. Our central nervous system adjusts and reacts to the emotional and mental stress we experience. When traumatic experiences lay dormant and do not receive the proper attention they deserve, the emotional stress of it all can get stuck in the body and manifest itself in physical ways. 

Somatic therapy is an experiential process that can work in conjunction with other psychotherapy approaches to counseling like cognitive behavioral therapy to alleviate symptoms and facilitate healing. This type of therapy is often used with clients who are experiencing anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, chronic pain or illness, etc. Interventions like deep breathing, meditation, exercise, yoga, dance, art therapy, and cognitive reframing are all ways to facilitate body-mind-soul connection and spark some self awareness. 

Why is Somatic Therapy relevant to counseling today?

It’s no question that 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, with a global pandemic occurring, racial injustices continuing, jobs being lost, family members isolated, travel plans cancelled, online schooling, political arguments, and so much more it’s no wonder rates of depression and anxiety are increasing. 

I encourage you to take a look at your body’s wellbeing. Has it been affected by these events over the last few months...Are you seeing any changes that concern you? What is your body telling you? Do you need more rest? Do you need to implement  boundaries with those around you? Do you need more love and acceptance of yourself? 

Sometimes chronic pain like arthritis is your body telling you that it feels criticized or you're holding on to resentment. Acne could be your body telling you that you need to increase acceptance of the self. 

Somatic therapy can provide healing to those who participate because not only does it relieve some of the physical symptoms it investigates the root cause and attempts to heal those wounds from the inside out. Using techniques like positive self-talk, intentional body movement, and cognitive restructuring are incredible ways to combat the emotional causes for our physical symptoms. Somatic therapy is not a replacement for professional medical care but it is a great addition to improve how we care for our bodies, mind, body and spirit. 

Citations

Hay, L. L. (2012). Heal your body: The mental causes for physical illness and the metaphysical way to overcome them. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.

Somatic Therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/somatic-therapy

To book an appointment with Katherine Deery, click here.

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