Grounding is this idea that we're just
coming back into our body.
So, often we're just in our head.
When we're on autopilot, we're not really in our body,
but we are either lost in the past
or we are thinking about the future.
So, grounding is any activity that brings us
back into the body in this moment.
The way to do that is to just by
starting to feel
your feet.
So you can feel the contact
that your feet are having with the floor.
You can do that when you're sitting.
You can do that when you're walking.
Very simple. You can also look.
You can just orient yourself really in the room
instead of being lost in thought, releasing...
Like, what am I seeing right now?
You can focus on sound.
You can use all of your senses.
If you want to do a little bit more
of a formal grounding practice, you would
feel your feet on the floor.
And then you would feel where else
your body has contact with the chair,
um, that you're sitting on.
So, the legs, the back, and then you can focus
on some breath and maybe also what your hands
are doing in that moment.
And you can do that
without anybody noticing.
So, it's very simple, it's very effective,
and you're right here.
Another tool that we can teach
to veterans, and that we can use ourselves,
is STOP.
The S means...
T...
O means observe your experience.
Checking in with your sensations in the body,
your thoughts and your emotions.
And the P...
Proceed in a way that feels right to you.
You might use STOP in a situation
that is difficult and challenging
or where you notice really strong thoughts
or emotions coming in.
And it's just a way to check in with yourself
and give yourself a little bit of space
to proceed in a way that feels right.
So, another thing you can do at any moment
during the day when you feel tense
or you feel you need a little bit more support,
and you would choose a word or a sentence
that has a meaning for you,
that helps you feel supported
or it helps you feel being more compassionate
mostly, um, to yourself.
So, it can be something like...
...or, um...
Or...
It is like having your best friend with you,
saying that to you.
So, to get you through a-a hard moment.
Every doorway is a moment
for a clinician to pause.
Become present fully in the situation.
And then...
So, for a clinician that is in a busy clinic
where you're going from room to room to room
seeing lots of patients, this is an opportunity
just to bring all of yourself into the room,
and fully attend to the patient.
So, as you can see, mindfulness is not complicated.
And you can do that
whenever you remember doing something.
So, while on the one hand, we're emphasizing
that you really take the time for, like, five minutes,
ten minutes every day where you focus,
for example, on the breath.
These are tools that you can do throughout your day
that won't take any more time
but will make a really huge difference in how you feel.
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