#Deep Breathing

[chillizabeth777]

[chronicallycouchbound]

PSA: Please don’t ask participants to do grounding/mindful/somatic/etc practices at your events

Grounding exercises should not be an activity in large group settings, especially unsolicited and without warning, especially if you’re not aware of every single person in the space’s mental health conditions, physical health conditions, and personal relationship to their body.

Practices such as mindfulness, grounding, somatic exercises, breathing techniques, body scans, etc. are very helpful therapeutic tools to help manage stress. They can (and do!) help plenty of people– when taught safely and used effectively!

HOWEVER for people with conditions that cause psychosis and/or dissociative conditions such as depersonalization/derealization, these techniques are contraindicated and can make their symptoms significantly worse. They should only be used with guidance from their mental health team and adapted to their needs. For people with conditions like anxiety and PTSD, being aware of breathing can trigger a trauma response or anxiety attacks.

And for people with conditions that cause chronic pain or other uncomfortable bodily sensations, becoming re-centered with their bodies can cause more awareness of the pain they are in, which a level of (ideally functional) dissociation is actually helpful. For people in wheelchairs and powerchairs, touching the ground beneath their feet isn’t always an option. For people with cardiac and pulmonary conditions, deep breathing can be impossible or can trigger asthma attacks. For disabled people in general, doing body scans can be impossible due to paralysis or limb differences. They can bring awareness to things the person wasn’t aware were wrong to begin with (which is helpful in certain spaces, but not a great ice breaker at a retreat!)

And for trans people, binders and other garments can restrict breathing, and taking repeated deep breaths while binding can cause rib damage (which is why you shouldn't bind at night, while coughing from sickness, while exercising, etc). Becoming centered in a body that makes you dysphoric can be deeply distressing, again, a level of functional dissociation helps.

This also goes for plenty of other people in marginalized bodies, such as people of color, people who use substances, queer people, and more. Becoming grounded in your own marginalized body can be a heavy weight to carry, and needs appropriate and individualized care to be a beneficial experience.

As an alternative, I suggest doing a round of gratitudes instead, it allows for people to choose their level of vulnerability in spaces, while not being generally contraindicated for many people. Doing fun (and appropriate to the setting) icebreakers are great. Ask what brings someone to the space. Check-ins about basic needs such as if people need to use the restroom, eat, drink water, are rested, etc. can be more appropriate body check-ins for folks to do.

I don’t recommend doing these exercises even with a warning beforehand. If I'm in the room while someone is leading a breathing exercise, even if I try to ignore it, I (and most people) would automatically become aware of my breathing. The same goes for any other techniques. These techniques can cause real, life-threatening levels of harm for some people, and can even just be deeply uncomfortable or distressing for others. Dissociation is not inherently evil or bad or harmful. It is the way the body and mind naturally respond to adverse experiences (note: it can also cause distress and at higher levels, can be disordered) it is best to allow people to exist as they are in communal spaces. Let people show up as they are.

Most spaces are not equipped or appropriate to respond to emergencies, difficult feelings, and all the varied responses that can come from folks doing mindfulness in group settings.

I personally do some things before large gatherings and events to feel centered on the activity I’ll be doing, and afterward, I decompress. Encourage participants to lean on their natural supports and offer suggestions for it! Be creative in your caring!

This also doesn’t mean to discourage these practices! If you see someone doing deep breathing, check in with them, offer a space for them to decompress, care for them! Worksheets or posters on techniques like square breathing and 5 senses check-ins are great for a quiet room or spaces where participants can decide if they want/are able to engage with those tools. It should be a fully consensual opt-in, rather than being forced to opt-out. Having to leave a room when a group leader says “We’re going to start a mindful breathing meditation, please feel free to leave if you have psychosis, chronic pain, or are trans” is obviously othering and outs people.

Sincerely, someone who has psychotic symptoms, dissociation, chronic pain, is trans and whose body is marginalized in many ways and is really tired from trying to explain this at every event I go to

[zee-rambles]

———-

Grounding Techniques

First I Prev I Next

[lubdubs]

Amouranth

[adventuresofalgy]

Algy flew over to the rocky headland at the northern end of the bay and settled down on the long grass beside an intriguing bog pool, hoping to catch a glimpse of his good friend Plog the frog.

Still somewhat breathless from the exertion of dancing in the sea spray, he decided to observe fluffy bird best practice and concentrate on his breathing: take a deep breath in, hold it, breath out, hold it… But there seemed to be a wee complication, for it had a rather more extensive effect than he had been anticipating…

Of course one never knows quite what to expect in these remote areas of the wild West Highlands of Scotland. Strange things tend to happen in the Celtic lands, but the folk who live here get used to them after a while and pay them little heed. So Algy was not particularly nonplussed; he simply carried on with his breathing exercises while he watched what was going on around him with an attentive fascination. He recalled the exhortation of a poem he had read not long ago: "look closely: you will see and understand"…🙃

Happy October everyone! Algy hopes that his friends in the northern hemisphere will have a truly glorious golden month, while those in the south enjoy a beautiful spring 🧡

look closely and you'll find them everywhere in fields of patterned grasses drafted by the hare embroidered by the bluebells through a wood in scattered trails of blossom stamped into the mud scorched by heather-fire across the moors in looping snail-trails scrawled on forest floors scored across the sky by screaming swifts in rolling, twisting peaks of drifting mountain mist scribbled by an ocean on the sand look closely: you will see and understand.

[Algy is quoting the poem Messages by the contemporary English poet Matt Goodfellow. This poem was written specially for National Poetry Day in October 2016. This year's National Poetry Day falls in a couple of days' time, on 3rd October.]

[Plog the frog is a character from Algy's illustrated children's chapter books and features particularly in The Tree with a Golden Heart.]

[eliserzilber]

Deep Breathing GIFs

Thought I’d share some Deep Breathing gifs that I’ve found helpful to focus on when I need something tangible to calm myself. Just found these in a Google search, there’s so many others but these were the ones I’ve used in the last year.

*DBT Skill Guides Here*

[wandoffire]

How to Practice Meditation

Types:

Guided mediations

where a voice is guiding you through your mediation - a great way to start or for if you have trouble silencing your thoughts

Breathing exercises

activates the parasympathetic nervous system (calming) and great for grounding

Body scan

technique for tuning into the body, scanning how the body is feeling from head to toe

Walking

very effective for grounding and unwinding the mind, even better in spaces with nature

Benefits:

reduced anxiety, depression, stress and pain

improved self control, focus, self care and clarity

Tips:

find the right technique for you - what works for one person may not suit everyone.

start small - if you can't commit to 10 minutes a day, then commit to 1 minute.

youtube is full of guided meditations of numerous lengths and purposes - for mindfulness, for mornings, for energy, etc.

[thepeacefulgarden]

[serenityquest]

[limeskye]

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - 1x01 - Pilot

[yourhealingjournal]

babe wake up it’s time to do some eft tapping & deep breathing & maybe open the journal to a new page instead of letting the thoughts boil in your head

[gilverrwrites]

I had a nasty thought while I was daydreaming. I don’t think you write for deathstroke but I was thinking about him and Black Mask having a play date for their subs and making them do to things to each other for their entertainment. Like Roman and Slade get to sit on the couch (because they’re people) but the subs stay on the floor and make each other cum.

i

I do write for Deathstroke! Just haven’t had the right inspo/request yet. Old man Slade was my first ever DC/Villain crush, after all. I remember seeing him teen titans and being like:

What is this feeling???!!!?!

And JESUS anon, this was a hell of a doozy to wake up to, it’s gonna be in my mind ALL DAY.

I immediately went to them making their subs compete to do more depraved things as well. Who can spank the other the hardest? Who can hold this ping pong ball between their ass cheeks longest? Whoever cums first only gets to cum once.

“My sub can take at least x inches down their throat, isn’t that right baby, show the nice man.”

“That’s nothing, mine can be choked for x time. Go on sweetheart, ask your new friend to choke you.”

Or of course the classic objectification. These important men have business to discuss. You two sit still, be quiet; your superiors are talking, hold their drinks, be their ash trays while they ignore you. If you’re lucky they might let you cockwarm them, while still balancing their glasses on your ass. There will be consequences if you spill anything.

Whoever can sit still the longest gets to pick a task for the other to do.

[gortass-romance-when]

yes I love Gortash, but Abdirak..? *Whistles*

I bet he gives you the best spankings

[lubdubs]

[sleepicore]

.🌙🟣🌙. Sleep Breathing Exercise

[rexurwin]

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