As parents we tend to have a lot on all the time, which means we are either physically on the go (daily chores and responsibilities) or mentally (thinking about what is next of the agenda, worries or frustration) on the go all the time. By being physically and mentally on the go all the time means that we are rarely really in the moment with ourselves, our children and life in general, which can have a negative effect on ours and our family’s overall happiness and stress levels! Furthermore, it can also be dangerous not to be connected with what we are doing and the people around us. As when you’re not connected to your body and surrounding environment, you don’t have a strong sense of direction or purpose; you’re just floating and the smallest thing can distract you and make it difficult to get anything done or enjoy life! You might also act out of habit and irrational thinking and become an un-focused parent and start acting unfair, harsh and out of anger and frustration.
When you’re dealing with difficult circumstances and emotions, you may feel unbalanced and even start to shut down a little. It’s all too easy to disconnect from the world when it starts to feel overwhelming.
But what also happens is that we become a role model of stress and negative behaviours
Grounding yourself will help you and your child to reconnect with your body, life and people around you and support you to deal with challenging situations and emotions in a more constructive and conscious way.
Children with special needs or who are highly sensitive:
Children with special needs are often hyper and find it hard to focus and concentrate. You might find them more ‘up in the clouds’ than ‘grounded’. So by doing the grounding techniques suggested below with your kids every day before going to school (or any challenging situations) will help them to meet the day ahead of them in a more focused way and set the standard for when they enter the class room they will feel connected to their body, mind and people around them.
With this in mind, we hope you will enjoy the below series of grounding techniques that will help you reconnect with your body when feeling a little lost:
Find a nice place outside in your garden/terrace etc.
- Root your feet to the ground. Become physically connected to the Earth, so your feet should directly touching the ground.
- Practice better breathing: Take deep ‘Belly’ breath not small stress breaths that ends at the chest – breathe the whole way down into your stomach.
- Be mindful of your breathing: As you inhale imagine your body filling up with positive power. As you exhale imagine that you are releasing all of the negative forces in your life, get rid of all negative feelings and clear your mind for other calming thoughts.
- Imagine you are connected to the Earth: imagine your feet are rooted to the core of the earth beneath you. Pretend that your feet are sprouting roots, at the base of a tree trunk, that connect you to all other beings in the Earth — the soil, the air, the ocean, animals, and the sun. Push your energy upward and outward: reach out your arms to form branches. The branches then burst into leaves in the warmth of the sun. Raise your arms up above your head as if they are the main branches of a tree. As you raise your arms, alternate keeping your hands curled up in a ball and then stretching your fingers outward. This will help you feel more connected to the warmth and energy of the sun.
- Come back to stillness: As you finish the exercise, imagine all the connected energy contained in your toes, fingers, arms, and legs begin to contract in the centre of your body in your upper abdominal muscles. Imagine that this is where you can contain your grounded, centred energy in your body.
- Ask yourself if there is a word or phrase that represents this grounded state for you? Having a word or phrase that brings you to this state of peace and interconnectedness can help you ground yourself quickly in stressful situations.
- Do this with your kids every day, it will not only calm them down but also will help them focus and concentrate better at school – plus it’s a great and fun thing to do together!
ParentingSuccess Coaching Ltd ™ www.parentingsuccesscoaching.com
