Guided practice is not about sitting perfectly still or emptying your mind. It is about learning what safety and softness feel like. These practices are created for survivors for people who are used to being on guard and are just learning how to exhale again.
You can use them
• When you wake up and feel dread in your body
• Before or after a hard conversation or trigger
• When your mind will not turn off
There is no wrong way to engage. You are not trying to be perfect. You are only giving your body a few minutes of kindness it did not get before.
These are simple written practices you can use right now when your body feels loud and your mind will not slow down.
Practice one
Grounding when everything feels too loud
1. Look around the room and name five things you can see. Say them in your head or whisper them.
2. Name four things you can touch. Your shirt. The chair. The floor under your feet.
3. Name three things you can hear. A clock. Cars outside. Your own breath.
4. Name two things you can smell or that you remember smelling today. Coffee. Soap. Your favorite lotion.
5. Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Feel your hands rise and fall three slow times.
End line
Tell yourself I am here I am safe in this moment right now.
Practice two
Breathing when you feel triggered
1. Sit or stand with both feet on the floor. Unclench your jaw and loosen your shoulders.
2. Breathe in through your nose for a slow count of four.
3. Hold that breath gently for a count of four.
4. Breathe out through your mouth for a count of six like you are blowing out a candle.
5. Repeat this cycle five times.
End line
Remind yourself My body is learning it does not have to live in alarm anymore.
Practice three
Five step check in What am I feeling What do I need
Name the feeling I feel sad angry numb afraid confused. Choose one word.
Name where you feel it in your body My chest my throat my stomach my head.
Name what happened right before you felt this way A text a memory a song a silence.
Ask What do I need in this moment A break a walk water a cry a hug a boundary. Choose one small thing.
Take one tiny action toward that need in the next ten minutes Drink the water. Step outside. Turn your phone face down. Write one sentence in your journal.
You do not have to fix your whole life today. Every time you ground breathe and check in with yourself you are already breaking old patterns and choosing you.