WEBVTT - Feeling Overwhelmed? Try This Quick Grounding Exercise

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to a Mum with mea podcast. Hello, but

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<v Speaker 1>are you happy listeners? And welcome to this extra little

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<v Speaker 1>drop in your feed I'm doctor annisaga Hernas, clinical psychologist,

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<v Speaker 1>and I wanted to jump on and record this for

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<v Speaker 1>you because well, the world can feel very chaotic at times,

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<v Speaker 1>it can feel loud, it can feel noisy, and it

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<v Speaker 1>can feel super overwhelming. So I wanted to bring this

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<v Speaker 1>episode to you like a little chill out session, just

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<v Speaker 1>this moment in your life, in your busy day where

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<v Speaker 1>you can take maybe ten minutes to reset. We're going

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<v Speaker 1>to do a mindfulness exercise and this is a quick, simple,

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<v Speaker 1>easy one that I personally absolutely love. I teach it

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<v Speaker 1>to many of my students and to my clients. But

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<v Speaker 1>before we jump in, I want to clarify something. Mindfulness

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<v Speaker 1>has done the rounds through social media so often people

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<v Speaker 1>have heard of it before and perhaps even tried it.

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<v Speaker 1>But I noticed that there's a few myths about what

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<v Speaker 1>mindfulness is and what it does that kind of float around.

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<v Speaker 1>Mindfulness isn't just about sitting cross legged and breathing. That's

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<v Speaker 1>one way to practice it, but it's certainly not the

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<v Speaker 1>only way. Mindfulness is actually all about being present in

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<v Speaker 1>the current moment in a non judgmental way. It's actually

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<v Speaker 1>not designed to be a relaxation technique as many people

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<v Speaker 1>think it is, but what we often find is that

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<v Speaker 1>we do feel somewhat calmer after doing it. When we

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<v Speaker 1>do mindfulness, we want to focus on paying attention to

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<v Speaker 1>the present moment, and we can do that in two

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<v Speaker 1>kind of broad ways. We can either use an internal

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<v Speaker 1>anchor or an external anchor. So an internal anchor would

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<v Speaker 1>be something like focusing on our breath, our sensations in

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<v Speaker 1>our body, something that exists within us. External anchor would

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<v Speaker 1>be focusing on something like an object in front of us,

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<v Speaker 1>or using our senses to focus on sites, sounds, and

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<v Speaker 1>smells in our environment. So what I find is that

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<v Speaker 1>for people who are new to mindfulness, or perhaps have

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<v Speaker 1>a history of anxiety and don't like focusing on sensations

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<v Speaker 1>inside the body, starting with an external anchor is the

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<v Speaker 1>easiest place to start. So for this mindfulness exercise that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to talk you through, it's best if you

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<v Speaker 1>can pick up and hold an object in your hands.

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<v Speaker 1>So listeners, if you're currently driving or otherwise occupied, just

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<v Speaker 1>listen along for now and bookmark this one for later

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<v Speaker 1>to come back to and practice along. So pick up

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<v Speaker 1>anything in front of you. It could be a water bottle,

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<v Speaker 1>a pen, a set of keys, a mug, a coffee cup,

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely anything that you can see and find in front

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<v Speaker 1>of you. Doesn't have to be particularly interesting. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>the more boring the better for this exercise. So hold

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<v Speaker 1>this object in your hand, and I want you to

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<v Speaker 1>focus all your attention on it. Look at it closely.

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<v Speaker 1>You can move it around in your hand if you like,

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<v Speaker 1>And I want you to just start off by focusing

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<v Speaker 1>on the shape. What's the shape of the object like,

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<v Speaker 1>has it got harsh edges or is it rounded? As

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<v Speaker 1>you look closely at the object in your hands, notice

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<v Speaker 1>the colors. Is it one color or do the colors change?

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<v Speaker 1>Are there different shades of the same color. Notice if

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<v Speaker 1>you can spot any imperfections, perhaps any blemishes, marks, scratches

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<v Speaker 1>that perhaps you hadn't noticed before. Move it around in

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<v Speaker 1>your hands and just look closely at what you can observe.

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<v Speaker 1>Try and hold the object up to the light and

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<v Speaker 1>just notice if you see any changes. Does it change

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<v Speaker 1>color at all? Is there any part of it that's

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps transparent in some way? Bring it back down in

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<v Speaker 1>front of you, and just notice what the texture looks like.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you see sharp, rough edges? Can you see smoothness?

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<v Speaker 1>Can you see pattern? Now I want you to bring

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<v Speaker 1>your attention to what this object feels like in your

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<v Speaker 1>hand as you hold it, notice the weight of the

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<v Speaker 1>object in your hand. Really pay attention to the weight

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<v Speaker 1>of it. Is it heavy or is it light? Notice

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<v Speaker 1>the temperature. Does the object you're holding have a warmth

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<v Speaker 1>to it or is it cool? Cold and crisp. Move

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<v Speaker 1>the object between your fingers and notice what the texture

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<v Speaker 1>feels like. Feel the smoothness or the roughness. As you

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<v Speaker 1>pass your fingers and hands over the object, really tune

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<v Speaker 1>in to the feeling of your fingertips against the object.

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<v Speaker 1>Focus all your attention on the ends of your fingers

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<v Speaker 1>touching the object. And now hold the object and up

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<v Speaker 1>to your ear. If you move it between your fingers

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<v Speaker 1>and pass it from hand to hand, does it make

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<v Speaker 1>any sound? Can you hear your fingers moving over the object?

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<v Speaker 1>Can you tap your nails against it and focus on

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<v Speaker 1>the sound. And when you're ready, just gently place that

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<v Speaker 1>object back in front of you, perhaps where it was

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<v Speaker 1>before you first picked it up. Now, if you've managed

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<v Speaker 1>to stay with us for this long. Congratulations, you just

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<v Speaker 1>completed a mindfulness exercise. In order to reflect on this exercise,

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to just think about what you noticed.

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<v Speaker 1>Did you notice things about the object that maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>hadn't noticed before. Were you able to actually stick with

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<v Speaker 1>the exercise, or was your mind wandering here, there, and everywhere.

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<v Speaker 1>It's very normal and natural for our minds to wander

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<v Speaker 1>and run away from us, but one of the goals

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<v Speaker 1>of a mindfulness exercise like this is to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to notice when our thoughts wander off and bring them

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<v Speaker 1>back to the present moment, reorient our thoughts and our

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<v Speaker 1>focus just on that one object that we're paying attention to.

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<v Speaker 1>So hopefully you found this mindfulness exercise a way to

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<v Speaker 1>focus and tune into some calm feelings. But this is

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<v Speaker 1>just one way to practice mindfulness, So if you'd like,

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<v Speaker 1>we can practice some of those others too, Just let

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<v Speaker 1>us know. Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of the

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<v Speaker 1>land and waters that this podcast is recorded on