Yotism brings you many techniques to help keep you and yours grounded this Christmas.

This is such a beautiful time of year, it is twinkly, bright, optimistic and full of connection. For children though, especially those on the spectrum or with sensory challenges it can soon become overwhelming, over exciting, anxiety provoking, hyper, draining and then exhausting.

 

A pure way of beating the crash of all of these heightened responses and emotions is to keep grounded. What does grounded mean? Is it having to walk everywhere barefoot? Is it imagining you are a tree?

 

Grounded is when the body and brain are present and working in sync together so there is a better communication, harmony and safety in being. When we are ungrounded we are not so solid in our bodies, we are more connected to the pictures in our head, we are giddy or over responsive with our emotions, we don’t really know where our body is in space or how we actually feel. We are in effect a bit wobbly!

 

To test this out, try something called the ‘Wobble Test’. You need two people for this, stand next to someone get them to just be as they are thinking about Christmas and all that it brings. Then offer a gentle push on one of their shoulders and see how stable they are, or how they may be a bit wobbly in their body. Repeat this a few times quietly and just observe how the body responds.

 

Then once you have tried one or two of the suggested grounding techniques, do the wobble test again still thinking about Christmas and see if there is any difference in how stable or not wobbly that person is in their body. In effect any difference will probably result in that you/they now feel more stable but not just in the body but in the whole being. This may help you realise how easily ungrounded we can become and how it feels when we are more grounded. Grounding really is essential for our children!

 

Before we move on, let me introduce you to what is commonly now referred to as the ‘eighth sense’ Interoception.

 

Interoception along with Proprioception are the senses that we use to regulate how well grounded we can be. Proprioception being how we feel or know our body in space, how much pressure to use in action and our spatial awareness.

 

Interoception is the sense of our sensations, it is the sense of feeling, it is the sense of knowing what is going on with our bodies and how it responds. It is the INTERNAL receptors sending messages to our brain, starting with our basic functions:

 

• Temperature
• Hunger
• Thirst
• Pain
• Needing to go to the toilet
• Tiredness

 

Leading to:

 

• Emotions
• Anxiety
• Responses

Depending on how well integrated or regulated our Interoceptive sense is, will depend on how well grounded we can be. So we are going to introduce you to 5 Interoceptive techniques and 5 Grounding techniques.

1. Play the hot/cold game. There are a few different ways of doing this:

1. You can use touching and feeling different objects of different temperatures and experiencing them.
2. You can play the inside/outside game get your child to go from inside to outside each time wearing different items of clothing. Ask them to name what part of their body feels warm or cold when outside and when inside. (you could make this even more fun by drawing a traced body outline and getting them to colour in the body parts that are warm in warm colours like orange or cold body parts in cool colours like blue).
3. You can play the traditional hot and cold game by hiding an object, sending them off to find it and when they get closer to it you state warmer/hotter or if they get further away from it, you tell them they are getting cooler until they get really hot and find it. When they find it if your child permits give them a really nice bear hug or sensory rub to help them feel warm.

2. Another traditional one is the game Sleeping Lions except this one involves doing some yoga when the Lion is awake he/she can:

1. Make big walking through the jungle footsteps, or quiet not wanting to be seen footsteps, or leaping footsteps, or pitter patter etc
2. Or you can choose a stretch/yoga pose that the lion does when awake, for instance arms reaching up high to then swing them down low and the lion looks in between their legs.
3. When the lion is sleeping all it can feel is its heart beating fast, medium or slow
4. When the lion is sleeping all it can feel is its breath, breathing deeply in and out.
5. When the lion is sleeping it feels so relaxed every part of its body feels relaxed, it doesn’t move a muscle.

3. The Emoji Posture game using emojis sit opposite your child preferably in a cross legged position on the floor. Play a matching game, you are matching the emoji to your posture. Both of you sit in a slouched posture (low muscle tone) and then choose the emoji that matches your posture and say out loud the feeling this emoji represents.  Then sit in an upright, well held open posture and match and say again your emojis. Collect as many emojis as you can by repeating the slouched to upright posture in a game fashion with as little as possible judgement or interference to whatever emoji they choose but just naming them so they can get to know the difference in feeling of their body and emotions

5. Body Awareness Game with your child sitting in a chair you can either blindfold them or get them to close their eyes depending on what is more comfortable or appropriate for them. Then place your hand on different areas of their body and ask them to tell you which part of their body it is. Play about with this one, for instance alternate right to left, ear to feet, one hand to two hands.

6. Bean of Intuition Game get a few different bean bags and 2 baskets. Start throwing the bean bags towards or aiming for in the basket. (the aim is not necessarily to get it into the basket, it is also valued on how close you get to the basket) Starting with the basket closer to you, throw the bean bag towards it a few times with eyes open. Then close the eyes, guide your child to tap into the bean of intuition and use it to help you remember where the basket is even with your eyes closed, then throw the bean bag towards the basket and have fun seeing how close or far away you were from the basket. Repeat this with basket in the same place or move the basket a bit further away and whilst the game is still fun, continue for as long as you like and really get to know your bean of intuition.

• Into Your Feet Gently stamp the feet one at a time onto the ground.1 foot – the other foot – one foot – the other foot – 2 feet on the ground Stop and Stand. Then lift the toes – place them back down – lift the heels – place them back down – repeat a number of times then Stop and Stand and ask your child to just feel their feet on the floor.
• Into Your Hands Place the thumb to the first finger, thumb to middle, to ring and little in a nice rhythmic way. With each touch on the different fingers say a vowel sound. Ii – Aa – Ee – Oo and repeat.
• Into Your Body Standing ask your child to use their imagination and imagine that their feet are like the roots of a tree reaching deep down into the earth. Their legs are like the trunk of the tree strong and sturdy. Their chest, heart and arms are like the branches reaching out to the sun. Their mind like the leaves growing green. Then go back down the body from the leaves, to the branches, trunk and ending at the roots feet. (this is a mindfulness exercise and is best initially practiced in a quiet, low sensory environment)
• Into Your Senses Get a 1 minute or 30 second egg timer and just focus on watching the sand travel from one side of the egg timer to the other.
• Into Your Being rhythm into the body, can be done by:

1. Tapping. Ask your child to sit and place his hands resting palm side up on his legs and with your first fingers gently tap alternating from one palm to the other in a smooth rhythm for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
2. Clapping. Clapping together in a rhythm, rhythmic clapping games.Ask your child to lie on their tummy (if they are happy for you to do so) place your hand on the back around their trouser line and rock their middle body gently from side to side in a smooth and rhythmic way for up to 1 minute.
3. Ask your child to lie on their tummy (if they are happy for you to do so) place your hand on the back around their trouser line and rock their middle body gently from side to side in a smooth and rhythmic way for up to 1 minute.