Exercises -sample.

1: Why learn to Relax?

We will do very basic therapeutic exercises to bring some calmness to our mind and body. We just want to be able to dilute down emotions and thoughts and physical activity. (That are distracting from calmness and serenity).

This means we need to know how to relax and learn how to do this properly.

We are just seeking to decrease everything that’s enhancing negative thoughts and emotions. Later, we want to Defuse all the emotions, thoughts, and reactivity. Defusion is a skill or technique that is primarily used to detach, separate, or get some distance from our thoughts and emotions. (At this point we are not healing anything, we are just diluting and Defusing).

Then we can start to work on the clarified issues and sort out ourselves regarding some attainment of Balanced alternative thoughts. Then we can go on and look at what can be beneficially driven by our abilities, strengths, values, and any spiritual interests.

One other option to start is the Body Scan: Sit and move through the body, with a visualization and an activity. Tense and then relax muscles, starting at the feet and moving up to the face and the head. Visualise tension leaving the muscles.

Relaxation as a baseline skill.

There are three components of this particular exercise for relaxation

1. Grounding or Earthing
2. Spinal Integrity
3. Effective Breathing

These components are associated with visualisations. The visualisations enable a transition to the exercises involved with Defusion practices.

Grounding or Earthing.

The idea is to visualise the body tension/anxiety/distress dissipating down through the feet into the earth. At the same time allow a replacing of calming energy, fed by the earths stabilising forces filtering up through the body into the brain. All this by just sitting or standing with both feet on the ground for ten seconds!

If you like an Invocation: “Mother Earth kindly release tension/anxiety/disturbance”.

Spinal Integrity

For five minutes or more keep the spine straight as possible to allow energy to flow. What is a straight spine? It’s one with no bottle-neck at the neck, primarily. This is where the blockages of free flow of spinal energies occur. We often block free flow of our nervous system activities, which then pool in certain areas, and then we find ourselves experiencing anxiety, or confusion. Anxiety/tension focused in the stomach or chest area, manifesting as nausea or chest tightness/palpitations. Or confusion with energy blocked up in the brain. The lack of free-flow through the neck area can also be connected with other issues.

In regard to the neuro-chemical/electrical activities throughout the nervous system, this relaxation is a process to simply allow all the nervous system activities to become spread over all the body. It’s diluting all the tension etc., although really it’s just being normal. Just like a cat relaxing is a very ordinary event.

Either way, the bottle-neck is at the neck, and this is where tension is experienced as neck or shoulder aches or stiffness. To get a straight spine, push the chin slightly upwards if necessary, and push the shoulders back also slightly. Hold that position.

If there is too much mind/body restlessness, relaxation can still take place as you pace up and down a corridor, lifting the shoulders up by raising arms into the air. Still use the visualisation of allowing negative energies to dissipate through the feet into the earth. This restlessness often follows from reactivity, which is innate or about responding unhealthily to life events/circumstances. This reactivity will be the stumbling block, and we will deal with it firstly by gaining clarity promoted through Defusion exercises, and then by other techniques.

Invocation: “Let me sit or be in the right posture for serenity”.

Effective breathing

Further ameliorate anxiety etc., which can drive fast and shallow breathing. This is a key intervention when there are some panic type symptoms. There’s nothing that should stop you from trying to deal with panic yourself, if that’s your only option. However in such circumstance the ideal option is to have a helper to guide you through the exercise and provide reassurance.

The breathing is three deep breaths in through the nose, allowing the stomach to expand. You are allowing the lungs to fill on the in breath, and are pushing out the breath by additionally squeezing the stomach inwards for the outgoing breath.

When there is anger/reactivity/irritability involved then an additional exercise can be added. Clench the fists at the chest level on the in-breath, and on the out-breath push out the arms with open palms of the hand, whilst visualising pushing anger etc. into a space or sponge around the body.

Regarding space around the body.

Another visualisation is to breath in one’s favourite colour in a pale shade. On the out-breath send it out with whatever you want to be free from. Let it settle around you in an aura/sponge, or behind a shield - depending on preference. 

The colours come into your body with the in-breath, then the out-breath goes to what is surrounding you as an aura, that is also accepted as healing space.

In our mindfulness we are stopping, stepping back, and observing. Go back into that aura or protective shell. See what is activating any negative thoughts. Then we need to see what that is doing to us, and what change we need to make to the negative self-talk. We do this then by replacing the negative with something more balanced. Add something positive about yourself to any negative thinking that you identify. You can try to see in your aura space the obstacles to mindfullness. Thoughts that disturb or distract you. The plan is not to remove them, as that can take too much effort and application. Just visualize the thought train temporarily as outside, and allow your shield to protect you also from others negative energies.

 

 

2: Defusion

Defusion is spreading out the anxiety, tension and stress. Not into the whole body/mind and throughout the nervous system, as in the relaxation process. My version is about getting the negative, irritating, or unhelpful experiences to go around the body into an area that is somewhat separate. Like into an aura or sponge, or an area contained within a shield. Not completely separated, because again we are not getting rid of anything - yet. You can see what’s going on and allow what’s going on to be present, without the over stimulation and reactivity of attention, which is causing stress and anxiety. You see it, but you have less direct ownership. Then you can also better understand what is going in your reactivity, emotions, thoughts and experience

 

You can inspect or observe your past or present emotions, thinking, and others “interference”. Basically, by putting them slightly outside ones being. In this mode you can visualize those tricky issues that distract and disturb, as being outside you in a temporary process. To make this work better we will add some other visualisation activities here, using metaphors.

Imagine you’re on the mountain. Put the thoughts emotions in the clouds while you sit

As it’s your visualisation so you can add or subtract whatever you want. You can shout or scream at the passing cloud. You can walk on. The point is that you stop, step back and observe your thoughts and feelings, and see clearly what happening for you and/or others around. If you have noticed unhelpful thoughts or reaction, you can write them down, talk back to them, and deny them even. Same goes for emotions you’re feeling, or memories.

This process will help to identify ruminations and catastrophising, which can be addressed by another exercise later. I like the metaphor of being on the mountain, as I can visualise that whatever the weather, or whatever happens in the clouds, I can stand firm, and grounded, or sit in my cave. I can imagine myself as in the clouds and see what I am feeling/thinking. I can see the others there & talk to them and tell them to go away or come and sit with me!

 

3: Thought Process Management

We have looked at Defusion, using what called a metaphor, as an exercise to get a perspective on emotions and feelings. Thoughts though are a bit more difficult to get a handle on, as they may be “covered” by emotions. If it is hard to get positive or clearer perspectives regarding thought, or if this avenue seems blocked, we don’t get sufficient focus to have mindfulness.

We need to target the thought processed involved. This is needed in order to achieve the equilibrium, where mindfulness or the witness state can be entered into, and useful or positive thinking process engaged in place. We need to modify at least negative thinking, rumination, poor self-esteem thoughts, or even catastrophising thoughts. Then there is progress on the journey to Self-Realisation.

You can write down thoughts and emotions emerging from Defusion exercises. This is an aid to making these more concretely available for observation, and then they will become clearer. You are then able to go into them and decide to do something about them when you’re in the present moment, in your mindfulness space. Defusion can help you move on from the past or future. Use stop, step back, observe. It’s needed in order to see what is really going on now in the present moment – even though content may be from the past. Include also what you think is going on, even if untrue. It’s what the thoughts, feelings say is happening to you. Again is now, not the future. Do this in order to look at reactions that go from an emotion to a thought. It can be other way around, where thoughts lead to emotions, but we don’t so much go there in this exercise.

Now with this therapy approach, and going now into thought processes, we want to get engaged with what we are thinking about, and what we think is true, which we hold as belief. (Even if untrue). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy suggests that our thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and behaviour are all connected, and that what we think and do affects the way we feel.

In a very simplified view, we are driven by how we experience events, then emotions arise, and then thoughts. This can lead to issues with sadness, grief or anxiety. Now we’re not trying to get rid of any of this seemingly automated train of brain behaviour. It’s what the brain does. We just want to get balanced. We will use the “Balanced alternative thoughts” worksheet next. (With my guidance - in our sessions).