Alternatives and Grounding Techniques

A list of alternatives and grounding techniques... If you have any more I should add, let me know.

Some are specific to self-injury... Ones that are worded for self-injury, I mostly corrected to include other behaviors. Also, if you have problems with anorexia, many of the following can help in dealing with the anxiety after eating, by keeping you busy.

My advice: PRINT THIS LIST OUT and KEEP IT WITH YOU so you have it whenever you need it.

GROUNDING TECHNIQUES
These are for when you feel out of control,
are having a flashback and/or need grounding...

Repetitive reality checking (I am in a safe place and I'm going to be ok)

Count yourself down (ten... nine... eight... seven...) (You can then count back up 1 to 10.)

"I'm aware"; Repeat five things you see, smell, touch, taste in your present surroundings to help ground you in the present

Pay attention to your breathing (breath slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth)

Pay attention to the rhythmic motions of your body (walking, stretching, etc.)

Touch something familiar/safe

Remind yourself "I'm going to be ok" and "I'm not crazy"... this is a normal part of the recovery process

Plant your feet firmly on the ground

Touch the wall, the floor and objects close to you

Call someone on the phone

Walk around and watch your own feet - listen to the sound

Listen to music and count the beats

Don't be afraid to ask for help

Hug someone safe

Hold someone's hand (someone safe)

Tear up paper, throw ice, chew ice chips

Visualize the memory as an object and put it "away" (for example, the memory is a blue rubber ball and you put it in a toy box)

Focus on details... leaves on trees, blades of grass, fibers in carpet

Call your therapist

Call a hotline

Hold and/or talk to a stuffed animal

Fight the voices - change the negatives to positives

Play an instrument

Gently wash your face, hands or hair

Do gardening, shovel snow or mow the lawn

Color in a coloring book

Rock in a rocking chair

Listen to your watch ticking

Hold and pet your cat or dog

Make a list of things to do or shopping list

Write down who and where you are

Pray, talk yourself down or yell

Say what you feel out loud, even if you have to yell or cry!

Change your environment... walk out of the room, touch something different, change the sounds around you (put on music, turn on the tv, etc.), eat something different and "safe", smell something different (perfume, flowers, food, grass, etc.)

Visualize a stop sign

Dance to music

Say out loud "I am here right now"... assure yourself that this is a normal process for you

Do self-affirmation... read books, listen to tapes and write down good things about yourself

Identify your triggers (things that make you feel badly or have bad memories or flashbacks)

Drink something cold or do something else to cool down. I find that cold temperatures is the best thing to ground me!

ALTERNATIVES
...to negative ways of dealing
with your stress and emotions

Cry! - Let yourself feel any emotions that are there...

I used to keep those big phone books nearby and I would just start tearing pages out when I was upset. One page at a time usually but if I was really frustrated I would concentrate on trying to get a large amount at once. - Thanks *Moni !

Fill out an Impulse Log. (For more information on this, just ask.)

Do relaxation exercises. (One such is starting with your feet and going up and relaxing each one. Or another is basically the same, but you tense the muscles first, and then relax them...)

Listen to music/relaxation tapes. (This can help because for some people 100% silence/concentration is needed to act upon impulses - especially for SI and/or purging...)

Make a mourning wreath (start with black flowers and replace with colored flowers) -- sorry don't really understand this one, but hey, you can try it, anyway...

Negotiate with yourself

Get to know others

Recognize and acknowledge the choices you have NOW

Offer options

Carry tokens to remind you of peaceful comforting things/people

Create and use mental safe places (beach, cabin in the woods, peaceful mountain)

Get out on your own, get away from the stress

Help someone around you (reach out on a forum, newsgroup, phone list etc.)

Pay attention to the changes needed to make you feel safe

Take a different perspective (different vantage point)

Move to music

ASK FOR HELP

Ask yourself inside, what YOU need

Journal

Draw

Make something (craft, needlework, etc.)

Accept a gift from a friend

Meditate

Make a phone list of people you can call for support. Allow yourself to use it

Learn HALT signals (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)

Identify what is causing you pain (other than food - this part is put in here if you deal with an eating disorder.)

Accept where you are in the process (of recovery). Beating yourself up, only makes it worse.

Do something FUN!!!

Take a break from mental processing

Take a SAFE risk

Tear up paper (old phone books, newspapers, etc.)

Honor your present anger, if feeling so.

Throw ice cubes at the bathtub wall, at a tree, etc. (I've also read about doing this using eggs, Nerf balls, Koosh balls or bean-bags instead... eggs sound like more fun...)

Give yourself permission to.... (Keep it safe)

Lose the "should-could-have to" words. Try... "What if"

Choose your way of thinking, try to resist following old thinking patterns

Write difficult thoughts/feelings/memories down and put it in a "safety box" to deal with later, when it feels less overwhelming.

Notice black and white thinking.

Connect with others around you. Call a therapist or friend.

Notice "choices" versus "dilemmas"

Keep in touch with others who are fighting the same fight (http://www.supportpath.com might help with this one...)

Check in with yourself and others frequently (try not to isolate) -- important!

Make yourself as comfortable as possible (Without using food -- again this part is mainly for those with eating disorders...)

Take a bath or a shower (stress-relief!!!)

Color in coloring books

Write a poem

Leave the room

Leave the premises (to do this one, you'd also have to do the one before... ...)

Write a letter, NOT mailed, to the person or problem upsetting you (this can be REALLY helpful sometimes... I had an assignment once to write a good-bye letter to my eating disorder, and then had to proceed to write a response back from it...)

Play a musical instrument

Plan regular activities for your most difficult time of day (when you're busy/doing something you like, things aren't as difficult to live through...)

Call a hotline or support group

Listen to a comedy tape or video

Reality check old messages (Those you supply and those you hear others tell you)

Clean the house

Remember: it takes EIGHT positive things to counter-act just ONE negative!!! So, when you say something negative about yourself, make a point to say at least EIGHT positive things. (It may be a good idea to write down the positives and look at it when you're having a hard time...) - Thanks Melinda!
(Start at 2 or 3 for every negative... remember, this isn't a race and there's no perfection.)

Going along the same lines as the one stated above, keep a journal of positive things. Every day, write at least one good thing from that day. (For an example of this, check out mine at "Invalid Item" .) - Thanks Dani!

Get out a fine tooth comb and vigorously brush the fur of a stuffed animal (but use gentle vigor)

Pull weeds in a garden

Plant flowers

Put an angry as Hell CD on and let the music be angry for you. And scream if you can!

Look for support on a positive bulletin board. (I have one at Writing.Com: "The Tough Stuff Message Forum"  or there is http://www.supportpath.com with many different condition-specific boards.)

Paint

Do collages (only if you feel safe around scissors at the moment... or you can rip the paper to use...)

E-mail someone.

Stay in touch with others through contact - don't isolate yourself

Play with PlayDoh

Go for a walk. (For those with eating disorders especially, make sure you're well-nourished before doing this one...)

Write down all your positive points and why you don't need to hurt yourself. (Other behaviors can be substituted for this one.)

Write down in your journal why you want to hurt yourself, and if you already have, write down what caused it to happen. (Again, hurting yourself can be replaced with other behaviors... this alternative will work for other things...)

Make a list of reasons why you are going to stop (or why it would be a good idea to stop) binging, cutting, purging, staving, etc.

Write down what you are feeling. Don't edit it!

Punch pillows or hit a punching bag.

Do breathing exercises.

"I don't know if this will work for everyone, but my friend came up with this awesome idea for avoiding SI. She bought me a big package of tattoos that you put on by pressing them on your skin (you don't even need water). They're of dolphins, so if my friends see them on me, they just think its cut because dolphins are my favorite animal, and they don't even think twice about why they're on. Anyway, when I get an urge, I put one on my hand where I can see it, and it reminds me of all my friends who care about me and who are there to help me." (Again, this can be used for things other than SI)

If you have any letters that friends have written to you that are really supportive, carry them around with you. It can help to look at them when times are tough. (I didn't even THINK about this one until I read that someone had posted it up on Something Fishy (http://www.somethingfishy.net, but I do that... I have a poem that a friend wrote to me that I tote around with me everywhere I go...)

Do yoga. - Thanks <3 stephanie <3 !

Exercise. Make sure you're properly nourished first!!! That is a MUST! - Thanks <3 stephanie <3 !

"I'd go find the biggest, cuddliest chair I knew of and I curled up in it and laid my head against the back of the chair, just like someone was holding me...and I pictured some loving person just holding me and holding me, and those arms never moved, that chest never stirred, it was just a big long hug that helped." (Also, for helping with anxiety attacks...)

Visualizations exercises. - Thanks haizey!

Think of something you HAVE to do before you can follow through with the impulse. (This makes following through more of an inconvenience.) - Thanks Melinda!

Listen to your favorite music

Watch a sunset

Tell one person how you feel

Teach a child to play a game

Pop or stomp on bubble-wrap

Have a water balloon fight

Go to the pet store

Go berry picking

Hug someone

Take a long drive (if you are of age, have a liscense, and feel SAFE to drive at the moment)

Pack up some clothes for charity

Go to a concert

Rent your favorite movie

Take a trip to the toy store

Go to a movie by yourself (if you feel SAFE enough)

Call an old friend

Fingerpaint

Doodle

Build with blocks. Build a tower and knock it down

Build with Legos

Spend time with your pet (or someone else's if you don't have one)

Wash your car with a friend

Pick dandelions

Have a water-gun fight

Play Hopscotch

Have a snowball fight with someone (advisedly, outside... usually in winter only... and sorry to all you Californians)

Paint a room in your house

Read a book

Take a vacation

Take a nap

Count and roll loose change

Remind Yourself "It'll be Ok"

Take a deep breath, count to 10

Ask your therapist to make a tape with you that you can use during difficult times

Go to a favorite "safe" location (beach, park, woods, playground, etc.)

Think of advice you'd give someone else... and take it!

Use Self Affirmation tapes and books... and make your own affirmations (use notebooks, index cards, tapes, post-it notes, journal. Sometimes you can do this by writing down the negative thoughts and then physically re-writing them into positive messages)

Play your favourite game as a child

Spend time with a sibling

Hold and/or tell your favorite stuffed animal or doll your feelings (even better if its one that brings specific fond memories...)

Find an ICQ, AOL or e-mail pal or join a chat room for support

Play a video game - Thanks Enigma is a WDC Veteran! !

Watch a TV show that you know comforts you! - Thanks Enigma is a WDC Veteran! !

Visit Writing.Com - Thanks Enigma is a WDC Veteran! !

Indulge in a comfort food. If you have an eating disorder, try to find a food you can be comfortable with and allow yourself to have some.

Make yourself burp. *giggles*

Go to a field and throw tennis balls as far as you can. Then gather them up. Repeat if necessary. Should help get things out of your system. - Thanks Kris