A short instructional video by Dr. Carol (Karol) Darca, a trauma psychologist and founder of Reconnect Treatment Center, that explains dissociation (as a spectrum of being 'out of the body') and teaches a practical grounding technique to increase present-moment body awareness. The video reviews who may benefit (people with dissociation, depression, anxiety, concentration problems), gives safety cautions (stop if grounding brings up overwhelming memories), cites mindfulness and energy-medicine influences, and walks viewers through a seated grounding/body-scan exercise emphasizing posture, open eyes, feet rooted to the floor, progressive attention to body parts, and gentle return to daily activity.
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Hi, I'm Dr. Carol Darca, author, trauma psychologist and founder of Reconnect Treatment center in Los Angeles. Welcome to my video. Today we're going to talk about grounding. Actually today is going to be very much exercise oriented. So I'm going to talk a little bit about it and then I'm going to teach you how to do a grounding technique. And I really would like it if you can follow me. And that's the best way to learn something new. So before we can talk about grounding, we have to say, why do we need grounding? And what is dissociation, which is the opposite of grounding? So a lot of people think dissociation is when you're out of your body and you really lose complete control. Well, dissociation means out of the body. That's correct. But it really is a spectrum. So even when you're watching tv, for instance, or movie, and all of a sudden you're not paying attention to what's happening around you and you're really into the story, that might mean you are leaving your body. So it's about being spacey, not being present, not being here, and not really feeling your body. Are signs of dissociation? Why do I talk about dissociation? Well, as a trauma therapist, we often encounter that when you experience trauma or even stressful event, in order to deal with what's happening, you might check out so that the pain becomes much less. So that's when we are able to go somewhere with our thoughts and decrease the pain of what's happening. So originally, the dissociation might happen because of something very, very traumatic. But later on it could happen even when we're just simply bored.
Right.
If you're in a boring class, for instance, and you wish you weren't there, and you want to go on a vacation, your body is sitting and listening to the story or to the teacher, but your mind is elsewhere. So those are signs of dissociation. Well, what is the problem, you might say, with this dissociation? Right. Why am I teaching your grounding technique? Well, in the beginning, actually, dissociation is not necessarily a pro problem because you need that in order to deal with what's so stressful or traumatic. But what happens is if you become habitual about really being out of your body and spacey, you may find yourself having other symptoms like depression, anxiety, addiction, or just simply being numb to your feelings. So this is the reason why we talk about grounding or mindfulness and feeling your body so you can manage stress and you can Manage daily events that come to your way. So it's almost like strengthening your emotional immune system.
I have.
I have to pause for a second and let you know that the grounding technique that I'm going to teach you is a combination of few different modalities that I put together. Mindfulness is one of them. So Buddhist practices and mindfulness in general focus a lot on grounding and the other one, Actually, I'm very much inspired by my teacher, Christine Schenk. I've studied energy medicine with her for 18 years. And I'm going to actually put the link here so you can look at her website and her book. At the back of her first book, there's actually a grounding techniques there as well. So I combine all of that and this is what I would like to teach everyone. Also, please remember that these videos are not to replace or substitute, of course, therapy sessions. So if your therapist or your coach is teaching you grounding techniques, then go with what's right with them and how it feels. But if not, you are welcome to use this technique as well. Okay, one more point before we start because this is important. Believe it or not, as good as a grounding technique can be for someone's well being, it is actually not for everyone. Why? Because when you ground, you will start feeling your body more and you may not be ready to feel your body. So please, as we're doing this exercise, if something feels too much or uncomfortable for you or you start remembering things that you did not want to remember, please pause, don't see this as a failure and just don't do the exercise. So it has to be your personal decision and you have to really follow your instinct about whether this is right or not. So you might ask who should try the grounding exercises. You might benefit from grounding if you have chronic depression, for instance, because you.
Don'T know what to do with your.
Mood and often that's a sign that you might be out of your body and you're spacey and your thoughts are constantly running somewhere else. If you have anxiety, grounding is a great technique to slow down your thoughts and focus more on the here and now. And just in general, if you're having concentration problems, grounding exercises on a regular basis work really well. Well for those people. So here we're going to go into the practical part ourselves. So it's going to be slow pace. Please do not rush it. That's my purpose. I'm going to do it with you so you can do it together. Okay, let's get to the practical part. So here's first the sitting position, which is very important. Please sit in a chair, your back straight. You might put a pillow or just move forward. Do not lean backwards. Both feet have to be on the ground, your hands palm down on your knees, and your eyes ideally looking either onto the floor or on your knees. In fact, I'm going to suggest, as we do this exercise right now, take one second. Pause the video.
Turn your chair away.
Do not look at the camera. Just listen to my voice and just follow my guidance this way so that your eyes are not distracted. But please keep your eyes open. When your eyes are closed, it's not easy to stay in the present moment. So it's very important to keep the eyes open and do not visualize any anything actually, just try to really feel what I'm talking about. A few more points. It's very important not to judge this experience. If you do not feel anything while we do this grounding, let it be. There's no right or wrong. It's all about awareness. It's all about just really being in the moment and being here and nowhere else.
Okay, here we go. I'm sitting down this way, my eyes on my knees. So first, take a moment just to.
Hear all the sounds around you.
You might all of a sudden hear the birds or your neighbors talk. Just be aware there's no right or wrong. And then bring your attention to your breath without changing. Just notice how you're breathing. And then put an intention to bring all your attention to inside of your body. Really letting go of everything and bringing all your attention inside. Make contact with your skin first. Skin of your legs.
Of your upper.
Body, of your face, of your back. Just bringing all your attention to inside of your skin. And then feel the weight from the.
Top of your head.
And let that weight go down to your shoulders. Relax your eyes, your cheek, your jaw, your throat. And just feel that weight going down to your shoulders. And then realize the weight or the tension in your shoulder. In fact, if you want, you can just tighten up for just a second and then really let go of the shoulders again. Feel the weight from the shoulders going down to your arms, hands, and then again the same weight from the shoulders. Let that weight go down to your hips, feel going through your spine. Notice your heartbeat. Relax your stomach inside. Just notice all the sensations and feel your sit bones, feel the support of the chair and how it feels sitting down. And then relax the hips and you can even squeeze your buttocks inside and just let them go and feel that weight Going through your legs, and from the legs, feel it on your knees and then let the weight of the knees go down to your feet till you reach your bottom of the feet where you can push them down gently to feel the floor. And just really sit this way for about a minute without judging any thoughts or any feelings, but without hanging there. So if you notice things trying to come into your mind, just gently put them aside and come back to your body, especially to the feet, and feel the strength of your feet, almost like the roots of a tree. So it's really anchoring you to the floor, to the earth. And if your awareness tries to sneak out and go to elsewhere, just bring it gently back again into your body without judging. And as we come out of this state, and I'm going to look at the camera again and you guys can turn towards the computer or your telephone as well. Do not let go of the sensation of your body. So even though you will be listening and I will be talking, my attention is now completely still in the body and feeling the weight of your feet. And just notice what happens inside and.
Just see if you can continue your day with that state without letting go.
Of what you've achieved.
Thank you for doing the exercise with me. I want to mention my book, the Trauma Map. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend the sections about grounding, dissociation, and there's good enough information about when and how we need it, and other techniques like sort of simple two minutes grounding exercises in there you can find too. Thank you. And remember, trauma equals disconnect, healing equals reconnect. Stay connected.
