Tag Archives: Anxiety

Power of Nature on Big Emotions

Posted on by under Self Care, Therapy

 

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Power of Nature on Big Emotions

Nature is a powerful healing force for mental health concerns. Feeling anxious, stressed, overwhelmed, depressed, or angry? Struggling with intrusive or repetitive thoughts? Nature can help ease these emotions and their effects. Unfortunately, it will not completely “cure” these mental health concerns. Oftentimes, treating mental health is a process that requires work, support, and therapy over time.  

Nature offers us a temporary refuge or escape. Nature presents its calming peaceful presence, asking for nothing in return. Nature gives no judgment. Nature provides us with time for reflection. Lastly, Nature leaves us feeling rejuvenated, renewed, re-energized by connecting you to the world around you.

“Nature presents its calming peaceful presence, asking for nothing in return.”

Nature can be amazing on its own, or you can utilize it for a powerful, experiential grounding exercise. Grounding is a helpful technique often used in therapy to bring you into the present, or the “here-and-now”. It works by switching the focus of your brain from internal struggles towards the external environment.  Grounding can be beneficial when working on managing big emotions such as anxiety, depression, anger, or emotional pain.

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Nature Physical Grounding Exercise

It this exercise, you will need to place yourself in nature, somewhere that you will feel comfortable. A local park, nature preserve, hiking trail, beach, or even a nice backyard on a pretty day. You will focus your thoughts on becoming attuned to your  5 senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, and taste. You will need to keep your eyes open to stay in touch with the present and your surroundings. You are highly encouraged to walk around a bit and explore, if you feel comfortable.

Start by making a list of what your senses experience. It can be a mental list, no need to write it down.

Sights: Nature provides many gorgeous sights: the green of nature, the deep blue of a clear sky, smiling faces, couples sharing moments, mothers introducing their babies to the world, a lone traveler deep in thought, a driven runner focused and in sync with their rhythm and pace.

Sounds: Wind rustling in the trees and leaves, lapping of waves crashing on the shoreline, occasional song of distant birds, hum of an overhead plane or the constant of traffic on a nearby road, children laughing.

Feel: Warmth of the sun on your face, softness of the blades of grass underneath your feet, feel of sand in between your toes, the crunch of leaves, acorns, and mulch under your shoes.

Smell: Crispness of the fresh air, highly recognizable smell of saltwater at the beach, delicious aroma of a nearby food cart.

 Taste: Savor and enjoy the taste a special snack, piece of candy, or chocolate, or a picnic in the park. Okay, so you may need to plan ahead a bit for taste…unless you want to taste the grass and leaves, but I don’t recommend it! You can leave this step out completely – that is okay too!)

 Pro Tips to make this grounding exercise more effective:

  • Practice makes perfect. The more often you practice, the better you will get at grounding.
  • Practice for longer time periods. While this can be a quick 5-15 minute exercise, try to aim for 25+ minutes if time and comfort levels allow.
  • There is no right or wrong way to practice this exercise. Do not judge yourself during this exercise; this is reverting to internal and not focusing on external.

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While this might not be the right approach for everyone, it is helpful to so many more. If it didn’t work for you, don’t give up! Sometimes the awkwardness of the first time gets in the way. I encourage you to try it once more. Then, if it still doesn’t work, that is okay. Sometime people are not in a “safe place” emotionally for stillness. There are many other strategies, techniques, and tools that may work better. A therapist or counselor can help you identify and put into use alternative coping skills to manage big emotions.

I am speaking from my own personal experiences, my training’s, and my work with my clients. While I am not able to tell you the exact science behind why it works, if you look at art and writings you will see the reoccurring motifs of nature being connected to healing, our emotions, and soul. There is something to be said for what we feel but cannot be described in words.

Best Wishes,

Lori Torres, LMFT

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Looking for help in managing your big emotions? Hoping to enhance your life and your relationships? Call today for a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if I might be of further assistance in helping you become a happier, healthier you 980-349-8119

TOWERS COUNSELING SERVICES | 120 GREENWICH ROAD CHARLOTTE, NC 28211
PH: 980-349-8119

 

Recognizing Stress in our Family

Posted on by under Family/ Parenting

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In today’s fast-paced society, pushed to multi-task life, there are many times when we become overwhelmed, frustrated, and less than our better selves.  I am guilty! There have been a few not-so-proud moments of letting my stress take form of some not-so-healthy (or helpful) behaviors in my lifetime. Truth be told, the majority of us are guilty of this, and so are our family members. We are human!

Being able to recognize and understand when we and our family members are stressed are important first steps. Being able to recognize and quickly intervene can help steer ourselves in a different direction and can have the biggest impact on stress reduction.

However, we often do not always recognize stress for what it is. Often times, we dismiss it as anger, bad behaviors/tantrums, sadness, or we minimize what we or others around us are going through and think that we can push through it. Here’s a secret: unless you are a robot, we all have a certain level of stress that we can manage. It’s called our Distress Tolerance Level. Your Mind, Body, and Soul functions can all start to shut down if you exceed your tolerance level for too long.

Signs of stress that we might easily overlook may include:

  • Your son/daughter having a full-blown tantrum in a middle of a store for no reason.
  • A loved one becoming detached, quiet, and very much unlike themselves.
  • Yourself feeling distracted, scattered, and forgetting things you normally would remember.

An easy way to prevent these system overloads is to “reboot” your system before you go into overload! Early intervention is key; here are a few early intervention strategies for your children, your loved ones, and even yourself!mother-and-son

For Your Children – Engage your children into activities with lowered external stimulation. Stimulants for children can be things that get them excited, when they are expected to perform at a certain level (i.e. school tests/ performances), pressure to do well or comply with directives, or do things outside of  their comfort zone. Examples of activities you can engage your children into can include: Taking a walk outside, reading, listening to comforting soothing music (remember soothing, not high energy, which could have the reversed effect of what your looking for).

For Your Loved Ones – Engage your partner in enjoying the current moment.  Take time to share a favorite meal together, watch a favorite movie, take time and enjoy doing a household chore, like doing the dishes or laundry together, or just spend some time chit-chatting reconnecting with them and what is going on in their lives. Be sure your loved one knows why you are doing what you are doing, and do not just go to them mid-task. Be on the same page with them of intent and purpose. Tell them, “I would like to spend some time together. Can I help you with… or lets do…” (Bonus: because both you and your loved one get the stress relieving benefits)

For Your Self – Self Love is one of the most effective holistic treatments of stress and anxiety! Take 5 minutes of your day, go to a mirror, and say kind things about yourself to yourself. For example: “I am Smart! I am Funny! I am Creative!” Or take time to think and reflect on an inspiring song, quote, or prayer that has meant something to you in your life. Or create a list of things that you are looking forward to in your near future!

There are so many ways to reboot your systems; get creative and make it personal to you and your family. One measure of if your intervention is working is if it makes you happy, laugh, or smile.

Also remember, we all have difference levels of distress tolerance. We all have times when we push our limits. Reach out and talk things over with a friend, family member, or seek out a professional for additional help and/or strategies.

Best Wishes,

Lori Torres, LMFT

Call today for a free 15 minute consultation and see if I am the right fit for your therapy needs!  980-349-8119

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TOWERS COUNSELING SERVICES | 120 GREENWICH ROAD CHARLOTTE, NC 28211

PH: 980-349-8119