Every year, it’s the same old story, September rhymes with overload. However, there are some techniques that are effective in avoiding being overwhelmed by stress at the start of the school year. In their book Objective No Stress: all the keys to taking care of your mental health (Ed.Flammarion), well-being expert and yoga teacher Lev Rosen and Doctor of Clinical Psychology Myriam Paperman discuss several practices, including one regularly recommended by personal development coaches and psychotherapists: anchoring.
The latter comes in a series of tools aimed at helping you soothe your alert limbic system and reconnect with the present moment when stress triggers arise.
“Grounding is a set of simple strategies designed to detach oneself from emotional pain (anger, sadness, addictions, impulses to harm oneself). Stress is the response that occurs when the brain designates something as a threat; grounding techniques allow the body to calm down and send the signal that the threat is over.”the authors explain in their book. Different techniques exist.
Techniques that involve the five senses
For example, you can bite into a lemon, dip your hands in water and focus on the temperature and sensation on your palms and fingers, hold an ice cube and observe what it does to you, inhale a strong smell, pick up an object you like and note its characteristics, shape, feel, texture… Petting your pet if you have one can also help. But you could also eat or drink something you like and take the time to savor it, go for a short walk to clear your head by focusing on the rhythm of your steps or stretch carefully and slowly. Breathing is also a technique that has proven effective in overcoming anxiety, particularly abdominal breathing, which is also recommended in case of daytime disorders.
Mental techniques
There are many options available to you to practice anchoring in a cerebral way only. For example, you can use the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, which consists of identifying five elements around you in your field of vision, then four elements that you can hear, three that you can touch, two that you can smell and finally one that you can taste. It is also possible to break down all the steps necessary for an activity that you enjoy. This could be your favorite cooking recipe, for example. You could also bring back a happy memory or a success, professional or personal. Relive this moment as if it were happening in the present and imprint this energy in your body by gently tensing the muscles of your body: inspiration, tension, tension, relaxation. Finally, positive affirmations allow you to redirect your thoughts in the moment when they stray negatively and to anchor feelings of encouragement and valorization in you. Recite positive mantras to yourself like “It will pass,” “I am enough,” “I choose happiness,” or “It’s hard but I can overcome anything.”
Anchoring is a technique that is increasingly valued by mental health experts and highlighted on social networks. Below is a video of influencer, coach and author Ambre Kouadio, giving you her own definition of anchoring.
Source: www.topsante.com
