HI MOT family! Quick introduction, my name is Karen and I am a student finishing my doctoral program in physical therapy – woop woop! I am excited to meet you and am excited to learn under Amy and Emily!
Let’s get started! Today I am here to give you some tips and tricks on using a ball for grounding techniques and the benefits of grounding in order to help alleviate some of the tension that we acquire performing everyday activities.
When I am not running to the kitchen and back to my room I find myself in front of the computer like many of you do… and let me tell you the tension we accumulate in our body can be intense and to think that all we really did was “sit.”
With this, I like to take the ball and place it between my back and the chair, to create more of a natural arch in the lower back to decrease a “hunch.” I like to add some mild pressure to release tension or lightly move side to side.
You can also place the ball within my shoulder blades up against the wall (make sure your hair isn’t down… (I learned the hard way) and ease your body weight and roll it around the areas that have tension.
Lastly you can place the ball in between and squeeze as you take filling breathes, being aware of your belly expanding with each breath.
Disclaimer: There maybe some tenderness with all of these motions, so play around and determine what is appropriate for you. Grounding technique is a way that we can tell our body and our mind that we are creating a calm and quiet space in order to shift our focus and distract our thoughts. In using a ball, we can focus on how the ball feels on our bodies and the sensations we may feel. We can count to 10 and focus on taking a couple of filling breathes and repeating as we go.
With this there are a variety of exercises we can do with the ball to help us feel grounded and centered and alleviate some of the stress we have held in our bodies.
It was nice chatting with all of you. Until next time!
-Karen, SPT
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