A Grounding Exercise For Relaxation
Stress, overwhelm, anxiety... feelings many of us and our clients are familiar with. Because many things are out of our control, one thing we can do to bring comfort to ourselves is to focus in the present moment. This is what we refer as grounding.⠀
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In music therapy, we talk about providing music for relaxation, but how does that actually happen?
As music therapists, we provide a variety of music experiences and interventions to address our client’s needs that can be categorized in four types: receptive, recreation, improvisation & composition (Bruscia, K., 2014).
This sensory countdown or grounding exercise can be categorized as a receptive music therapy experience in which the client gets attuned with their senses and practices self-awareness. Our clients can benefit by having a “check-in” at the beginning of a session to “tune in” with their senses, needs, and feelings. This exercise can also serve as a transitional intervention that could help them practice self-regulation during or at the end of the session.
My favorite way to utilize music while facilitating this sensory exercise is by playing a repetitive picking pattern and chord progression on my guitar. This video tutorial by Marco Cirillo is a great example of a simple and easy guitar fingerpicking pattern and chord progression I would play while going through this grounding script.
This exercise is for you and your clients. It is highly possible that we feel inclined to only utilize this exercise with clients in our therapy sessions, but I believe this is a beneficial exercise to incorporate as part of our own self-care practice.
With music on or in silence, 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 and focus on these sensory countdown prompts. ⠀
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This sensory exercise, often used as a coping technique for anxiety, can help redirect our [sometimes unhelpful] thoughts into the here and now.
Grab this audio + worksheet to add it to your coping toolkit. It’ll help you focus on the present moment and check in with the here and now.
You’ll also receive the full script + PowerPoint slides to use them with your clients.
References:
Bruscia, K. E. (2014). Defining Music Therapy. University Park. IL: Barcelona Publishers.
About me:
I’m a therapist (MSW) and music therapist (MT-BC) for women & teens at Transcendence Counseling Center in Vero Beach, FL and I am also available to provide counseling services via Telehealth across Florida. If you are interested in collaboratively working with me in therapy, you’re welcome to learn more about me and my approach here or schedule an appointment with me here.
