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the-cabin-complex · 7 hours

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LIST of GROUNDING EXERCISES

Grounding exercises are a way for you to firmly anchor yourself in the present.

Grounding exercises are things you can do to bring yourself into contact with the present moment – the here and now. They can be quick strategies (like taking three deep “belly breaths”) or longer, more formal exercises (like meditation).

Different strategies work for different people, and there is no “wrong” way to ground yourself. The main aim is to keep your mind and body connected and working together.

People who have experienced childhood sexual abuse or adult sexual assault can sometimes be confronted by flashbacks or intense memories of what was done, to the point that they are feel as if they are back there, re-living the abuse all over again.

A flashback is an example of being in the “there and then” rather than the “here and now,” so grounding exercises can help to bring you back. • Remind yourself of who you are now. Say your name. Say your age now. Say where you are now. Say what you have done today. Say what you will do next.

• “My name is ________, and I am 26 years old. I am in my living room, in my home, in (neighborhood), in (city), in (state). I woke up early today. I had a shower and fed my dog. I just finished my coffee and toast. Soon I am going to walk to the train station and go in to work. I am going to walk down ______ street and then turn left at the bike shop. Then I am going to….”

• Take ten slow breaths. Focus your attention fully on each breath, on the way in and on the way out. Say number of the breath to yourself as you exhale.

• Splash some water on your face. Notice how it feels. Notice how the towel feels as you dry.

• Sip a cool drink of water.

• Hold a cold can or bottle of soft drink in your hands. Feel the coldness, and the wetness on the outside. Note the bubbles and taste as you drink.

• If you wake during the night, remind yourself who you are, and where you are. Tell yourself who you are and where you are. What year is it, what age are you now? Look around the room and notice familiar objects and name them. Feel the bed you are lying on, the warmth or coolness of the air, and notice any sounds you hear.

• Feel the clothes on your body, whether your arms and legs are covered or not, and the sensation of your clothes as you move in them. Notice how your feet feel to be encased in shoes or socks.

• If you are with other people, and you feel comfortable with them, concentrate closely on what they are saying and doing, and remind yourself why you are with them.

• If you are sitting, feel the chair under you and the weight of your body and legs pressing down onto it. Notice the pressure of the chair, or floor, or table against your body and limbs.

• If you are lying down, feel the contact between your head, your body and your legs, as they touch the surface you are lying on. Starting from your head, notice how each part of your body feels, all the way down to your feet, on the soft or hard surface.

• Stop and listen. Notice and name what sounds you can hear nearby. Gradually move your awareness of sounds outward, so you are focusing on what you can hear in the distance.

• Hold a mug of tea in both hands and feel its warmth. Don’t rush drinking it; take small sips, and take your time tasting each mouthful.

• Look around you, notice what is front of you and to each side. Name and notice the qualities of large objects and then smaller ones.

• Get up and walk around. Take your time to notice each step as you take one, then another.

• Stamp your feet, and notice the sensation and sound as you connect with the ground.

• Clap and rub your hands together. Hear the noise and feel the sensation in your hands and arms.

• Wear an elastic band on your wrist (not tight) and flick it gently, so that you feel it spring back on your wrist.

• If you can, step outside, notice the temperature of the air and how much it is different or similar to where you have just come from.

• Stretch.

• Notice five things you can see, five things you can hear, five things you can feel, taste, or smell.

• If you have a pet, spend some time with them. Notice what is special and different about them.

• Run your hands over something with an interesting texture.

• Get a sultana, a nut, or some seeds, etc. Focus on how it looks, feels and smells. Put it in your mouth and notice how that feels, before chewing mindfully and noticing how it feels to swallow.

• Put on a piece of instrumental music. Give it all of your attention.

• If you have a garden or some plants, tend to them for a bit. Plants, and actual soil, can be an excellent “grounder!”

source: Healthy Place

#resources #grounding

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the-cabin-complex · 2 days

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You ever just wake up from an incredibly graphic and realistic nightmare that was a pure psychological horror based on your own personal phobias and trauma and just roll over like “aw shit I got too hot last night I guess.” And then make toast like you didn’t just experience the nine circles of hell before 9 am

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the-cabin-complex · 8 days

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Our concentration is shot today 💀

–Esrah

#Esrah's tag #bleghhh #all I want to do is work on tactile non digital things but the stuff I have to do for that is spoon intensive #and im low on spoons #and tomorrow my aunt is getting married so I doubt I'll have time for homework in the middle of that

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the-cabin-complex · 9 days

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#honestly syskids chatting together sometimes

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the-cabin-complex · 11 days

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Crowley's recently remembered that she really enjoys wearing scarves over her hair, and Tony's custom shirts strike again

[ID: a rendered digital drawing of Crowley and Tony on a black background. Crowley walks towards Tony, popping one hip while walking and dramatically gesturing as she says "You would not BELIVE the day I've had..." Tony is sitting with one knee propped up and leaning back on one arm, and there's a little thought bubble that just reads "..." next to him. He's wearing jeans and a light brown shirt that says "I'm very bored right now if any goth demons would like to take advantage of me" in white on the back. Crowley is wearing an all-burgundy outfit with black trad goth makeup. She wears a dark silk scarf with gold accents tied in the back, half of it loose like a ponytail and forming ruffles. She also wears several rings, a dark burgundy corset with gold detailing, and a dress with bell sleeves and a very wide neckline, which has slipped off one shoulder and exposes the curled snake tattoo on her chest. /End ID]

Plus another photo but zoomed in on Crowley, since the details are hard to see when they're small

(comments or whatever in the notes are fine, these two love attention lol)

#cabin complex art #tony’s tag #crowley's tag

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the-cabin-complex · 11 days

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Some miscellaneous typing patterns from the frequent frontiers that we've noticed after.. idk, three years of consciously having OSDD:

Esrah phrases: "ooooh," "wooo" yayyy," "wahoo," "hallo," Southern vernacular, these smiley faces :) :] :3, uses emojis pretty often, writes like they're writing a script (uses brackets to indicate action)

Tony phrases: "Hell yeah," "cool beans," "woohoo," accidental machinery/physics/computer analogies (he's honestly not trying with this, it just happens), says "Yeah" a lot, these smiley faces :-), and rarely uses emojis that have expressions

Banner: Flatly casual most of the time, "Mm," occasional smiley faces like this :-), always puts punctuation at the ends of sentences, doesn't use emojis

Jon: Accidentally writes very long sentences, uses a lot of commas, uses colons and semicolons, dry/dark humor, uses these smiley faces :) and the occasional emoji, prefers italics for emphasis

Martin: Keysmashes a lot, uses all caps sometimes, likes fun and cute emojis, regularly uses keyboard smileys like this :3

#Esrah's tag #tony's tag #banner's tag #jon's tag #martin's tag #this isn't everyone but us four do have the most distinctive writing styles

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the-cabin-complex · 11 days

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Milf mode Crowley, because she works that look so hard (comments for/towards/about her in the notes are 100% fine lol, if anyone has thoughts)

[ID: a pencil bust portrait of Crowley colored in and edited digitally. She looks at the viewer with a slight smirk and arched eyebrows. She has her hair short and swept back elegantly, and wears a v-shaped black pear necklace. Her makeup is matching black lipstick, and shiny red eyeshadow, reminiscent of glam rock makeup, that kind of looks like feathers. The background is a warm yellow. /End ID]

#cabin complex art #crowley's tag #a friend said when we draw her she always looks like a secretary bird which was probably the best compliment we could've gotten #despite the funny irony of secretary birds being famous for eating snakes

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the-cabin-complex · 18 days

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goofy nightmare

#esrah’s tag #LITERALLY I do this all the time

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the-cabin-complex · 18 days

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Tony and Esrah: *talking with our therapist about why Thor's our resident in-system ambassador, since he can make things work even with the most bigoted seeming alters*

Our therapist: Wow, it seems like he really has a gift then

Us: Yeah, his gift is being built like a Soviet era fridge

#tony’s tag #esrah’s tag #therapy mention

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the-cabin-complex · 23 days

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What if you and your gradeschool/childhood cult bully were stuck inside the same head forever and ever but you’re now both young adults and one of you refuses to pull any weight (/mostly silly tone)

[ID: a drawing of Esrah driving, with Ari up behind the front seat, grinning. Esrah looks very annoyed and stressed about this fact.

Ari, yelling: WATCH OUT!! THERE’S A CAR!!!

Small text below his speech bubble: there is no car

Esrah: OH MY GOD SHUT UP

Small text below their speech bubble: you’re not the one driving!!!

Esrah: Fuck you man!!!

/End ID]

#cabin complex art #Esrah’s tag #Ari’s tag #he’s discovered a new minor way to torment me is the thing

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the-cabin-complex · 25 days

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Some self art for the first time in a while. I think this one turned out pretty well

[ID: digital art of Ari from the waist up on a bright red background. He’s crossing his arms and grinning. He’s wearing a dark red tank top. /End ID]

#cabin complex art #ari's tag

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the-cabin-complex · 29 days

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symptom holders don't have to be constantly, miserably affected by their symptoms (same goes for trauma holders and memories)

protectors don't have to be constantly on edge and hostile

caretakers don't have to constantly be gentle and patient

persecutors don't have to constantly hate & hurt

socializers can be bad at or avoid socializing

we are complex, we are not always the way our roles are viewed, we are also not JUST our roles in a system, we are allowed to be contradictory.

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the-cabin-complex · 1 month

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[ID: a doodle of Esrah lying on the floor with their fingers interlaced on their stomach and their feet crossed. They look up blankly at the ceiling, and the caption pointing to them reads: thinking about their weird dynamic with a person in their head who only tries not to destroy their life because it would be mutually assured destruction, and who has essentially zero presence in their collective life but refuses all overs for change on principle. /End ID]

#Esrah’s tag

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the-cabin-complex · 1 month

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What having different people who speak different types of English in one system does to conversations:

Person A: As for myself, my day has been filled with mediocrity and a dullness of point that would rival that of a polished globe. But how, thus far, has the day met you? I would assume that, having secured the position of master of our body’s locomotion, you have had myriad options for activity?

Person B: Well as they say, school sucks but soup fucks :D

#esrah talks #I do actually say this

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the-cabin-complex · 1 month

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You BITE the body? You bite us like the meat?? oh! oh! hm. Actually nothing bad for Kevin because given circumstances it made enough sense and he was careful to not do any notable damage. but STILL-

–Esrah

Blegh okay reminder to self not to let Kevin switch in after midnight

–Esrah

#esrah’s tag #I need to clarify im not mad at him but BRO #first time for everything I guess

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the-cabin-complex · 1 month

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Blegh okay reminder to self not to let Kevin switch in after midnight

–Esrah

#esrah’s tag #I know ive mentioned this various places so if you're seeing this a second time ignore this lol #waugh anyway #our brain is so scrambled today because of that and it's super hard for me to focus on anything #On one hand I'm thinking of letting Kevin switch back in for therapy but god he just drains us so much :') sorry bro

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the-cabin-complex · 1 month

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Some art of our Thor, which I think is the first of our's that's actually done him justice (the others were good, but I think this one's closest)

[ID: a digital sketch of Thor from the Cabin Complex from the shoulders up, looking to the right and waving with one hand. He is a person with straight hair that goes a bit past his shoulders, a full beard, and is wearing a long sleeved shirt. He's built much differently than his source self, and is both broad, fat, and muscular. /End ID]

#thor's tag #cabin complex art #and note from me (Tony): I refer to him as “he” but he's fine with being seen as/referred to as any gender as long as it fits w/ personalit #ie he's not delicate but he sure can be a woman if someone wants to see him as one

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