Supports for Handling Intensity

If you are feeling overwhelmed or ungrounded during the class or home practice, try one or all of these practices that can help bring you back to the present moment.

Pausing

Stop the practice, open your eyes, and look around the room.

Breathing

Deepen your breath and elongate your exhales.

Moving

Get up and move, dancing or shaking. Emphasize exhaling. Try a loud sigh.

Sensing

Connect to the environment through your senses. For example, pay attention to the feeling of your body contacting the floor or chair. Sniff a pleasant fragrance, like essential oil or a piece of fruit. Use whatever sense channel comes most easily to you at that moment.

Noting

Name your experiences as they come. “Distress”, “Heat”, “Worrying”, “Judging”, etc.

Caring

Offer yourself a supportive touch like a self hug or hand on the cheek. Offer kind words. I like Kristen Neff’s phrases of compassion: “This is a moment of suffering. Everyone has these moments. May I be kind to myself”.