Hello,
I'm glad you're here.
Even if here doesn't feel good right now.
You don't need to do anything with this.
You don't need to sit still.
You don't need to be quiet.
This isn't about making the feeling disappear,
This is about having something steady to hold on to while it moves through you.
If you're rocking,
Pacing,
Flapping,
Or moving in any way that helps,
Keep doing that.
Movement is welcome here.
It's not something that needs to stop.
You can listen with your eyes open or closed.
You can stop this at any point and come back to it later.
Nothing here is a test.
Right now your nervous system might be in fight or flight or meltdown or shutdown.
It's a survival state,
Not a failure of coping.
This state narrows attention and can make words,
Decisions and new information harder to process.
That's expected.
It's not a problem to fix.
You don't need to do this quickly.
When everything feels too much,
It can help to have one small physical thing to notice.
Let's think about it.
Just to notice.
Here are a few options.
They're all equal.
Pick whatever is easiest for you right now.
You can change your mind halfway through.
That's fine too.
Or you can notice a sound nearby.
Traffic.
A fan.
Your own breath.
Anything at all,
Just notice.
You could even notice pressure.
Your feet on the floor,
Your back against a chair or a wall.
A blanket on your own arms wrapped around you.
Texture.
Fabric.
A surface you enjoy.
Your own hands rubbing together.
There's no wrong choice.
There's no need to choose at all if that's too much right now.
If you feel far away from your body.
Foggy or like you've Like you're watching yourself from outside.
That's dissociation.
And it's a protective response.
It's what's happening.
Pressure and temperature,
A firm surface,
Cold water,
A weighted object.
These things can help more than sound or sight.
There's no need to push through to load if it doesn't ease.
Just find a way of bringing yourself back to the present.
You are in your body.
You are you and you own your body.
Whatever is happening in your body right now.
Tightness,
Heat.
Erasing feeling,
Numbness.
Noise in your head,
It doesn't need a name.
It doesn't need to be turned into a word or an emotion that's real.
Many of us are alexithymic and sometimes all we can do is just feel.
That's okay.
It's just wise here right now.
This is too much.
That's allowed to be true.
You don't have to talk yourself out of it or convince yourself it's fine.
Nothing about this practice needs you to feel any better by the end of it.
If your body eases even slightly,
That counts.
If it doesn't,
That's still okay.
You showed up and you made it through this moment.
You use this practice to anchor you and hold on to this moment.
Keep whatever anchor you choose,
Or no anchor at all if you can't find one.
Just let the next few moments be exactly as loud or quiet or messy as they are.
Alexithymia,
Difficulty identifying or naming internal emotional states.
Is common among autistic people.
This.
Meditation deliberately avoids asking you to label feelings.
Noticing a physical sensation is enough.
Interpretation isn't mandatory and it's not required.
When you're ready.
And only when you're ready.
You can let your awareness widen just slightly.
Not to think harder.
Just to notice a little more of the room.
Or the space you're in.
May be the temperature of the air.
Maybe a sound further away than before.
Maybe the staff is on to you.
You're allowed to stay small and closed in instead if that feels safer.
There's no timeline for this.
For when you're ready.
Widen that awareness to the room you are in.
Notice the things that you are in contact with.
Notice the things that form part of your immediate environment.
Whichever state you're in right now is the right one to be in.
This practice is a measuring whether you calm down.
When you're ready in your own time.
You can come back to whatever you were doing.
Or stay here a while longer.
It's okay to simply anchor yourself and hold on through the storm.
It is not your responsibility to end the storm.
Just finding a way of weathering it and making it through.
If you need to run this again or use one of the anchors on its own without the rest.
That's exactly what this is for.
Something to get you through this part.
It's enough.
Just to hold on to one thing that gets you through the storm.
When everything feels like too much and your body won't slow down.
This isn't about forcing co-op.
It's a steady place to land.
While the wave moves through.
This grounding practice is designed for autistic people in the middle of overwhelm or meltdown.
No forced breathing,
No visualisation,
No pressure to feel any particular way by the end.
Find your anchor,
Whatever it may be.
Perhaps it's the movement of your hands,
The feeling of your feet against the ground.
Perhaps breathwork does help you and the feeling of circular,
Intentional breathing slows things down.
Perhaps it's a color or an image,
Perhaps.
It is just a physical object you can hold in your hands.
Whatever anchors you in this moment.
Even if it is the sound of my voice.
That is enough.
This meltdown,
This overwhelm.
Feels eternal,
But I promise it will pass.
All things pass.
Nothing is permanent.
And this too will change.
In time you will feel better again.
Be that a few minutes or a few hours from now.
The feeling of meltdown will pause.
You are safe.
You are here.
And you own your body mind.
You are a part of this world.
And it's okay to struggle from time to time.
Just remember.
You are allowed to anchor in and weather the storm.
It is not your job to end the storm.
