When you feel like A**, Touch the grass!

It was a Friday night and my oldest and I were leaving the first concert he had ever attended – Pitbull! The night had been full of dancing, singing, laughing and spending quality time together; I was on cloud nine as I pushed through the crowd with him piggybacking my body.

Suddenly, I noticed he had tucked his head into my shoulder and his breathing had picked up. I said, “Everything ok back there?”

“My brain is saying some really strange things right now.”

**Panics in anxious mom**

Calmly, I ask, “Oh yeah? What’s it saying to you?”

He starts trying to spit out the words but he’s stumbling through them and can’t quite get his sentence out.

I said, “take a deep breath and try again.”

“My brain is saying, what if someone picks me up and throws me into the dumpster?!”

*Ahh, yes, a good ole “what if” that also carries me through most of my own new experiences. *

As an adult, I know him being tossed into the rubbish is highly unlikely, but he’s only eight and I’m sure that that IS a very realistic fear when your take on the world is so limited! In the moment it was tough to know what to do. We were pinned in a crowd of 24k people, people pushing past us left and right, drunk and acting like fools, but I did my best to reassure him that he was safe, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

In the days that followed, I kept revisiting this interaction. It was a little worrisome, you know? To witness the visceral reaction he had to being stuck in that huge crowd, imagining himself being harmed in some way or another. I had seen him have moments of anxiety before, but this was on a whole new level.

Being a child who suffered from anxiety and not even knowing until I was in my late 20’s, I knew I had to find a way to help him cope. I mean, what good would all this therapy be for, anyways, if I couldn’t pass down the strategies and wisdom I’ve gained from it?

But what do you teach a child? I know what my therapist has taught me for myself, but I’m 31 years old. My understanding of what’s happening is obviously greater than his, when suddenly this phrase struck my brain like a bolt of lightening.

“If you feel like ass, touch the grass.”

Whether that was something I concocted by my own volition or a spirit whispered it in my ear, I don’t know. Either way… Should I really teach my 8 year old to use the word “ass” so willy-nilly?

Well, he’ll definitely not forget it, that’s for sure! Let’s roll with it.

“So what the heck does this phrase mean?” I asked my goofy brain and/or soft spoken spirit.

It literally comes down to something as simple as grounding yourself by touching the actual ground. So I started thinking more about how I could teach this to my son.

First, If you have the access to grass, touch it. With your hands, with your feet... lay down in it if you can!

What does it feel like? What are 3 parts of your body that are making contact with the grass?

Is the ground cold or warm?

What’s the weather? Sunny, rainy, windy, cold? How does the weather feel on your face.

Take a deep breath. Does the grass have a smell? Do you smell anything else?

And listen. Do you hear the birds? An airplane? People talking near by?

The goal is to get out of you head and back into your body by using all your senses. (Maybe not taste in this case, but if you’re into it, who am I to judge?!) Because what is anxiety besides a series of “what if’s” and fears of hypotheticals?

And I’m sure you’re thinking, well what if he’s stuck in class, Natalie? What if it’s snowing? Then what?!

Then it comes down to using that same wacky thinking brain to create the visual, taking him away from the anxiety and back into his body.

As a culture, I believe we moved so far away from our connections to nature. Touching the grass to level yourself out is not something I coined on a whim. This is a concept that goes back to the creation of life! From a scientific perspective, the Earth omits electrons that can help oxidize healthy cells meaning it reduces the negative charge, aiding in less stress and pain. At the end of the day, we are all made of nothing more than energy and nature has all the positive energy needed to thrive, as long as we make the time to absorb it.

This goes out to everyone and anyone needing it. Little kids, big kids, adults of all ages… This practice can be used by anyone needing it. So, next time you feel like ass, I hope you touch some grass and reap the benefits of taking a moment to ground yourself!

(Also, if you think of a more kid friendly phrase, I’m open to suggestions!)