Running

@avant-garde oooh yes we love a pillow fort!! Cosy-maxxing hehe

Got fairy lights?

@avant-garde nose clips! New fashion styyyyyle 😎 😂

@Jynx

I love your playful side, you know I do, but it's not what I need right now

@avant-garde very understandable, and thank you for letting me know hun.

Still with you. Are you able to identify what you do need right now?

@Jynx I need to feel heard and cared for and loved and validated... the flashback is so so intense and in trying so hard to cope with it

@avant-garde if you can, take some slow, measured breaths. You are safe here, you are here now with me, not stuck in that past.

You're an absolute gem hun, I get giddy when we chat. Our inner children love to play together. I think that means that you have to be a safe person, a wonderful person, a deserving and worthy person, else we'd not be able to be this open.

I see you, I hear you, and as much as I can, I hold you 💜

@Jynx it was the hard plastic breathing tube that I had I had to repeatedly breathe hard and fast into with a secure seal, both in and out...

@avant-garde ahh, breathing not a good focus right now then. Valid.

I think with flashbacks, it is helpful to find ways to 'remind' your body that you are not stuck in that past. Odd thought, but how would you feel about something like singing to yourself? Singing actually calms the big nerve in our guts that controls the fight/flight response - it soothes! And it would also be doing something distinctly different with your breath.

Feel free to shoot me ideas down!! And if making suggestions isn't helpful that's also valid, just let me know 🤞

@Jynx grounding statement helped...

My name is (full name). I am (age) years old. It is (day) the (date). I am (location) in (suburb). I am safe, they can't hurt me anymore. I know I am safe because (senses).

Then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 if required

@avant-garde nice, glad it's helpful!! Saying stuff aloud helps me too.

If you feel comfy/want to, you could describe to me some details of the room you're in?