Mental grounding techniques as a factor of students' psychological stability in the conditions of distance learning

When working with students during wartime, it is necessary to take into account a large number of subjective factors that can affect the course of classes and the level of academic achievement of young people. Among the main ones are location (remoteness or proximity to the places of direct hostilities); factor of stay of young people in the occupied territory; general emotional background in the perception of war events. All of these indicators are criteria for students' psychological health, which will be directly manifested during distance (or face-to- face) classes.

That is why the priority in the teacher's repertoire should not be classical lectures, but interactive classes involving psychological grounding techniques, so that it is possible to quickly return students to the "here and now" state and thus reduce the level of psychological and emotional stress.

Psychological grounding techniques are aimed at restoring the lost connection with reality and returning to "I am and I am here" state, when the present moment of time with all its events, realities and requirements is important. When distantly working with students, they are effective when interacting with young people both in the form of teamwork and individual communication. They allow reducing the intensity of emotions quickly and reorganizing them in a calmer and more constructive line.

The most effective are bodily practices that help create mental support through the feeling of physical support. "Tactile breathing" technique works well in this case. An appropriate atmosphere should be created for this exercise. It is advisable that the room is quiet and there is a small object at hand, which will be used as a grounding object for tactile grounding in combination with respiratory system. Teacher can give students the following instruction: "Take a deep breath and let it out. Repeat this action several times. Focus on your inner feelings that arise in the process. Look around you. Find the object that caught your attention the most. It can be any color and size.

The main thing is that it is good for you. Approach this object, or pick it up if the size allows. Now repeat the exercise with breathing while focusing on tactile sensations. Do it synchronously. What do you feel? Have your breathing sensations changed?" This technique can be done at the beginning or at the endof class. In both cases, it works well as a grounding factor.

In order to restore contact with the world around, mental practices that can be used during distance class will be a priority to switch students' attention in time and direct it to something specific and safe. The following exercises work well here: "Backwards" (say some words by placing letters in reverse order); "My person" (identify a person in your environment whom you fully trust and consider "yours"); "Ten events" (name ten happy events in your life when you felt calm and joyful).

To develop the ability to establish contact with different mental spheres, relaxation techniques are well suited, which give the most positive results if practiced in the second half or at the end of distance lesson. In this case, the "bird flight" technique works well. Teacher invites students to imagine themselves as a giant bird flying in the sky. Their task is to look at life with all its problems and colors from a bird's point of view. This exercise gives an opportunity to reflect and come to the conclusion that everything looks not so bad from a bird's perspective. The main purpose of this exercise is to bring consciousness back to the "here and now" and to organize a space in the brain for calming down.

Thus, psychological grounding techniques within distance lesson allow getting rid of unwanted emotions and abstracting from unpleasant experiences, and thus they act as a kind of protective shield that helps restore the resource to turn negative life events into a positive experience for yourself.

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psychological health distance learning student