What Is a Container Exercise? | You Don’t Have to Move for It!

Could a container exercise relieve your brain? 

Do you struggle to turn your brain off sometimes? Usually, a 5 senses meditation or a body scan will help calm me down. 

But in some moments, I need a different approach. For me, the thoughts have grown more intense as my family has grown. My heart is out and about walking inside other people. 

The time of day I’ve struggled the most with racing thoughts has been before bed. Some of the things I tried that didn’t work were: 

• Reading – as soon as I close the book my mind is back to racing
• Stretching – feels nice but I don’t always feel up for a long yoga session 
• Journaling – sometimes it felt nice to get things on paper but this just encouraged my brain to keep considering what was bothering me instead of moving on
• Tapping – it’s a popular stress mastery technique but it flares my chronic pain 
• Distracting myself with screens – but I feel overstimulated afterward

For the moments when I’m struggling to turn my brain off, a container exercise has become one of my favorite emotional regulation tools. Even though it first started in trauma therapy, you can use it in your daily life. It helped me in a recent season of mold remediation where I felt anxious that we had missed some of the mold. 

Let’s look at what a container exercise is, how to pick a container, and ways to personalize it to make it effective for you. 

This article is not meant to diagnose or treat disease. It is not professional medical advice. Talk to qualified clinicians if you suspect PTSD, anxiety, depression, or another mental health disorder that is interfering with your life. 

What Is a Container Exercise?

In short, a container exercise is when you imagine something that’s causing you anxiety, a traumatic memory, or any other distressing thought, and imagine putting the problem into a secure container to hold it until you can come back to it at a later time. 

It appears the idea originated in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) circles as a way to help people in the processing of traumatic memories to not exceed their window of tolerance. 

However, credit is not consistently given to a particular expert for coining the term or pioneering the technique. 

I tried EMDR to process medical trauma and medical gaslighting. I was first introduced to container exercises when I was doing EMDR therapy. A therapist walked me through this at the end of a session where I was struggling to downshift out of a traumatic memory. 

Now, when I experience difficult emotions or persistent thoughts that feel like I can’t turn them off, a container exercise is my go-to way of resourcing. 

What Makes Container Exercises Different

What was missing for me with other mindfulness exercises and stress master techniques, is that I wasn’t acknowledging my distressing thoughts, I was trying to ignore them or stuff them down.

The purpose of the exercise is to help your brain acknowledge that this is a valid issue, but also you are setting it aside for a different time when you can finish it or come back to it.

Sometimes, I’ll ask myself where I’m feeling physical sensations in my body and I’ll imagine pulling the thing I’m worried about out of that spot in my body.

Then, I’ll imagine my favorite container, and tell myself that I will schedule time on the calendar to come back to the issue. I’m all about being gentler with myself these days. 

Read More: Self-Compassion With Chronic Illness 

Here’s how you can pick what kind of container to use. 

Container Exercise Ideas 

For me, I find that the best containers have a lid. That feels like more of a secure place. This intentional use of imagery can help communicate to your brain that you will come back to the problem at hand, yet it can’t access you without your consent. 

I like to take a moment to note details about my container. I will imagine the color and the texture. Some of the containers I’ve experimented with imagining are: 

• Cupboard 
• Bank vault
• Basket with lid
• Office drawer
• Chest or trunk 

If I’m having a conflict with someone, I’ll imagine putting the ball back in their court by handing them the container. This helps remind me that I can only control how I act. 

After I put the distressing thought inside the container, I also imagine how it sounds when it shuts. 

Once you have put the distressing thought or worry into the container, notice if your physical sensations change at all. You may blow out a deep breath to see if you can get any tension to release. 

Some people like to imagine walking away from the container or reaffirming that they will come back to deal with it at a later time. 

Why a Container Exercise Works 

When I used to go straight to distraction, I realized that my body and brain were demanding that I at least acknowledge what was bothering me, even if I didn’t have the bandwidth to start addressing it at that time. 

The big caveat is you will need to come back to process whatever stressful thing is troubling you in the container. 

Maybe you just need the listening ear of a friend or you want to seek out professional help from a therapist. 

Two of the best places to find EMDR Therapists are Psychology Today and EMDR International Association.

Have you ever tried a container exercise?

More from Pastor SJ 

• Signs of Mold Poisoning I Missed: What I Wish I Knew Back Then 
• How to Stop People Pleasing | So Important for Moms!
• Over Spiritualization of Health Issues (And How To Avoid It!)

Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.