THE SOBER WITCH BLOG

There are so many ways to create a Coping Skills Spell Bag and everyone’s bag will be different with their own personal flavor. However, the purpose of them are essentially the same–to help distract and soothe us.

DISTRACT: anything that temporarily distracts us from intense or overwhelming emotions. Things that occupy our hands and brain are helpful in distracting, such as little coloring pages with a few crayons or mini colored pencils, sudokus, a small crochet project, or fidget spinners.

SELF-SOOTHE: anything that nurtures and soothes us. A good way to identify what soothes you is to consider your 5 senses:

          SIGHT—photos of your favorite space, pets, people

          SMELL—essential oils, mini perfumes

          HEARING—a list of sounds you find soothing (particular types of music, white noise, river burbling, etc.)

          TASTE—a couple packets of tea, hard candies, gum, mints, suckers

          TOUCH—polished stones; worry stones (also called thumb stones); a piece of material that is pleasing for you to touch, such as silk or faux fur

You might also consider creating a Quit Card and putting that into your bag as well. A Quit Card is an index card that is basically a little Relapse Prevention Plan. On one side, you list the reasons why you want to quit your drug of choice or a particular behavior (e.g. nail biting, etc.) On the other side, you write down what things you can do instead.

Quit Cards have been an essential element for me whenever I have tried to quit something. I created one when I quitting alcohol and drugs, and created another one when I more recently quit vaping nicotine. I will be creating yet another one when I finally commit to quitting nicotine lozenges, which I can feel is coming soon. I will definitely be keeping you updated on my progress on that.

The following is the Quit Card I made for quitting vaping many years ago:

For skills that can’t be physically stored in your Coping Skill Spell Bag, consider taking a photo or writing a note to remind yourself about them. I took a photo of my matron and patron archetype statues so that I could include them in my spell bag.

I also like to use pretty scrapbooking paper to write affirmations on as well as things like, “Call Emily when you need to vent,” “Go for a walk,” and “Remember keep your exhales longer than your inhales.”

Another option is to create a Coping Skills DIGITAL Spell Bag on your phone with a list of coping skills and techniques that work for you, affirmations/mantras, YouTube links, music playlists, photos, inspiring memes, etc.

To help you get started in creating your own bag, here is a list of everything I have in my own Coping Skills Spell Bag pictured at the top of this post:

• Moon Magick: Deep Moon Messages by Stacey Demarco (a mini oracle deck)
• Paper Lunar Cycle Fortune Teller from Coloring Book of Shadows creator, Amy Cesari (Love her!!)
• Box Breathing Sticker
• Web of Wyrd Image (this is a Norse meditation technique)
• Goddess Ma’at Oracle Card
• A Red, Sparkly Worry Stone (it was sold to me as red agate, but it is definitely not red agate)
• A Raccoon Tooth and Bone (both ethically sourced from my local woods)
• Tarot Anointing Oil from Witches Moon
• Howlite Bead Bracelet
• Tiger’s Eye Point
• Small Sodalite Tumbled Stones
• Smokey Quartz
• Clay Runes (I made these a few years ago)
• One of Picard’s Feathers (if you’ve listened to the podcast, you most likely have heard my cockatiel, Picard, squawking in the background)
• Zolli Pops
• A Couple Affirmation Cards
• Tarot Cards (the Justice and Chariot cards are the two I am focusing on this year)
• A Mini Crisis Cope Ahead Plan Worksheet (this one is taken from the Self-Directed DBT Skills by Fehling and Weiner that I’ve been working through)
• Mini Polaroids (patron and matron archetype statues, my dog, and the woods in front of our house)

Let me know if you make a Coping Skills Spell Bag of your own and please share it in the comments if you can. I can’t wait to hear or see what you put in your spell bag!

But until next time . . .

KEEP YOUR SOBRIETY STRONG & YOUR WITCHCRAFT POWERFUL!!