Dawn AI
Exercises & activities
Guided breathing, grounding, thought reframing, urge surfing, and gratitude exercises Dawn can walk you through on demand.
Quick answer
Dawn's exercises are short, evidence-based interventions you can use in the moment. The shortest take 60 seconds. The longest are 5 minutes. Practice them when you don't need them so the rhythm is familiar when you do.
Breathing
For acute stress, anxiety spikes, or pre-craving moments.
Box breathing — 4·4·4·4
In four, hold four, out four, hold four. Repeat for 4–6 cycles. Used by Navy SEALs and EMTs because it works fast.
4·7·8 breathing
Inhale four, hold seven, exhale eight. The long exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Best for falling asleep or recovering from a panic spike.
Deep belly breathing
Hand on belly, hand on chest. Slow inhale through nose so the bottom hand rises before the top. Slow exhale through mouth. 2–3 minutes.
Ask Dawn: "Can we do a breathing exercise?" — Dawn picks based on your context.
Grounding
For dissociation, panic, or feeling "outside yourself."
5-4-3-2-1
Name 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you smell, 1 thing you can taste. Forces present-moment attention through the senses.
Body scan
Dawn walks you through awareness of each body part top-to-bottom. 3–5 minutes. Best when you have time and a quiet space.
Object focus
Pick one object near you. Describe it in detail — color, texture, weight, history. Pulls attention out of internal spirals.
Ask Dawn: "Help me ground myself" — Dawn picks the most appropriate based on the situation you describe.
Thought reframing (CBT)
For unhelpful or distorted thinking patterns.
Name the thought
Dawn helps you state the triggering thought in plain words — "I'll never get better", "Everyone hates me", "This is pointless".
Examine the evidence
Dawn asks for evidence both for and against the thought. Most distorted thoughts collapse here.
Craft a balanced reframe
Not "everything is great" — that's just the same distortion in reverse. A balanced reframe is true and less hopeless.
Practice it
Dawn helps you anchor the reframe so it's accessible next time the thought returns.
Ask Dawn: "I keep thinking [thought]" or "Help me reframe this".
Urge surfing
For active cravings. The premise: cravings are waves, not permanent states. They rise, peak, and fall — usually within 20 minutes.
Notice without judgment
Dawn guides you to observe the craving as a sensation rather than as something you have to act on.
Rate the intensity (1–10)
Pin a number to the current intensity.
Watch it
Treat it like watching weather. The craving is doing its thing. You're observing it.
Re-rate after 3–5 minutes
Almost always lower. The shape of the wave becomes visible once you've watched it once.
Ask Dawn: "I'm having a strong craving right now" — urge surfing is Dawn's default response when you describe an active craving.
Gratitude practice
For low-mood days when reframing feels too heavy.
- Dawn prompts you to list three things you're grateful for.
- They can be small ("hot coffee this morning") or large.
- Builds a gratitude log that shows up on your progress page.
Ask Dawn: "Let's do a gratitude exercise".
How to start an exercise
- Ask Dawn directly with natural language. Any of the prompts above works.
- Let Dawn suggest one based on your check-in or conversation context. Dawn often surfaces an exercise when it picks up on cravings, anxiety, or low mood.
- Quick-access from the dashboard — the Dawn section has buttons for the most-used exercises.
Common pitfalls
Trying an exercise once and giving up if it 'doesn't work'
Most of these are skills, not switches. Box breathing might do nothing the first time and a lot the tenth. Practice when you don't need them.
Using exercises as avoidance
Doing 4·7·8 breathing every time a hard thought surfaces, with no reflection, is just numbing. Pair exercises with thought reframing or journaling so you also process what's underneath.
Personalization
Dawn adapts which exercises it suggests based on:
- Your recovery goals.
- What's worked for you in the past (per companion memory).
- Your current mood from the latest check-in.
- The conversation context.
The more you practice, the better Dawn gets at picking the right exercise at the right time.
Next steps
- How conversations work — the conversational frame around the exercises.
- Coping strategies — broader context for when each technique applies.
Still need help?
Pick whichever way of getting help works best for you.
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