Grounding Techniques for Stress and Anxiety

Grounding Techniques for Stress and Anxiety

So many things in life can get us pretty amped up.

It may be work, relationship conflicts, health issues, family stuff...[insert your personal struggle here]. It's important to find ways to calm ourselves, our racing thoughts, and our intense emotions. This isn't about rejecting any emotions or experiences as "bad", but rather about tending to our nervous systems in the midst of intensity. This allows us to ride the waves, experience clarity and empathy during conflict, and maintain our physical and mental health.

Here are a few techniques that I love and use for grounding in the present moment and in the body when experiencing stress, anxiety, fear, or worry.

You'll notice there are a lot of options!

Everyone's brain and body are different, so I like to offer a lot of options. Give them a try and see which ones work best for you! 

Please listen to your own body and mind and what feels right for you. If you notice any of these practices making things worse, please stop! Turn your attention away and towards something enjoyable like a pet, a cup of tea, a walk, or a funny video. 
​

Part 1 - Basic Grounding Techniques

1. 5-4-3-2-1 Mindfulness
First look around your space, and orient to where you are including what is above and behind you and where doors, windows, and other people are. Then, name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel on your skin, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. 

2. Touch
Use your hands to bring touch to your body and feel your solidity and boundaries. Gently squeeze down your arms from your shoulders to your wrists. Gently squeeze down your legs from your thighs to your feet. You might give yourself a gently hug, or a gentle neck massage. You can rub your hands together to create a little warmth and then place your hands on your face, your heart, or your belly. Experiment with any way to can make contact with yourself through touch that feels nourishing and supportive. 

3. Putting Awareness into Supports
While sitting, place your feet on the ground and gently press your feet into the ground. Notice any activation of the leg muscles, feeling the strength in the legs and how your feet connect to the ground. You may also bring sensation into the feet by wiggling the toes or shuffling your feet back and forth against the ground. If this doesn't work for your body, you can also try bringing awareness to your sitting bones and hips by swaying or rocking while you sit. Or if you are lying down, bring as much of your attention as possible to where your body is supported by the chair, floor, bed, or wherever you are. The idea is to feel the support coming up underneath of you.

4. Jumping
If you are physically able, stand and jump or hop in place. This is a way to enhance awareness of our feet, the ground, and our connection to our body and our environment.

5. Balancing
If you are physically able, come into a standing balancing position. This might be as simple as lifting one heel off the ground, or standing with one foot up but with a hand on a chair or wall. Or, you might stand freely on one foot or engage in a more advanced balancing practice if you have that as part of a yoga practice. Balancing engages multiple parts of the brain, causes us to focus intensely on the present moment, and allows distracting thoughts and worries to fade into the background.

Part 2 - Breathing Techniques

1. The Not-Breathing-Techniques
For those of you that don't like breathing practices, this one is for you! You can start to open up the breath without having to put a lot of attention on the breath. These gentle movements in the torso may allow you to naturally slow and deepen your breathing.

• Press your finger tips together while holding your hands at belly level.  Allow the action of pressing the fingers together to ripple up the arms and lengthen the spine.  Imagine creating a little extra length between your head and tailbone.
• Gently round forward and then arch back with your spine a few times, what in yoga is called cat/cow postures. 
• Take a gentle side stretch, reaching your left arm over your head to the right, focusing on lengthening your left rib area. Then reach your right arm over your head to the lefft, focusing on lengthening your right rib area. ​​

​2. Box Breathing
Inhale for 4 counts, hold your breath in for 4 counts, exhale out for 4 counts, hold your breath out for 4 counts. Repeat several times. Go at a pace that feels comfortable for you. If it's helpful, you can imagine a square, with your inhales, holds, and exhales traveling along the edge of the square.  ​
​
3. Extended Exhale
Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 8 counts. Repeat as many times as you like. Go at a pace that feels comfortable for you. While our inhale is connected to the sympathetic (or enlivening) part of our nervous system, our exhale is connected to the parasympathetic (or calming) part of our nervous system. So, extending the exhale can signal our bodies to come into a more restful state. 

4. Supported Breath
Bring one hand to your forehead and the other hand to the back base of your skull. Inhale through the nose while gently bringing your head back (like you're looking up to the ceiling). Exhale through pursed lips out the mouth while gently bringing your head down and forward (like you're looking down at your belly). Repeat several times.. 

Part 3 - Grounding in Nature

Being in nature is one of the best ways to ground. Take some time to go outside, go for a walk, or visit a place with dirt, tress, or water. Make physical contact with the world around you by touching a tree, smelling a flower, or sticking your toes in grass or in water. Try combining time in nature of some of the basic grounding techniques or breathing techniques listed above. 

Part 4 - Somatic Grounding Sequence

These movements can be done on their own, but make a great grounding sequence when put all together.

• ​Shake! Take 2-3 minutes to shake your whole body, or any body parts that you are able to. Experiment with shaking different body parts in different ways! Keep breathing while you do this. It shouldn't be painful or uncomfortable but also try to find the edge of your comfort zone. You may do this standing, sitting, lying down, and at any energy level that feels right for you. Imagine that you are shaking our everything you don't need, or anything from your day that you don't want to hold onto as you move forward.
• Joint Rolls:  Gently bring rolling rotations to your joints one at a time, for about 20 seconds each. Start with where your head rests on your top vertebrae by bobbling the head slightly back and forth. Then rotate the wrists one way and then the other. Rotate the elbows one way and then the other. Continue with the shoulders, the hips, the knees, and the ankles. Please do this in a way that's right for your body and feel free to skip any joints that are not able to move in this way.
• Belly Rub:  Use one or both of your hands to gently rub your lower belly in circles. You may also try this on your solar plexus (a little higher over your stomach), or on your chest. 
• Stroke Down:  Use your hands to gently stroke down the front of your body from your chest to your belly a few times.
• Still Hands:  ​Rest your hands in stillness somewhere on the front of the body, perhaps with one hand on your heart and one on your belly, or with both hands on the heart or on the belly. Breath into that contact.
• Humming: With you hands still on the front of your body, begin to hum for a couple of minutes. You may hum one tone or explore several. You might like to hum a lullaby or a favorite some. Feel the vibration in your vocal chords as well as under your hands, or anywhere else you can perceive this sound rolling through you.

---

As somatic counselor, I love using body-based practices to help my clients work with stress, anxiety, and connection to the self. If you would like support in this process, 
​please reach out for a free consultation.

---