Grounding Techniques: What Are They?

Also called grounding exercises or grounding skills, these techniques are known to distract, reframe, or soothe distressing feelings and calm the mind and body from anxiety triggers. You may already be practicing some of these techniques without realizing it. They shift your focus from past and future thinking into the present moment.

Grounding Techniques: When to Use Them

Grounding exercises are especially useful for people who experience:

• Anxiety-related disorders
• Feelings of self-harm
• Substance abuse disorders
• Eating disorders
• Symptoms of PTSD or C-PTSD
• A feeling of dissociation
• Childhood trauma
• Overwhelming feelings or panic attacks
• Chronic pain conditions

Mental grounding techniques include cognitive, somatic, and behavioral exercises. These techniques can shift negative perceptions into more realistic or positive ones. Furthermore, they encourage you to focus on your present feelings, thereby reframing difficult situations. When used effectively, they help you accept (without resistance) your current situation.

Here are 12 grounding techniques that use the mind to reduce stress or anxiety:

1. The Importance of Mindfulness

An awareness of one’s current thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations is one of the most powerful grounding techniques. Adopting a more mindful approach to everyday life can have numerous benefits. Being mindful means being present with your thoughts and feelings while accepting your current reality without judging or trying to change it.

2. Engage in Meditation

Meditation is the intentional practice of staying present with your mind and body. The practice of meditation includes breathing exercises, intentional walks, and progressive muscle relaxation. Practicing meditation for just 10 minutes a day can reduce anxiety and sharpen focus.

3. Describe Your Situation Objectively

During distressing situations, you can feel grounded by separating facts from opinions. You can do this exercise by pretending you are a reporter who must remain objective. You might say, “This is so terrifying right now,” or “I have a presentation in one hour. I will have to speak in front of ten people. I’ve been afraid in the past. My stomach tightens and my heart rate increases.”

4. Make Use of Your Five Senses

The five-sense exercise can help you ground yourself when you are overwhelmed or hyperactive. It’s a distraction technique that supports present-moment thinking. Simply focus on five things you see, four things you feel, three things you hear, two things you smell, and one thing you taste.

5. Find a Safe Place for Yourself

The “safe place” exercise is a type of guided imagery that promotes calmness and emotional security. Close your eyes and visualize a safe, comfortable place when you feel heightened. You can use real or imagined places. During this time, try to engage all five of your senses. Spend as much time there as you need.

6. Identify Categories of Items

Taking a moment to focus on all the items in a specific category, such as action movies or children’s books, shifts your focus to a task-oriented approach.

7. It Is Important to Recite Something in Order

Repeating a task, whether it be multiplying by threes, saying the alphabet backward, or reciting a poem you have memorized, is a helpful distraction technique because it forces you to focus on the particular task rather than the present distress.

8. Affirmative Safe Words Should Be Used

Use an easy-to-remember reminder when you’re in uncomfortable situations. It can be as simple as a word like “calm” or “breathe.” You can also try phrases like “This will pass” or “I will be okay.”

9. Make Your Anxiety Visible

This exercise can help you separate yourself from your distressing thoughts by imagining your anxiety as an object, such as a leaf. Then, imagine that leaf falling off a tree and floating down a river.

10. Play Mental Games

To cope with anxiety, you might make up simple games to play. For example, you might focus on finding five white cars while you’re driving, or you might think about seven people you love the most.

11. Describe What You See Around You

The objects around you have colors, so name them. What else can you describe about your environment? How warm or cool is it? Do you have access to a window that allows you to see outside? It is helpful to focus on your surroundings when you are trying to ground yourself. Using your senses helps to lower blood pressure and heart rate by stimulating your brain and focusing on your environment.

12. Do Math Equations in Your Head

Trying to solve math problems in your head is a good way to distract yourself. You can also use it to help ground yourself by coming up with solutions when dealing with many things outside of your control. Add two large numbers together or divide a four-digit number in half.

Techniques for Grounding Physically:

In physical grounding techniques, you engage your senses or use specific items to provide relief. These techniques can offer a needed distraction and generally require more preparation and time than mental grounding techniques. However, they can be very effective in coping with distress symptoms.

To reduce distress, grounding techniques use the five senses or tangible objects:

1. Take a Moment to Savor a Food or Beverage

While eating or drinking something you enjoy, try to focus on the sensations that arise. Avoid or limit any other distractions during this exercise.

2. Hold the Ice

Simply hold a few ice cubes in your hand or trace them along your arms or legs when you feel anxious. Focus on the sensation and direct your mind back to it if your thoughts wander.

3. Sprint Quickly

Take a few seconds to catch your breath, and then repeat this exercise one or two more times. This burst of physical activity can increase blood flow and release endorphins. Running also produces a short-lasting feeling of pleasure known as the “runner’s high.”

4. Take a Breathwork Class

Although you can do breathwork on your own, it’s often helpful to learn it in a structured program. Breathing works by deactivating the sympathetic nervous system and activating the parasympathetic nervous system simultaneously.

5. Take a Whiff of Something

When you feel distressed, try engaging in this sense as a way to help you calm down, whether it’s lighting a candle or baking your favorite dessert.

6. Identify a Safe Object

Keeping a designated stone, coin, or other small item in your pocket or purse can serve as a grounding piece when you feel stressed. Use the item to promote mindfulness when you’re anxious.

7. Clench Your Fists and Release Them

By clenching your fists and muscles, you become physically aware of the muscles you are using, which can be useful when trying to ground yourself.

8. Listen to the Sounds Around You

Mindfulness and awareness of the sounds in your surroundings can also ground you, helping you mentally recognize where you are, as well as physically relaxing your body.

9. Feet on the Ground

In the “feet on the floor” exercise, you simply shift as much weight to your feet and “ground” them into the earth. This simple exercise reminds you that you are a single entity connected to a much larger universe.

Create a Grounding Space:

Establish a grounding space in your room. It can be an entire room or a small section, such as your favorite chair or table. When you feel overwhelmed, go to that space. You will eventually associate it with a safe place to calm yourself. Take a hot shower or bath to get in touch with your body, and let the heat physically relax you.

Techniques for Grounding That Are Soothing:

1. Find Something Funny to Do

In the face of intense emotions, finding humor can help diffuse them, whether you find a funny meme or watch a clip from your favorite comedian. Laughter can certainly be an appropriate response to managing your overall well-being, although you shouldn’t feel pressured to “laugh off” your pain.

2. Focus on Coloring

The popularity of adult coloring books has exploded in recent years, and for good reason. Coloring can help you relax and promote a sense of calm.

3. List All Your Favorite Things

If you write down all your favorite foods, colors, and types of physical activities, you will be reminded of all the things that make you happy.

4. Sit with Your Pet

Having a pet can be very therapeutic. Studies have shown that the vibrations your pet makes can reduce your anxiety levels.

5. Plan an Activity You Enjoy for the Future

Plan a hike, eat a meal, go to a concert with friends, have dinner with family, or anything else that you feel would benefit your health.

6. Listen to Music

Research suggests that music and music therapy are effective in healing anxiety, depression, trauma, and pain, as well as distracting you momentarily.

7. Practice Self-Compassion and Positive Self-Talk

Though we all talk about the importance of self-compassion and positive self-talk, we rarely know how to actually practice it. Write down all the things that make you unique and all of your favorite qualities about yourself. When you are feeling overwhelmed and anxious, you will find it helpful to refer to this list frequently.

Grounding Exercises: How to Use Them

Grounding techniques need to be practiced consistently. Practicing them in calm situations will make them more automatic when you’re emotionally elevated. Grounding techniques can be made more effective by following these four tips:

1. The First Step is to Practice Often

Make these exercises part of your everyday routine. You want them to feel like a regular habit, and not just an awkward intervention when times get tough.

2. Act Early

In the early stages of distress, grounding yourself can reduce symptoms before they escalate. Prevention and early intervention can reduce symptoms before they worsen.

3. Don’t Judge Yourself Too Harshly

It is not your fault if you struggle with mental health issues. Try to be compassionate towards yourself as you practice these exercises.

4. Seek More Support

The grounding techniques can help you manage your mental health, but you may need additional guidance. Therapy can help you learn new tools to treat your symptoms and improve your emotional health.

Moreover, grounding exercises appear to be effective in managing mental health because they are free, easy to learn, and can be practiced anywhere. Studies show that grounding can help promote a positive mood. Furthermore, studies show that regular meditation improves anxiety and depression symptoms. You can calm yourself down during an elevated moment by practicing grounding exercises. When you practice these skills regularly, you’ll be able to lower anxiety, trauma symptoms, and intense cravings. Practice is key—the more you make grounding a part of your routine, the easier it becomes.