In a moment of anxiety or stress, grounding techniques can help you stay calm and in control. For example, let’s say your car breaks down and you’re late for an important meeting. I think many of us in this situation would start to panic and feel stressed out.
This feeling might even spiral and lead us to have a bad day. But by using grounding techniques, we can stay calm, think clearly, and move on without letting it ruin our entire day.
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How Grounding Techniques Work
Grounding techniques are coping skills that we can take with us anywhere and use at anytime. They typically involve an element of mindfulness, which is a practice that uses the five senses to connect with the present moment.
During a moment of anxiety or stress, we can become really “in our heads”. For example, you might get anxious before a presentation and start overthinking and having negative thoughts. By becoming fully aware of our five senses- touch, taste, smell, sight, and touch, we can move out of our heads, and into the present moment.
Grounding techniques serve as simple reminders to be mindful of our surroundings and mindful of our reactions. I’ve always loved the quote, “You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond.” Grounding techniques empower us take control of how we’re feeling in a given moment, so we don’t need to feel like anxiety and stress have taken over.
I hope you find these 8 simple grounding techniques for anxiety helpful!
1. Put your feet flat on the ground
When we experience anxiety, we can start to feel disconnected from our bodies and disconnected from the Earth. You might get the uneasy feeling of being unstable, unbalanced, or feeling “all over the place.” By placing your feet flat on the ground, you can remind yourself that you’re fully supported by the ground. This can help you feel more secure and less anxious.
2. Sniff your favorite scents
Whether it’s a perfume, a candle, flowers, or your favorite food, smelling your favorite things can help you feel grounded when you’re experiencing stress or anxiety. Close your eyes, take a deep breath of your favorite scent, and become aware of exactly what it smells like and how it makes you feel. This can also be a really powerful, yet simple way to express gratitude and feel happy about smelling the things you love.
3. Find something to fidget with
Do you ever find yourself playing with your hair or fidgeting with your pen when you get anxious? Well, there’s a reason for that and it’s because it works! Having something to physically feel can help us feel grounded and calm. Try squeezing some stress balls with motivational quotes or a fidget cubes for adults! Stress relief products like these can be great to keep around in our purse or desks for moments we need to feel more grounded.
4. Deep breathing exercises
Deep breathing can be a powerful grounding technique to relax our bodies. When you feel anxious or stressed, your heart rates accelerates, your breathing gets shallow, and you start to experience an adrenaline rush. This is known as the stress response and is your body’s natural reaction to situations that may be dangerous.
Deep breathing can reverse the stress response and help us calm down and think clearly. Try breathing in slowly and deeply while counting. For example, inhale to 7, hold for 7, and exhale for 7.
5. Mindful Observation
When you’re feeling anxious, mindful observation can be a great grounding technique to get you into the present moment. To do this, you could focus on an object in front of you and study all the little details on it. For example, you might choose to observe a water bottle. Observe it’s color, the shapes, the size, and the texture. Becoming focused and aware of the details can help bring is into the present moment.
You could also practice mindful observation by looking around the room and counting the amount of objects you see. For example, you could count all of the red objects in a room or all of the objects that are shaped like a triangle. Becoming aware of your surroundings will help you feel grounded.
6. Stretch each part of your body
Stretching is a really effective way to experience body awareness and feel grounded when you’re anxious. It’s probably my personal favorite grounding technique! Start at your toes, move up through your feet, calves, thighs, and all the way up through your neck. Stretch, rotate, and become aware of each body part. You could even give yourself little massages in places that feel tight or sore. Feel more grounded by becoming aware of each little sensation in your body.
7. Color or write
Grab your journal and write about how you’re feeling, or create some art. I’m all about creative expression and think it’s so important and useful for coping with life’s difficulties, such as anxiety. You could do a brain dump, in order to clear your mind and organize all of your thoughts. Or you could grab some colored pencils and color in an adult stress-relief coloring book!
8. Practice Anxiety Affirmations
Affirmations are little sentences you can repeat to yourself anytime you need a little reminder or piece of wisdom. Try anxiety affirmations, such as, “This moment will be pass and I will be ok”, or “I am not really in danger. I am safe and protected.” These sentences can interrupt negative thought patterns and help us feel calm in moments of stress.
I really hope these grounding techniques for anxiety were helpful to you and help you “get out of your head” and into the present moment. Anxiety feels really awful, but grounding techniques like these are ones you can take with you wherever and whenever. So next time you are faced with stress and anxiety, give one of these a try and feel empowered to take control of how you’re feeling.
Let me know in the comments below which grounding technique works best for you!