— Mental Health —

A Grounding Exercise You Might Find Useful.

09/10/2023

What Are Grounding Exercises?

Grounding exercises can help us when we are feeling overwhelmed by unwanted thoughts, memories (including flashbacks) and feelings associated with anxiety and trauma. You can also use them if you are triggered by stress. Grounding exercises can help to re-center and calm the body and mind. They can help us to shift our focus back to the present moment away from those negative thoughts, memories and feelings about the past or future.

When to UA grounding exercise you might find useful DBpsychologyse Grounding Techniques

The idea behind using grounding exercises is that they help to distract, soothe and reframe any distressing feelings and thoughts we are experiencing. So grounding exercises are very helpful for people who are experiencing any of the following conditions:

The above list is not all inclusive. There are many different kinds of grounding exercises we can use. These can include deep breathing or mindfulness meditations, engaging your senses to bring you back to the present moment, body awareness exercise, etc. When we learn grounding exercises they should help us to feel more empowered to manage any challenging situations or triggers that arise.

Use Your Senses As A Means Of Grounding Yourself.

Engaging your senses –sight, sound, touch, taste and smell – is a fast way to relieve stress, anxiety and overwhelming thoughts, memories and feelings. The key is to find what works for you in any given situation. This may take time and practice to figure out. But it is well worth it in the end.

So what might work for you? Some people find lighting a nice scented candle works, walking along the seashore or pier, listening to calming or uplifting music, etc. Whatever it is, it is worth looking into. For more ideas click the link above on engaging your senses. Here you will find a number of blogs that list all the senses and ways you can engage them to ground yourself back into the present moment.

Or try the 5,4,3,2,1 exercise for on the go relief.

This uses all our senses to raise our awareness back into the here and now. Thus allowing us to relax or enable us to get through a difficult moment. You should feel reoriented and calmer after doing this, but repeat again if needed.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Procedure.

  1. Say 5 things you see right now. Look around you at the details.
  2. Name 4 things you can feel right now. Notice any of the sensations between the things you touch and your hand.
  3. List 3 things you can hear right now. Try to pick out individual sounds around you.
  4. Name 2 things you can smell right now. Look for two individual smells here that are close by.
  5. Name 1 thing good thing about yourself. Or name 1 thing you can taste, mint flavoured gum is always a good one here for interrupting our thinking.

This is only one example of the many grounding exercises you can use. A therapist can teach you so many more to help you with whatever you are experiencing. Please seek professional help if you have experienced trauma in the past or are currently feeling overwhelmed by life.

My Book.

Did you know I talk about basic self-care in my workbook The Building Blocks Of Self-Care? The steps in this workbook will help you lay the foundations to rebuilding your life, feel more in control and help you build healthy routines. You can purchase it on Amazon or here.