One of the techniques I have learned through having my own therapy is how to ground myself. This is different from meditation. Although meditation can have a grounding effect, it is not for everyone, and almost impossible for some people to begin with. Something we can ALL access is the huge variety of grounding options – if something doesn’t work for you, there are so many other things to try. If you ever suffer from anxiety, panic, dread, fear, nerves or any overwhelming emotions this could really help.
Why is it necessary to ground yourself?
When we are in a time of stress or trauma the amygdala becomes activated. It is an almond shaped part of the brain which is part of the limbic (or emotion-processing) system. One of its roles is to detect threats and it activates the fear emotion and a fight/flight/freeze/fawn response. The response involves switching off access to logic, and flooding the body with adrenaline ready for action. It can get extremely good at doing this, but now we are spending less time running from dangerous predators and fighting sabre-toothed tigers, this response is not generally necessary for survival – at these times, how do you calm this response?
What is grounding?
When you feel overwhelmed or disconnected, grounding brings you back to the here-and-now and is very helpful in managing overwhelming feelings or anxiety. It is a great way to calm down quickly. It allows you to reconnect with your body, and the other parts of the brain that may have been dampened by the amygdala.
Grounding techniques
There are hundreds of different things that can help to ground us, and finding the ones that work for you is half the battle. These are just a few you can try.
1) Focus on your breath. Count your breaths, feeling the difference in temperature for the in-breath and the out-breath. Once you reach 10, begin again at 1.
2) Tense and relax parts of your body working from the feet up – this might be easier to do lying down, but can also be done in a chair. Feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, stomach, chest, arms, hands, shoulders, face.
3) The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique (This is a great one to do while you are out walking)
Notice 5 things you can see
Notice 4 things you can hear
Notice 3 things you can touch
Notice 2 things you can smell
Notice 1 thing you can taste
4) Eat something sour or strong tasting – taste firmly grounds you in the present – have sour sweets handy or chewing gum.
5) Smell an essential oil – lavender can be calming and eucalyptus stimulating. Or a significant perfume.
6) Hold something – a pebble, a shell, playdough, a stress-ball – how heavy/light does it feels in your hand? how warm/cold? rough/smooth? texture? colour/patterns? does it have a smell?
7) Sometimes you might feel too full of adrenaline to be able to sit and concentrate on any of the above techniques. If this is the case you may need to do something physical to expel this feeling – shake your body, do some exercise – running, swimming, cycling, star jumps, press ups – sing at the top of your voice, do some cleaning, punch a pillow.
Different things will work for different people at different times, don’t be afraid to try more than one if the first thing you try doesn’t work.
Once you notice some effect, even a very small diminishing of the feeling, use this technique again, and get used to doing it regularly. Grounding takes practice – try to do it several times a day, if only for 3mins at a time.
These techniques work with adults and children