10 Grounding Skills for Stress Management
Let’s face it, it’s never fun to feel overwhelmed. Emotional flooding and meltdowns never happen during convenient times. The importance of learning some basic “grounding” skills can be life changing. It’s important for you to have some healthy, go-to skills when you need them most. These skills are wonderful to navigate racing thoughts as well, something that’s becoming more common these days.
Use your journal as an ally. When overwhelmed one of the healthiest and safest things you can do to take care of yourself is to lean into the wide open space of your journal—list everything that is stressing you out, free write, stream of consciousness style, to get your emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations out in a productive way. The very act of moving your pen / pencil across paper is soothing and gives you something to do, instead of keeping all that tension wound up in your body.
Use your body. Press your feet into the ground and if possible, rub your palms together, then place them near the ground or push into a horizontal surface. Feel the resistance meeting you there? That’s earth meeting your body, and she’s got you. Try to let it in. Also, getting in a quick walk is helpful for moving cortisol—the main chemical involved in our fight or flight response—out of the blood stream. It is natural to want to move after something stressful and helps the blood stream clear itself and destabilize.
Awaken your senses. If you feel yourself floating away, dissociating, disconnecting from the moment due to being triggered or overwhelmed, this is your body’s way of managing the stress. One way to help bring yourself back to the moment is to use your senses to reengage with the present moment. Take as long as you need to notice what you see, hear, taste, smell, and feel in the place where you are. A great and simple practice for this is 5-4-3-2-1: Notice 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste.
Harness your breath. A great technique to use any time or place that no one will even notice is the 4-7-8 breathing rhythm. It goes like this: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. This helps slow your nervous system and put you back in control. You might also try drawing a square on a piece of paper and breathing in a rhythm that feels supportive as you trace your finger along the edge.
Observe with curiosity. Imagine that this is the first time you have ever seen an object in your environment. Use your full attention to describe this object in detail: size, shape, color, texture, shadow, light, smell, taste, sound, temperature, energy, etc. Notice how your attention promptly shifts away from your worries and into the present moment yet again.
Hold (or lean against) stones and trees. Using the literal ground is one of my favorite ways to help clients integrate a sense of calm and centering. Look out a window (or step outside) and resource yourself with a plant, animal, or tree, shifting the focus from your internal world for just a moment. As you do this, imagine pulling the strength of that tree into your own body before returning to your inner world for another brief moment and once again shifting your focus to the outer world (this is an ecotherapy practice also called pendulation). Stones are older than all the plants combined on our earth. They have some pretty incredible wisdom to impart.
Self soothe. Positive self talk matters, friend! You are worthy of having support and internal resources. Speak nicely to yourself, forgive yourself, and tell yourself something kind in a moment of challenge. We’re all doing the very best we can, including you.
Step away. Sometimes the best thing you can do to ground is to leave a situation, especially if you are overly stimulated. Use this as a time to drink a hot cup of tea, feel the breeze on your skin, smell something pleasant, write, read, meditate (the apps Calm and Headspace are both nice and offer free trials), stretch, exercise, or find a tree or stone to spend some time with.
Unplug. This one is everything! You are allowed to consciously unplug, turn off or step away from your electronic devices, and remove yourself from the buzz, ping, and notifications of technology. Try it for 10 minutes and come back, noticing what has shifted.
Work with affirmations. Affirmations are powerful. Some great ones to use for grounding are as follows:
I easily adapt to any situation.
I remain grounded, no matter the direction or force of the wind.
I breathe my way into the present moment.
I am flexible and move through life with effortless ease.
I am calm, centered, and peaceful.