Grounding Techniques For Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues. I used to struggle with anxiety daily, and it was awful.

With a little know-how, you can cope with your anxiety using some grounding techniques to help your situation.

The more you practice these techniques, the better at them you will be. Remember to try each one and find one that works best for you.

The most common grounding technique is the 5,4,3,2,1 method. It’s effortless and straightforward as you look around going through each one of your senses.

Focus on your senses, such as smell, taste, touch, sight, and hear.

Start with what you can see. Pick out five things and say them out loud.

Now touch four things around you. Are they warm? Rough? Cold? Say them out loud again.

Move on to what you can hear. Find three things you can listen to and say those out loud.

Identify what you can smell and then taste. Do your clothes smell like fabric softener? Is there a smell in the air? Find two things you can smell and then one you can taste.

Whatever it is around you, focus on them, and say them out loud. By doing this, you have just brought yourself back to the present because you were to busy focusing on what you were doing, and not overthinking.

Concentration Meditation – Concentrate on a single point or object around you and focus your sole attention on it.

Your mind will tend to wander, and that’s okay, choose a new object, and continue to concentrate. As you practice this meditation, your concentration will improve.

Mindfulness Meditation – There are many benefits to mindfulness meditation, such as:

This type of meditation encourages you to observe your thoughts as they pass through your mind. The more you use this technique you will allow yourself

to see and observe your feelings and thought patterns. Mindfulness meditation will help you become aware of each thought.

The next time your anxious try deep breathing using these steps:

One of my favorite grounding techniques is chair grounding, as it helps me fully relax and take my mind off of things. Here is how you do it.

Sit down on a comfortable chair; I prefer a soft plush chair with arms. Make sure your feet can touch the ground when you are sitting.

As you are sitting, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Slowly breath into the count of three, then slowly exhale.

Now shift your focus to your body and how it feels sitting in the chair. Is the chair material soft?

Press your arms into the chair with your hands hanging off the end. How does it feel?

Now pay attention to your legs and feet. Notice them planted firmly on the floor.

Start now to relax your muscles throughout your body, starting from your head, neck, and shoulders.

Let them fully relax and continue to move down through your body. Relax your arms, your torso, moving down to your legs, and finally, your feet.

Don’t rush this, enjoy the relaxation and your body not being tense. Imagine all the bad energy from your body released into the ground, through your feet.

Ask yourself questions like what time is it?

What day is today, and what is the date? Simple questions like these might seem silly, but they will help bring you back to reality.

Also, use affirmations. Tell yourself, “I am safe here,” “nothing bad will happen,” or “these bad feelings will pass.”

Go to your favorite spot and put on some of your favorite music. Pretend you are hearing the song for the very first time. Pay close attention

to the melody, lyrics and instruments. How does the song make you feel?

Water is powerful, as it can help calm your anxious thoughts. The Blue Gym Initiative, suggests that “blue spaces” such as lakes, oceans and rivers have positive

mental health benefits. If you don’t live near a body of water, you can go to your bathroom or kitchen and turn on the faucet.

Make the water warm and notice how it trickles through your fingers. Listen to the sound of the water flowing.

Let the water bring you back to the present and relieve your anxious thoughts.

Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on doing these grounding techniques, so I suggest doing something that gets you moving.

Many times when we are anxious, our adrenaline is pumping through our bodies. To help alleviate some of this energy, I suggest the following:

Find anything that will get you moving. Cleaning, doing chores around the house, whatever it is that gets you a bit tired.

Once you’ve done this, you can come back and start one of the other techniques.

Remember, there are many ways to help you cope with anxiety. Find the right grounding technique that works best for you.

Some of these techniques may work at different times than others.

Let me know what your favorite grounding techniques are, and if you know of something different, please let me know.