Grounding Strategies

Grounding strategies help a person cope with anxiety, panic, and dissociation. With all grounding techniques, the main goal is to get your attention away from the stimuli creating your anxiety, as well as to help you get connected to yourself or the room. I recommend trying these ideas in a comfortable setting to see what works for you. When you know what works for you, memorize the strategy or have it written on something to carry with you. The more you practice, the easier it will be to turn to these strategies when feeling anxious. Bonus: add on some deep breathing.

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1) Look around the space you are in and identify 5 *blue objects (*choose your favorite color)

2) Listen closely for the background noise right now - what do you hear? Can you hear 3 subtle noises?

3) Pop a peppermint in your mouth, or take a sip of your drink - pay attention to what it feels like in your mouth, what flavor is it? What is the texture? Does it have a smell?

4) Touch the fabric of your *shirt. What does it feel like? Is it soft or fuzzy? What type of fabric do you think it is? (sub in fabric of chair, pants, etc)

5) Carry a familiar object with you, such as a stone or key. Notice what it's like when your fingers trace the outline of this object, what does this object feel like in your hand? Light or heavy? Cold or warm?

6) Whether standing or sitting, push your feet into the floor firmly. Bring your attention to what it feels like where your feet make contact with the floor. What shifts in the rest of your body when you push your feet into the floor?

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Breathing Strategies

Breathing techniques are helpful in addition to grounding techniques or standing alone. They can be used to cope with anxiety, panic, anger, insomnia, and dissociation. 

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1) "20 breaths" - Take a breath in, then exhale and count "1", repeat and on second exhale count "2". Continue until you reach 20. If you lose count and your mind wanders, just bring yourself back to where you were and begin again.

2) 4-7-8 technique - inhale to the count of 4, hold your breath to the count of 7, and then exhale with a "woosh" to the count of 8. Repeat for at least 2 minutes total. 

3) Somatic breathing - place one hand on your heart and the other hand on your belly. Begin to take deep breaths in and out - longer on the exhale - focusing your attention on the sensations you are feeling where your hands meet your body. 

4) Longer exhale - the simplest technique is to do some deep breaths with the exhale being longer than the inhale. A count of 4 breaths in to a count of 6 breaths out works well. 

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General Relaxation Meditations

The following recordings include a variety of meditations that utilize visualization to aid in relaxation and self care. Anyone can benefit from these practices. Please find a comfortable space to listen, and I recommend closing your eyes for the most benefit.