If you suffer from anxiety, grounding yourself can be a helpful way to cope with your symptoms. Grounding is a technique that helps you focus on the present moment and connect with your surroundings. This article explores ways you can become more calm and relaxed.

Grounding techniques can even help you when you feel a panic attack coming on. Practice some of the techniques within this article to help reduce your anxiety, and reduce or even stop your panic attacks.

There are many different grounding techniques that you can try. Some common ones include:

• Focusing on your breath: Take slow, deep breaths and focus on the sensation of the air moving in and out of your lungs.

• Focus on your five senses: Notice what you can see, what you can smell, what you can taste, what you can feel and what you can hear. You can also do the “5-4-3-2-1 technique”:
  finding one thing you can taste, two things you can smell, three things you can hear, four things you can feel and five things you can see.

• Progressive muscle relaxation: Starting with your toes, tense and relax each muscle group in your body one at a time.

• Visualisation: picturing a peaceful scene or memory in your mind.

Try out different techniques and check what works for you. Grounding yourself can take practice, but it is a valuable tool to have in your anxiety coping arsenal.

Finding the Present Moment With “The Power of Now”

Eckhart Tolle’s book “The Power of Now” is all about living in the present moment and grounding yourself in the here and now. The book explores the idea that anxiety comes from dwelling on past events or worrying about the future. Instead, if we can focus on the present moment, we can find peace and calm.

“The Power of Now” offers many practical tips and grounding techniques. If you suffer from anxiety or panic, this book is definitely worth a read.

Grounding Techniques – Yoga

Yoga is a great way to ground yourself and focus on the present moment. Peer reviewed studies show that yoga is fantastic for mental health: it can help reduce anxiety and panic in the short term. Yoga can also decrease these two when it is practised in the long term. Having regular yoga practice really can have a profound effect on your mental health. There are many different yoga poses that can help you feel more calm and relaxed. Some grounding yoga poses include:

Mountain pose: Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms at your sides. Tense your muscles and then relax them, feeling the stiffness melt away.

Tree pose: Stand with your feet together then place your hands on your hips. Shift your weight onto one foot and raise the other foot off the ground, placing it against your inner thigh. Focus on a point in front of you to help you balance.

Child’s pose: Start on all fours and then sit back on your heels. Slowly lower your forehead to the ground and extend your arms in front of you. Breathe deeply and let go of all your tension.

Grounding Techniques – Breathwork

Breathing exercises are a great grounding technique. There are many different breathing techniques that you can try. Some grounding breathing techniques include:

Focusing on your breath: Take slow, deep breaths and focus on the sensation of the air moving in and out of your lungs.

Counting your breaths: Inhale for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of four, exhale for a count of four. Repeat.

Visualising your breath: Picture your breath as a calm, relaxing force flowing through your body.

If you practice these breathwork grounding exercises consistently, you should begin to notice an improvement in your symptoms of anxiety and become more grounded as a result.

Grounding Techniques – Meditation

Meditation is a form of mindfulness and another of the powerful grounding techniques. Mindfulness is the practice of being present and aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings. When you are mindful, you are not judging or reacting to your thoughts (even if they are distressing thoughts), you are simply observing them.

Mindfulness meditation helps you to focus on the present moment and quiet your racing thoughts. This can help you feel more grounded and less anxious. In addition, mindfulness meditation can help to reduce stress and improve your overall mental well-being in just a few minutes. If you feel like you are having an anxiety attack, you can practice mindfulness to help stop it.

There are many different types of mindfulness meditation. Some people prefer to meditate with guidance from a teacher or audio recording. Others prefer to meditate on their own. There are also many different applications and programmes that can help you get started with mindfulness meditation.

Guided Meditation

If you are new to meditation, you might find it helpful to start with a guided meditation. You can get guided meditations online or in apps, and can also be done in person with a teacher.

When you do a guided meditation, you will focus on your breath and listen to the guidance of the teacher or recording. The goal of guided meditation is to help you relax and focus on the present moment.

You can find free guided meditations online or in apps like Headspace or Calm. You can also find classes at local yoga studios or community centres.

Do-It-Yourself Meditation

If you prefer to meditate without guidance, there are still many ways to get started. You can find directions for do-it- yourself meditation online or in books.

When you meditate on your own, you will focus on your breath and allow your thoughts to come and go without judgement. The goal is to simply observe your thoughts and not get caught up in them.

You can meditate for as little as five minutes or for much longer. It is important to find a time and place where you will not be interrupted. You may want to sit or lie down in a comfortable position. You may also want to focus on something like a mantra or candle flame to help you keep your attention on the present moment.

Grounding Techniques – Different Strategies

To calm a racing mind you can also :

• Try to count backwards from ten slowly

• Play your favourite song

• Call someone for emotional support

• Use essential oil (especially lavender)

• Anxiety and Physical Sensations

Sometimes when people get anxiety, their body feels unusual. They may get pins and needles in their body, they may feel clammy, they might even feel like they are having heart problems.

Anxiety can lead people to believe that they have health conditions that they simply do not have. For these people, it is easy for them to believe that they have health problems because their body is indicating that they do, and their racing thoughts are contributing to this effect.

It is of course worth getting your health checked if you feel like something is “wrong”, but much of the time, when someone has an anxiety condition, it is their body and mind playing tricks on them.

When Should I See a Mental Health Professional?

If you have practised the grounding techniques within this article and they are not proving effective, it may be time to speak with someone with training in mental health. While the techniques within this guide are powerful, some people may need additional help.

Seeking someone trained in mental health can help you get to the roots of your negative feelings and anxious thoughts.

Conclusion

The grounding techniques within this article are all proven to be effective in helping people feel calm. If you practice these grounding techniques and are still feeling anxious, it may be time to contact a mental health professional.

Contact The Revoke Programme now, to learn more. Our evidence-based services are here to help people find recovery and our staff are highly skilled in providing the help that you need.