12 Grounding Techniques for Anxiety
Are you in need of some simple but effective grounding strategies? Do you sometimes feel anxious, overwhelmed or disconnected from your surroundings? Many of us feel occasional anxiety, but some of us experience so much worry and fear that it can interfere with our day-to-day activities and sleep.
This post walks you through the 5-4-3-2-1 and Name 3 Things grounding techniques, and provides you a free printout so that you can have these two grounding methods and 10 additional grounding strategies on hand whenever needed.
Try using one of these 12 grounding strategies the next time you find your anxiety spiraling out of control or you’re feeling some dissociation or detachment from yourself or those around you.
Anxiety symptoms may present themselves as a sensation of pain or tightness in your chest or another part of your body. Feeling extremely anxious may also trigger a panic attack.
The feeling of not having enough air to breathe along with a racing heartbeat can be very frightening. For some individuals, the panic attack may also be accompanied by feelings of dissociation or disconnection from your own body, as well as the present moment.
WORRY CYCLE
Before going into a description of two simple grounding methods, I thought that It may be helpful to review the worry cycle. We typically start out with a triggering event such as an exam, a presentation or needing to meet someone new.
We then start worrying about different worse case scenarios about that event such as: I may do poorly on this exam; if I do poorly on this exam, I won’t be able to complete this course; if I do poorly on this course, I won’t be able to graduate or get a job in my new field etc.
As we continue to worry, our body begins to physically respond to this stress in whatever ways we typically respond. For some people, emotional stress can cause headaches, backaches, stomach upset and more. As our physical responses coupled with our worries lead to additional physical responses, it becomes harder to break the anxiety cycle.
To break the worry cycle, you’ll want to slow down your thoughts and feelings. This can be done through challenging and reframing your thoughts and worries, meditating (a list of wonderful guided meditations), engaging in therapy (check out some of the benefits you may reap from therapy) or by employing one of the grounding techniques illustrated below.
Name 3 Things grounding Exercise
The first grounding method involves alternating between 3 things that you see, smell, hear and feel/touch and taking 3 slow breaths. In other words:
Name 3 things that you see.
Breathe in and out slowly three times.
For example: I see a fan; I see a lamp fixture and I see a desk.
Name 3 things that you smell.
Breathe in and out slowly three times.
For example: I smell some soap on my hands, detergent on my shirt and coffee in the air.
Name 3 things that you hear.
Breathe in and out slowly three times.
For example: I hear the fan running, some voices of people talking in the hallway and a siren outside.
Name 3 things you feel/touch.
Breathe in and out slowly three times.
For example: I feel my feet on the ground, my tongue touching my teeth and the hair on my skin.
Click below to get your free copy of the Name 3 Things Grounding Exercise
5-4-3-2-1 grounding Exercise
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique is similar to the “Name 3 Things” method, in that you’ll be noting what your senses see, hear etc. except that you’ll be varying the number of items per sense and adding in a color feature for the visual requirement.
What are…
5 things that you see?
4 things that you can feel?
3 things that you can hear?
2 things that you can smell?
1 thing that you can taste?
Note that you are free to switch around the order of the senses; the important thing is to be observant and slow your internal process down.
You may also find it helpful to further slow down the process by adding in a more detailed description for each category.
For example: For the 5 things that you see, you may say: I see some green in the weave of the pillow on the couch; I see some green in the silkscreen painting hanging on the wall near the entrance; I see green leaves on the plant on my desk etc.
Modification of 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique
Another variation of the 5-4-3-2-1 technique entails inserting a color requirement for the 5 things that you see, and/or switching out the “What is one thing that you can taste” with “What is one thing that you like about yourself?” This requires you to stop and think further, thereby enabling you to get further immersed in this exercise and support your self-soothing efforts.
I’m hoping that you find these grounding methods helpful in calming you and your body so that you are able to regain your equilibrium the next time you find yourself overwhelmed with emotions.
You may also enjoy How to Stop a Panic Attack (Even When It Feels Impossible).
Click below to get your free copy of the 1-2-3-4-5 and Name 3 Things Grounding Exercises plus 10 additional strategies.
Need some one-on-one assistance to help you cope with your feelings of stress, anxiety or overwhelm? Please reach out to schedule a free consultation.
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