What is Grounding? Mental Health Strategies
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Grounding, in psychotherapy, is the process of feeling more connected with your body as well as the present environment around you. It focuses on building an awareness of your body and rooting it to where you currently are- the chair you are sitting in or the ground beneath your feet. This can be very important to do when we feel lost in our thoughts or overwhelmed by our feelings. When disorders like Anxiety keep us focusing on past embarrassments or hardships as well as our worries about future mistakes or fears, these grounding strategies can help pull our focus back to the present moment so we can address the here-and-now.
Often times we underestimate the power that our thoughts can have on our body and how it can leave us feeling frozen, numb, or overwhelmed at times. Grounding is one strategy to help regain control over your body by calming your stress response and pulling focus away from those thoughts. If you haven’t read my blog yet on how your thoughts impact your stress responses, you can find it here:
The grounding strategies that I’ll describe below will allow you to break away from those continuous negative or frustrating thoughts by giving your brain a neutral task to complete. As you progress through this task, you are also bringing your awareness to the present moment and putting yourself in a position to engage more actively in positively addressing your stressors or your current needs.
You can also learn more about what your stress response is and how it impacts you here:
Types of Grounding
The grounding that I’ve discussed so far is considered a form of mental grounding. It involves using strategies that you can perform anywhere and as long as you memorize or save the steps of them, you can have access to that coping tool anywhere as well.
An example of mental grounding is the strategy seen below. When you notice you are feeling trapped in stressful thoughts- plant your feet flat into the ground, focus on your breath, drop your tongue from the roof of your mouth, and go through the steps of 5-4-3-2-1 in your mind (or out loud if you felt comfortable to).
As you name 5 things that you see around you, you are pulling your focus from your negative thoughts and into the present time and space around you. When you name four things touching your body you are building an awareness of your body, how you are feeling in it, and the environment that supports it- further grounding you in the present moment and out of your thoughts. Naming three things you hear can mean that you have to decipher the many competing noises of a loud environment and focus on tracing three back to their source OR you have to remain still and expand your listening to find three distinct sounds in a quiet environment. Naming two smells can trigger one of our stronger sensory experiences. You may not be able to always name a taste and sometimes I’ll discuss replacing that final step with naming something positive about your environment or an affirmation for yourself.
Grounding focuses on building body awareness and mental awareness. Body awareness draws your attention to the present moment by focusing on the sensations in your body to shift your focus to yourself and out of stressful thoughts or memories. This can include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or stretching. Mental awareness is tasks or phrases that you can do to also shift focus away from stressful thoughts and into the task at hand. An example of mental awareness could be naming 10 historical figures, naming all the characters from a book or show you recently watched, naming 6 of your past teachers, or any variations of these types of exercises. It’s about completing a neutral task to shift your focus from negative thoughts. You may need to complete multiple tasks in order to successfully calm your stress response.
Grounding is also sometimes referred to as Earthing, which is a more specific form of grounding- Earthing is the act of connecting your skin to the earth. There are numerous studies discussing the benefits of spending time in natural environments and literally connecting with the earth through our bare feet or our hands in the soil, gardening, planting, and playing. However, we don’t always have access to the outdoors or the ability to bring the outdoors in (indoor plants/gardens) during our times of stress. Still, there is a great mental health benefit connected to spending time IN and WITH nature that shouldn’t be discounted. Utilizing both forms of grounding can be incredibly valuable tools to help manage your mental health needs.
Grounding and Trauma Work
Trauma can cause symptoms like flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and anxiety. Grounding strategies can help us regain control of our symptoms and deactivate our stress responses by helping to pull us back into the present moment and out of flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, memories, and anxious thoughts. It is often used in therapy to help clients stay in their ‘window of tolerance’, meaning the level at which an individual can manage their distressing thoughts and feelings without feeling overwhelmed. Grounding strategies in trauma therapy are used as a tool to help a client return to their ‘window of tolerance’ if they begin to feel overwhelmed.
If you are practicing grounding and have a history of trauma, be mindful of where on your body you choose to focus your awareness because some bodily sensations may also be triggering, based on your personal experiences with trauma. This is not guaranteed to happen and many individuals with trauma histories use grounding strategies regularly, but if you’re not aware of how your body “remembers” your negative previous experiences, it can feel confusing or frightening to re-experience them without warning. If you are experiencing visual or sensory flashbacks or need assistance in processing how your body may continue to hold your trauma, consider working with a therapist that specializes in trauma-focused care.
You can find trauma and other mental health worksheets, booklets, and accessories for inspiration at the Therapy-Thoughts Shop.
Check back soon for custom courses on trauma work and mental grounding strategies.
