Grounding on the Go: Quick Techniques to Keep Calm
Think back to the last time you felt completely overwhelmed by intense emotions. A heated argument with a loved one, the stress of looming deadlines at work, or a late-night existential crisis — regardless of the trigger, you probably felt as if your emotions had taken the wheel, leaving you a hapless passenger along for the ride.
What if I told you there’s a way to stop that emotional rollercoaster in its tracks? By learning a few grounding techniques, you can hit the pause button and defuse those big feelings before they turn into a Category 5 meltdown.
Grounding refers to a set of techniques that help bring you back to the present moment. This allows you to step away from intense emotional experiences triggered by stress, anxiety, anger, or traumatic memories. Common grounding techniques often fall into one of these three main categories: physical, mental, and soothing.
Physical grounding engages your five senses — sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch — to bring your focus to something tangible or a bodily sensation.
For starters, you can try the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique. Make a list of things you normally don’t notice and describe them with your senses:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch (How does the fabric of your clothes feel? The chair on your back? Your feet on the floor?)
3 things you can hear (The traffic outside your window)
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste (Carrying gum or candy with you is a great strategy here. If you don’t have any with you, try imagining the taste of one of your favourite foods)
Engaging our senses can be a helpful bridge for those who struggle to turn inward. By directing our attention to objects in our immediate environment, we condition our minds to be more attuned to the here and now. From here, we can start to notice the sensations within our own bodies.
Moving on to mental grounding, these strategies involve reframing negative thoughts and emotions or shifting your focus away from them. Practicing self-compassion and using positive affirmations can help you override these negative thought patterns and regain a sense of calm.
On the other hand, you can try listing items in a specific category, like different types of flowers or countries around the world. Through this simple exercise of “retrieving” objective facts, we bring the brain’s higher-level functions (like reasoning and impulse control) back online — calming our minds and bodies in the process.
Finally, soothing grounding includes techniques that gently coax the nervous system into relaxation and counter our stress response. For example, breathing slowly and deeply from your diaphragm can have an almost immediate calming effect, lowering your heart rate and blood pressure.
Another method is to hold or hug something soft and comforting like your pet, favourite pillow, or a stuffed animal. The tactile sensation and gentle pressure trigger the release of endorphins, reducing feelings of anxiety or distress. Some people also find it helpful to wrap themselves in a warm blanket, which can provide a sense of safety and security.
The beauty of grounding is that it can be customized according to your needs and preferences. So if sensory techniques don’t work for you, that’s perfectly fine. There are many other tools to choose from, and you might find that mental or soothing techniques are better suited for you.
In the end, what’s important is that you have a personal toolkit at your disposal. With the right approach, you’d be able to quickly and effectively bring yourself back to the present moment — even in the face of all-consuming emotions.