If the thought of a busy office Christmas party, a large family gathering, or another loud holiday event you can’t avoid makes you feel anxious, now is a good time to practice grounding exercises you can use quietly to manage those feelings in the moment.
At Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health in Leland, North Carolina, we provide behavioral health services for people with a wide range of mental health conditions.
What Is a Grounding Exercise?
An activity that helps you manage intense emotions (like anxiety) by helping you to get out of your head, distract yourself, and bring you back to the present moment is a grounding exercise. Whenever you are having a fight or flight response to something where your life or safety is not actually in danger, you can use grounding techniques to trigger a relaxation response. Grounding exercises don’t replace therapy or medications, but they can make them more effective in treating your mental health concerns.
Why Should You Try Grounding Techniques?
One of the best things about grounding yourself is that many of the strategies you can use are very subtle to outside observers, so people around you may not even realize you’re feeling anxious or that you’re doing anything to address it. Whether you’re headed to your in-laws in your car, sitting in your busy office, or sneaking off for a quick break in a quiet corner of a big event, you can use these exercises.
One key, however, is to practice them in advance, so that your brain has already begun to learn what it’s supposed to do when you really need to use them. Also, you will have time to figure out which of the techniques are most effective for you if you try them out in advance. Other benefits of grounding activities include:
- Minimal risk of side effects
- Won’t interact with medications
- Can be used at any age
- May help with co-occurring conditions
Examples of Grounding Strategies
There are many different grounding techniques that you can test out to see which ones are most effective in addressing your anxious feelings. Some of the most popular include:
- Deep breathing: Spend a few minutes taking slow, deep, intentional breaths and focusing on the sensations your body feels when you are breathing, and you should notice a decrease in your heart rate.
- Observe your surroundings: Take note of what you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch from your environment. This will bring you back to your present moment.
- Focus on one specific sense: Carry things on your person or place items in locations where you sometimes feel anxious, such as your purse, desk, or car, that have intense smells, tastes, or physical sensations. Pain fidgets can cause a minor sense of discomfort without causing injury, a strongly flavored mint or candy will draw your attention to your taste buds, or an aromatherapy oil can allow you to focus on a smell.
- Guide yourself through the steps of a process: Whatever you do frequently, that takes multiple steps, you can take yourself through completing that activity to distract from difficult feelings. It might be playing a song, preparing a favorite dish, fixing something, or whatever else you are able to do from start to finish.
- Tell yourself about an object nearby: Describe the color, shape, function, size, texture, weight, materials, etc.
- Make a list: Choose any category you like and make a list of everything you can think of in that category. If you love dogs, cars, travel, sports, or something else, that can be a category. Go through two or three different categories until you feel calmer. This technique also works really well for children and adolescents who experience anxiety
If you would like to find other grounding strategies, there are many lists and videos online detailing a variety of options. It is best to practice when you are not feeling upset, so that they are easy for you to do when you are having a rough time.
At Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health, we don’t want anxiety to steal your joy. Our caring team of professionals offers inpatient treatment for adolescents and adults who are struggling with mental health, during the holiday season and throughout the year.
