Introducing Grounding Techniques for Anxiety Relief

Grounding techniques can help you stay calmly focused in the present moment. They're easy to do, and valuable for helping you learn to control your anxiety. Grounding techniques work by drawing your mind to notice normal physical sensations, this simple act of noticing your body prompts your mind to step down from high adrenalin states like stress and anxiety, and begin to relax.

Grounding techniques are very simple but they have a definite calming effect on the mind. Here's how they work:

Your mind perceives certain physical sensations as being related to stress or anxiety. Typical examples are a dry mouth, shallow breathing and physical disassociation.

Disassociation is the feeling of being "out of touch" with yourself and your surroundings. This can happen naturally, for example, when you're driving and you forget parts of a journey, or when you're concentrating on complex tasks. Neither of these events are necessarily stressful, but due to the lack of connection and awareness with your physical self you may being to feel spaced out.

Grounding techniques help you focus your mind on how you hold your body and how it is supported by the ground you stand on or the surface you sit, or lay upon. This calm awareness, combined with slow deep breathing, invokes a sense of knowing where you are and what you are in contact with that tells your mind you're safe, and it's OK to let go and relax.

Listen to the full podcast below to find out how to use grounding techniques to re-connect with yourself and feel balanced and calm.

For further support you can download our Guided Grounding Technique mp3 in the stress and anxiety relief section of the Anxiety Slayer Store

Photo by Shake the Sky