Adapted from Seeking Safety by Lisa M. Najavits (2002).
What is Grounding?
Grounding techniques are tools you can use to help detach from emotional pain. Think of this as a healthy way of distracting yourself from what might be causing pain, so you can gain control over your own feelings and move closer towards healing.
Emotional pain can be overwhelming. Grounding reminds you that pain can just be one part of your experience without being all-consuming.
Types of Grounding
Grounding strategies can fall under mental, physical, and soothing categories. Mental grounding involves using your mind, physical grounding focuses on your senses, and soothing grounding strategies encourage you to talk to yourself with empathy. Try some of the techniques below the next time you want to detach from emotional pain by looking more outward versus inward:
Mental Grounding
- Describe your environment in detail, using all your senses. For example, “The walls are white; there is air blowing from a fan; there is a painting on the wall.”
- Play a “categories” game. Try to think of “types of dogs,” “state capitals,” “TV shows,” etc.
- Describe an everyday activity in detail. For example, describe a meal that you cook: “First I peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters; then I boil the water; then I make an herb marinade of oregano, basil, garlic, and olive oil.”
- Say a safety statement. “My name is; I am safe right now. I am in the present, not the past. I am located in; the date is _.”
- Count to 10 or say the alphabet slowly. Very s . . . l . . . o . . . w . . . l . . . y.
Physical Grounding
- Touch objects around you. A pen, keys, your clothing, the table, the walls. Notice textures, colors, materials, weight, temperature.
- Dig your heels into the floor. Notice the tension centered in your heels. Remind yourself that you are connected to the ground.
- Carry a grounding object in your pocket. A small object (a small rock, clay, a ring) that you can touch whenever you feel triggered.
- Notice your body. The weight of your body in the chair; wiggling your toes in your socks; the feel of your back against the chair. Stretch. Extend your fingers, arms, or legs as far as you can; roll your head around. Clench and release your fists.
- Focus on your breathing, noticing each inhale and exhale. Repeat a pleasant word to yourself on each inhale.
Soothing Grounding
- Say kind statements. “You are a good person going through a hard time. You’ll get through this,” or a coping statement. “I can handle this,” or, “This feeling will pass.”
- Think of favorites. Think of your favorite color, animal, season, food, time of day, TV show.
- Picture people you care about. Look at photographs of them, or imagine them.
- Remember the words to an inspiring song, quotation, or poem that makes you feel better.
- Remember a safe place. Describe a place that you find very soothing. Focus on everything about that place: the sounds, colors, shapes, objects, textures.