The beauty of this exercise is you can do it anywhere, even in a public space. You can also modify it to suit what you need at the moment. For example, maybe you focus on colors, shapes, smells or tastes. The goal is to use this exercise proactively, before whatever you’re feeling intensifies or erupts. The more you practice grounding exercises, the better you will become at knowing your body and sensing the signs that you’re feeling dysregulated. 

To be dysregulated means you’re not able to control your emotions or behaviors like you normally would. Think about how “off” you can feel after a night of very little sleep or after a lengthy exam. These are times when your brain or body are dysregulated and can impact how you act or how you feel. We can also be dysregulated based on our thoughts and emotions. Perhaps you’ve just gotten in a fight with a friend, someone said something mean about you that feels hard to shake, or you yourself are feeling worthless because your thoughts have convinced you that you are. 

Regardless of the reason, grounding exercises help us to find our center and reconnect us with the present moment, clearing our head of whatever is standing in the way of us functioning the way we’d like to. Just like charging our phones does a lot of good for their functionality, grounding exercises offer our bodies a chance to reset and work optimally.

Go ahead and give this grounding exercise a try. If you’re like me and music helps to calm you, I’ve included a few links you could choose from to play in the background as you follow along:

Option 1 Spa

Option 2 Lofi

Option 3 Forest