Practical Tools for Regulation — Part 3: Grounding

🌿 Practical Tools for Regulation — Part 3: Grounding

Bringing the Body Back Into the Present

Grounding is one of those practices people often talk about; they say things like,  “ground yourself,” “come back to your body,” “stay present”,  but in moments of stress, grief, or overwhelm, those words can feel almost impossible.

When the nervous system is dysregulated, presence doesn’t always feel safe.
Disconnection can actually be the body’s way of protecting us. Honestly, I have been thankful for the disconnect sometimes.

But grounding isn’t about forcing yourself to “be calm.”
It’s about offering your body a gentle reminder:

You are here. You are safe enough in this moment. You can return.

Let’s explore what grounding really is, and what it isn’t, and how to use it in everyday life without adding pressure or perfectionism.

🌱 What Grounding Actually Does

When we’re overwhelmed or triggered, the body often moves into one of two states:

• Hyperarousal (anxiety, panic, racing thoughts, tension)

• Hypoarousal (numb, disconnected, shut down, spaced out)

Grounding helps bring us back toward the middle — a place where the body and mind can reconnect.

Grounding tells the nervous system:

• “You don’t have to react right now.”

• “You have choices.”

• “You are allowed to soften.”

It re-establishes orientation — the ability to feel where you are in space and time.

🌍 Why Grounding Is Hard Sometimes

Some people try grounding techniques and feel worse. That’s more common than you think.

Why?

Because when you slow down enough to notice your body, you also notice what you’ve been avoiding. The avoidance of emotions, memories, sensations, or stress you’ve been carrying.

This isn’t failure.
It’s information.

If grounding feels overwhelming, it simply means:

• You need a gentler approach

• Or a shorter time frame

• Or a different style of grounding

Grounding is not “one size fits all.”
Your body will tell you what it’s ready for.

🌾 Types of Grounding (Find What Fits Your System)

Grounding usually falls into three categories: sensory, physical, and cognitive. You don’t need to use all three. Explore with each and choose what feels supportive.

👣 1. Sensory Grounding

Helps you reconnect with your environment through the senses.

Try:

• Place your bare feet on the floor and press down slowly

• Hold a warm mug between your palms

• Touch something textured: stone, fabric, wood

• Look around the room and identify 5 things you see

• Listen for the farthest sound you can hear

These tools help orient the nervous system to now.

🧱 2. Physical Grounding

Helps you come back into your body through movement or pressure.

Try:

• Press your hands together firmly

• Wrap yourself in a blanket (deep pressure)

• Stretch your arms overhead

• Sit with your back against a wall

• Walk slowly and focus on how your feet meet the ground

Some bodies regulate best when they can feel themselves again.

🧠 3. Cognitive Grounding

Helps bring the mind back from spiraling or dissociation.

Try:

• Ask yourself: “What is the date? Where am I? Who is here with me?”

• Describe the objects around you without emotion

• Recite a favorite affirmation

• Name one thing you can control today

This type is especially helpful during rumination or anxious thoughts.

🌬️ A Simple Grounding Ritual (That Takes 30 Seconds)

Try this whenever you feel overwhelmed:

• Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly

• Exhale slowly

• Name one thing you see

• One thing you hear

• One thing you feel in your body

That’s it.
Grounding does not need to be perfect or profound.
Just real.

🌿 When to Use Grounding

Use grounding when you notice:

• Your thoughts are racing

• Your chest is tightening

• Your mind is drifting far away

• Your body is speeding up or shutting down

• You’re entering old patterns or emotional loops

Grounding brings you back so you can respond instead of react.

Closing thought:

Grounding isn’t about controlling your experience.
It’s about offering your body a place to land,  even for a moment.

✨ Next in the series: Meditation — Not to Empty the Mind, But to Learn How to Stay With Yourself.

Honoring your healing and rooting for your growth.
Anique
Founder, Sanctum & Soil