Behavioral Health: Grounding Skills

Behavioral Health: Grounding Skills

Hello, my name is Angie Hernandez Harris and I’m a counselor here at Beriatrics and Nutrition in Boisee, Idaho. I’ll be talking a little bit about grounding skills today. Some simple techniques that you can use to come back to your body and gain awareness. So, what are grounding skills? They are simple exercises that can help bring you back to the present moment. They are free and when used on a daily basis have been shown to reduce stress and reduce anxiety. These skills are a great reminder for yourself that you have the power to hit pause throughout your day and come back to your present self. I’ll be talking about two grounding skills today that I invite you all to practice. You may even tried them before. The first one is the very popular 5 43 2 1 exercise. This grounding technique requires us to engage all five senses. I’ll be guiding you through this one first. The second is feet on the floor or mountain pose tadasana as known in yoga terms. You can do this inside or outside standing or from a chair. It’s a very simple but beneficial grounding technique. So, let’s begin with 5 4 3 2 1. First, let’s take a deep cleansing breath. So, go ahead and inhale through your nose, hold at the top, and then exhale out of your mouth. Let everything go. Wonderful. Let’s do it again. Inhale through your nose. Hold at the top and then exhale. Let everything go. So, we begin by noticing five things that we can see. So, as I look around, what are the five things I can see? Well, I can point out my jacket, my necklace, the trees seen behind me, the circles behind me, and the waves on the side of the screen. What do you notice? Four things you can feel with feeling. You might notice a body feeling, an emotional response, or you might notice temperature. What do you notice? I can point out the feeling in my body is calm and relaxed. The temperature outside of my body, the room feels warm. I can also feel my seatbones on my seat and I can feel my feet on the ground below me. Three things you can hear. So if I pay attention, one, I can hear my voice. And then two, I have a white noise machine outside of my office that has a rolling ocean sound. So I can hear that. Then lastly, I can hear my breathing. What are three things that you can hear? Two. Two things that you can smell. So, if I take an inhale, I can smell my coffee and I can smell the eucalyptus oil that I have in my office. Finally, one thing you can taste or you can just take one deep breath. I do happen to have my coffee here with me, so I’ll go ahead and take a sip of that to taste that. Great. Now check in with your body. How does it feel? Maybe roll your shoulders back. Just enjoy this present moment. The second grounding skill we’ll talk about is feet on the floor. You can do this practice inside or outside, standing or from your chair. It’s a great way to connect with the earth below you. For this exercise, I’ll go ahead and do it from my chair with my feet planted on the floor. So, I’ll just make that adjustment here. The weight is shifted into the three main points of my feet. So, my heels, big toe, and pinky toe. My arms are by my sides, but you can also bring them to heart center if that feels good to you. If standing, maybe take a couple bends just to notice how it feels. or from your chair, maybe just lift your heels off of the floor. How does the earth feel beneath your feet? Then take a deep cleansing breath. Wonderful. Maybe again inhale and exhale. You can go ahead and sit back down in your chair if you are standing. So, these are two simple grounding techniques that you can use throughout your day. They are tools for everyday life. I encourage all of my patients to try them at least once a day. Again, remember, you have the power to hit pause for your day, to come back to your body, come back to your breath, to reset, and bring yourself back to the present moment. Hope this was helpful for you. Have a great day. Enjoy your practices. Until next time.