Simple Grounding Exercise
This simple grounding exercise is designed to help you quickly regulate. It can be used at the start and end of formal therapy sessions to regulate, as well as offered as a tool to help manage panic attacks, triggers, flashbacks, and emotional overwhelm.
This simple grounding exercise will encourage you to slow the breath, relax the muscles, focus the eyes, and steady the mind on the present moment. When these techniques are combined, your parasympathetic nervous system will activate, encouraging you to calm and settle into the present moment.
Click here to download a printable PDF of the simple grounding exercise instructions, and listen to a guided version below.
Instructions
Slow The Breath & Relax The Muscles
1: Take a slow deep breath, in through the nose.
2: When you reach the top of the breath, take an extra small ‘sip’ of air.
3: As you breathe out, add an audible sigh (‘ahhhh’) and release tension from your muscles.
4: Wait at the bottom of the breath until your body is ready to breathe in, then begin again.
5: Repeat this process three times.
Focus The Eyes
6: Hold a finger in front of your eyes and focus your gaze on it for one full breath cycle.
7: Then focus your gaze on the furthest point you can see in the room for one full breath cycle.
8: Repeat this process four times.
Steady The Mind Upon the Present Moment
9: Lower your finger, allow your breathing to return to its natural rhythm, and focus your attention on what you can hear.
10: In your mind, slowly repeat the phrase ‘I am here now, and this moment is safe’.
