5 Skills to Help You Feel Grounded Fast

We’ve all felt it. That feeling of being disconnected from yourself or others. Feeling overwhelmed, overstimulated, or intense emotions. These are all signs of mental uprooting. In the therapy world, this is called ‘emotional dysregulation’ and it can creep in quickly. Having a few skills in your toolbox can make all the difference. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a behavioral therapy that is often used to help people feel more in control of their emotions. DBT offers many tools to help you feel grounded, quickly.

What is a grounding technique?

A grounding technique is a tool to help you come back to the present moment. Anxiety, depression, intense emotions, and other circumstances can cause us to feel out of sorts and out of control. Grounding techniques help break up that negative pattern and help you come back to yourself. It’s hard to know how to ground yourself when you are in the moment, so here are 5 ways to feel more grounded the next time you feel out of sorts.

5 Skills to Help You Feel More Grounded

1. Breathe – an oldie but a goodie. There’s no denying the huge impact breathing can have on regulating our nervous system AKA calming us down. Try breathing in through your nose for 4 counts and out through your mouth for 8. Do this as many times as you need.
2. Name the Emotion – naming our emotions helps us separate from them and gives us the power to move through them. Write it down, say it out loud, tell a friend.
3. Use the Power of the Senses – Connecting with our senses brings us back to the “here and now”. Try smelling your favorite candle or essential oil, looking at a photo that brings you joy, or a movie that sparks positive feelings. Listen to music that makes you feel good or try eating something warm, cold, or spicy. Spend time with your pet, ask for a hug, or hold something soft in your hand. Anything that engages your senses in a comforting way works!
4. Change the Air – Try changing your environment. This can happen in a big way, like getting outside for a long bike ride, or in a small way, like opening a window in your home or sitting in a new room. Both help create space between you and your uncomfortable feelings.
5. Practice Self-Compassion – Be kind to yourself! Everyone has moments of feeling out of touch sometimes. Judging yourself for feeling disconnected will only make you feel worse. Give yourself some self-compassion and ask yourself what you need.

If you find yourself having frequent experiences of overwhelm, intense emotion or disconnection, many therapists at Better Life Therapy are trained in DBT and are ready to help.

Sources:

• Adams, K. S., & Branscome, J. M. (2020). Emotion dysregulation and anxiety in students: Mindfulness strategies for school counselors. Georgia School Counselors Association Journal, 27, 7.
• Hessler-Kaufmann, J. B., Heese, J., Berking, M., Voderholzer, U., & Diedrich, A. (2020). Emotion regulation strategies in BULIMIA NERVOSA: An experimental investigation of mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive restructuring. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-020-00129-3
• Jerath R, Edry JW, Barnes VA, Jerath V. Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts the autonomic nervous system. Med Hypotheses. 2006;67(3):566-71. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2006.02.042. Epub 2006 Apr 18. PMID: 16624497.
• McKay, M., Wood, J. C., & Brantley, J. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. New Harbinger.
• Neff, K. (2011). Self-compassion: The proven power of being kind to yourself. Yellow Kite.