Beginner’s Guide to Grounding Techniques — How Do Grounding Techniques Help With Stress and Anxiety

Stress and anxiety are two of the most common factors that lead to burnout.

However, the time it takes to reach that tipping point is extensive, but it is also manageable.

According to United Nations World Mental Health Report 2022, approximately one billion people suffer from some form of emotional distress. That amounts to nearly 13% of the entire world's population. Out of such a significant number, over 70% do not get the needed professional intervention on time.

Such a lag brings forth greater chances of developing chronic emotional dysregulation.

Though the question remains, is it possible to reduce such chances of acquiring chronic stress or anxiety?

It sure is, with the help of grounding techniques.

What Are Grounding Techniques?

Grounding techniques are self-administered strategies used to promote emotional regulation.

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, emotional regulation refers to the “ability of an individual to modulate a set of emotions.” In simpler terms, it deals with the ability to reduce psychological distress.

This distress stems from physical, mental, or emotional trauma regardless of its time of occurrence. In such an instance, an individual is bound to experience unwanted negative emotions that appear as anxiety or stress symptoms. These might include:

• Restlessness and irritability
• Inability to focus and concentrate
• Feeling tired and exhausted
• Excessive worrying and overthinking
• Intrusive thoughts
• Disturbed sleep
• Psychosomatic symptoms such as labored breathing, racing heart rate, indigestion, muscle aches, headaches, and migraines

Grounding techniques help to regulate such experiences. They allow individuals to control their minds and bodies to connect back with the present while disconnecting themselves from the stress-inducing trauma. Hence, helping to reduce physiological and psychological symptoms of anxiety and stress that an emotionally overwhelmed individual might feel.

The Neuroscience of Grounding Techniques

Grounding techniques are more than just a bunch of activities that help to divert focus. There is an excellent play of neuroscience involved in them as well.

The human body holds a wide variety of systems that ensure its proper functioning. One such system, the sympathetic nervous system, is responsible for the body’s fight-or-flight response in threatful situations.

In short, it makes one feel what they do when stressed or anxious.

Prolonged activation of this system can be harmful. It disrupts psychophysiological functioning and caters to desensitization toward stressful situations.

The parasympathetic nervous system is present to reverse this. The parasympathetic nervous system, or the PNS, reduces stress-induced arousal. In simpler terms, it acts as a reset button that helps the body relax.

The most important part of this system is the vagus nerve. It runs from the brain to the face, thorax, and abdomen. Because of this, it is also responsible for the proper functioning of many internal organ systems.

In this system, the vagus nerve is the main component that counteracts an individual’s stress response. It brings all bodily functions back to normal to reduce symptoms of anxiety.

For example, it is responsible for steadying the heart rate, breathing rate, and other involuntary body functions.

Grounding techniques help stimulate this nerve to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Once activated, an individual feels calmer, steadier, and, most importantly, in control of their emotions.

What Can Grounding Techniques Be Used For?

Grounding strategies prove beneficial in reversing numerous stress responses experienced by an individual. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Symptoms experienced due to everyday stress or anxiety
• Anxiety attacks
• Panic attacks
• Anger flares
• Dissociation
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

How Do Grounding Techniques Work?

Grounding techniques are a holistic approach to help an individual to bring awareness back to the present self while disconnecting from a stressful trigger. The process starts by stimulating the vagus nerve that activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Yet, the question remains how exactly can that be done?

This happens by providing the body with a physical stimulus that it can use to reduce symptoms experienced during a stress response. The main idea remains to restore the heart and breathing rate back to normal.

Once done, a mental stimulus allows the mind to divert itself from the perceived stressor. Such a stimulus can be in the form of a cognitive task that enables an individual to disconnect from their source of stress.

Both of these steps help to increase focus and bring awareness back to the present.

Benefits of Practicing Grounding Techniques?

While grounding techniques provide on-the-spot emotional regulation, they also help in producing numerous other short and long-term benefits. Practicing grounding strategies help in:

• Providing an efficient and effective temporary alternative to professional intervention
• Promoting a healthy and resilient response to perceived threats
• Reducing symptoms of anxiety
• Increasing overall well-being by improving sleep, heart rate variability, cognitive functioning, psychological awareness, and immunity

Types of Grounding Techniques

Grounding strategies work by creating awareness. Such awareness stems from providing the mind and body with the needed stimulation.

This is done either through physical or mental means. More often than not, grounding techniques involve both these processes that aim to soothe physical symptoms of anxiety followed by psychological ones.

At the same time, another type of grounding technique is frequently practiced alongside the ones mentioned: self-affirmation. This category of grounding strategies deals with adding words of encouragement and support to one's self to aid the process of emotional regulation.

For example, an individual might start by taking control of their breathing pattern. Once done, they might opt for practicing a quick mental math activity to divert their focus. And when they feel reconnected to the present, they might offer themselves certain words of encouragement.

Though it is safe to say that the list of grounding techniques that one can practice is quite long, we will categorize them in a way that concisely summarizes different types.

Diaphragmatic Breathing and Cognitive Diversion

The use of both these techniques is often simultaneous. Pairing them up provides effectiveness as well as timely relief. At the same time, using them individually is also highly beneficial.

Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly or abdominal breathing, involves taking deep breaths through the nose, filling the stomach with air, and exhaling through the mouth. The technique works best with periodic repetition.

Cognitive diversion, on the other hand, provides cognitive stimulation that helps divert the mind from a stressor to reconnect it with the present. Activities such as visualization, mental math, and verbal categorization are good examples.

Refer to our guide on diaphragmatic breathing and cognitive diversion here. 

Sensory Grounding

This technique uses the five senses to facilitate the regain of an individual's control over their mind and body when feeling overwhelmed.

One of the most common examples of this technique is the 54321 method. In this method, an individual tries to name five things they can see, four things they can touch, three things they can hear, two things they can smell, and one thing they can taste in the present moment.

The main idea remains to reconnect an individual with the present by bringing awareness to their surroundings.

Refer to our extensive guide on sensory grounding here. 

Bilateral Stimulation

As the word bilateral suggests, this grounding technique refers to experiencing calming stimulus in a rhythmic pattern.

The stimulus can be something that one can see, hear, or feel. It is repeated periodically on both sides of the body.

The technique helps activate the brain's visual, auditory, and tactile response centers that help redirect focus. For example, butterfly tapping involves crossing the hands over the chest and gently tapping one down at a time in a set rhythm.

Read our extensive guide on bilateral stimulation here. 

Meditation

One of the most common and ancient forms of grounding would be meditation.

It involves using mindfulness to bring focus to one particular idea or thought. It deals with connecting one’s body and breathing pattern in a way that helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

One of the most common examples is yoga. 

Earthing as a grounding technique is common too. The process involves allowing the body to come in direct contact with the earth.

According to the Journal of Inflammation Research, earthing positively affects an individual's psychophysiological well-being. The main factor that helps with this is the process of electrical conductivity between the skin and the ground. This facilitates the activation of the PNS which helps to improve mood.

Refer to our beginner's guide on mindful meditation to learn about how you can incorporate it into daily life. 

When To Use Grounding Techniques?

Grounding techniques provide a holistic, whole-body, and efficient method of managing stress and anxiety. All that is needed is a little bit of practice.

However, it is crucial to note that while these techniques can help with various types of stress responses, they still work as a temporary alternative to professional intervention.

The strategies show significant effectiveness in providing instant emotional regulation to an individual suffering from psychological or physical distress. At the same time, it also allows one to create effective coping patterns for the future.

However, therapy is suggested for chronic anxiety, stress, or emotional dysregulation.

For grounding techniques, the advice remains to incorporate such strategies in daily life. They not only prove to be effective but easy to practice as well.