FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

Grounding yourself, What is it and how do you?

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Grounding yourself, is the process of balancing your physical, emotional, mental and energy state and reconnecting them.

I have over the past month or so been in need of grounding quite often, here are a few things that I have been trying, some do work and some don't work for me, I suppose it's a matter of trial and error.

When is grounding necessary?

Anyone with mental illness at some times run into problems with not being grounded.

When we are not grounded we may feel, lightheaded, tired, disconnected, dazed, confused, shaken, flighty, emotionally unstable, etc.

Following is some tips for grounding yourselves, just remember not every tip works for every person. What works for one might not work for you. Just keep trying different technics or a combination of a few until you find something that works,

Eating...eating is great for grounding, eat healthy things, fruit, vegetables, salads, some protein, legumes, potatoes, eggs, fish, etc. Who doesn't like chocolate, a few pieces of dark chocolate is good for your heart, has an antioxidant in it, plus its taste good.

Other strong tastes,....Curries, chillies, rich spicy foods also has a grounding effect,

Eating has slowing effect on the mind and settling mental states.

A regular Scedule....A regular schedule of sleeping, exercise. By doing something on a regular schedule helps your willpower.

Connect with Nature....Walking barefoot outside, feel the grass under your feet, the coolness of it, the texture of it, sand is great to walk on dig your toes, heels, bury your feet in the sand, gardening, long nature walks, these are all good for grounding yourself.

Baths and Showers,.... Baths and showers can be a powerful grounding element, The water running over your hair, head, down your body is really vey potent as is having a bath, with warm water, bubbles and maybe some scented candles, darkening the room for more grounding.

Scents and Smells....Smells can be really powerful in grounding ourselves, find one that works for you, Lavender is well known for giving a relaxing feeling.

Hard excercise,...When your not sure how to ground yourself, try hard physical excercise, cycling, cardio or running. but do not over do it.

These are a few things that we can try to ground ourselves.

How do you ground yourself?

Your thoughts and grounding techniques are very welcome.

Grandy.

49 Replies 49

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello Gilip,

Sorry it's taken a while for me to answer you, I hope your traveling with some light..

A grounding box is a little cardboard box, maybe you could use a shoe box where you put some items inside for when you are over anxious, triggered etc, and you need to ground yourself..ie get yourself in the now.. The 1st post here page 1 explains grounding and some suggested items to put in them..

Kind thoughts

Karen. (Grandy)

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello Everyone,

I just thought I would update this thread a little with some different types of grounding techniques being used..

Just a few more thing to try for grounding.

Cover Your Crown
I donā€™t fully understand why this grounding exercise is so effective, but it almost always works. When you are ungrounded, place one hand over the crown your head. Thatā€™s it. If it helps, close your eyes to avoid distractions.
Time: 30 seconds to 1 minute

Feel Your Feet
I often use this technique because itā€™s so fast and effective. Sitting or standing, place all of your awareness on the bottom of your feet. Pay attention to any sensations.
Time: 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Follow Your Breath
Close your eyes and as you inhale, trace the air as it enters your nose and goes into your lungs. On the exhale, follow the air leaving your lungs and exiting your nose or mouth.
This grounding technique gets more effective with practice. The key is to observe the breath instead of forcing it with your mind. Let your body lead and your mind will follow.
Time: 1 minute to 10 minutes.

Stand Like a Tree
this powerful grounding technique is a guide to an ancient standing meditation.
Stand with your feet parallel and at least shoulderā€™s width apart. Keep your head floating above your body, chin tucked, and spine straight. Rest your hands at your side or place them over your navel.
Sink all of your bodyā€™s weight and tension into your feet (without collapsing your posture), allowing it to be absorbed into the ground. To support this grounding process, imagine roots growing out the bottom of your feet, extending deep into the ground beneath you.
Time: 1 minute to 10 minutes.

Take a Cool Shower
This grounding technique has many health benefits. Cold exposure has shown to increase immunity, reduce fat, and elevate mood (by triggering dopamine). If youā€™re not used to taking a cold shower, start of with the water cool, over a period of a few weeks start to turn the water a little cooler each day until you get the water as cool as you want.

Have you or do you use any of these techniques to ground yourself or do you have other methods of doing so.

Kind thoughts.

Karen..(Grandy).

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all feeling okay with some light shining in.

I needed help today so I decided I would write what I just done in here and why. Plus some more information on what grounding is about and how it can help us.

The the best way to stay grounded is to stay fully present in the now/present moment. This is where our power is. In order to ground ourself and get some light in we must find the light to do so by grounding ourselves. When we are constantly aware of how we are feeling with ouremotions, behaviour, and are aware of where we are and what we are doing we have control and direction.

As soon as we get ungrounded we loose our power, control and direction, we then might get into a panick attack, shakey, anxious , frightened and light headed and tend to loose our control when in the face of high anxiety we are often not grounded, so we need to ground ourself to regain control. This is done by coming into the now/present.

I/we talked a bit about different ways of grounding, my favourite way is to be barefoot outside with my feet touching the grass, dirt, sand and even unpainted concrete works for me, while I'm standing or sitting, I will look around until I can focus on something, listen for sounds, could be birds, the wind or the leaves moving in the wind, then I take in the smells of the air, flowers, plants, grass, I like to break some grass off the ground and smell it, it's like when you cut the lawn the aroma is the same, I aso try to have a mint or sour lolly with me to eat..I have used the 5 senses and hopefully more so then not I can ground myself.

I just came inside from doing these 5 simple things and I do feel more under control.

Karen. (Grandy).

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello Everyone,

Grounding when not feeling over anxious can be done by taking your mind else where and out of your anxious mind.

I was feeling a bit frazzled and anxious, a few days ago when Smallwolf gave me a gift of a pond, I took myself there and it helped, so I am going to share it with you all as well.

Smallwolf's gift..Thank you..

""". think of us all going for a walk through a field of flowers and a gentle breeze in the air. Birds and insect eat the nectar from flowers of all colors. We come upon a stream of flowing cool water - crystal clear. Smooth pebbles cover the bottom of the stream. Walking in the water, we follow it upstream for a while and come upon a large pool of water which looks to feed the stream. A waterfall is on the opposite side. A place where we can all wash away the hurt. Of course we will have to leave, but if ever need this place again, it is our secret."""""

kindness only,

Grandy..

Guest8901
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Morning Karen,

Thanks for sharing that. And thanks to Smallwolf as well.

I have been reading your grounding thread this morning Karen, because I can feel my anxiety rising again this morning. I started out okay, at least I thought I did. Now I'm all over the place, lost again.

Will read some more of your thread, see if I can make it work. Thank you for providing these tips.

Amanda

demonblaster
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member
Hi sweets just tagging read op (original post) goid thread hun bbl xx

Hi,

Iā€™m pretty new here & still trying to work out how to use this sight properly. Technology is definitely not my strongest point! šŸ˜Š

I just read your post. I just wanted to say that I think the Grounding box is a brilliant idea. Iā€™m definitely going to give it a go. The sense of smell is something that I find very soothing & useful.

Thank you 

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello Bella Donna,

Thank you for taking the time to read through my thread, I'm pleased that you found something that may help you..

Kind thoughts,

Grandy..

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello Everyone,

Here is a small list of different scents/smells and what they are helpful for..


1. Lemon.... This scent promotes concentration and has calming effect that are helpful when you're feeling angry, anxious or run down.

2. Lavender. This essential oil has calming effect that help control emotional stress, and also a soothing effect on nerves and can relieve nervous tension and depression as well as treat headaches and migraines.

3. Jasmine. it is also used to calm nerves, and also help us by giving us an uplifting feeling to help with confidence, optimism and energy.

4.. Rosemary. This is the perfect pick-me-up. rosemary has stimulating properties that fight can help physical exhaustion, headaches and mental fatigue.

5. Cinnamon. can help fight mental fatigue and improve concentration and focus.

6. Peppermint..An energy booster, this scent seems to help awaken the mind, to promote concentration and helps to stimulate clear thinking.

placed into small bottles these are then easy to fit into your grounding box/boxes to be easily accessed if needed..

What is your favourite scent?

All thoughts are welcome..

Kindness only,

Grandy..
 

Ggrand
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hi everyone,

some more scents that are helpful in Mental Health are.

Vanilla......is often associated with food, ice creams, cakes, pastries, chocolates. It has a calming, relaxing and comforting effect, especially when it is not paired with scents that stimulate the nervous system.
The essential oil of vanilla is processed through distillation of the vanilla seed pods. In some studies, vanilla when ingested increases the levels of adrenaline, thereby stimulating and invigorating the person.
Rose......The rose flower and petal by itself earned it the title ā€œQueen of the Gardenā€. For poets and lovers, rose symbolize love and perfection.
The wonderfully intense, sweet and floral scent of the rose is useful in calming nervous tensions. It gives one a positive feeling about oneself.
Lilac..... is a genus of a flowering woody plant that produces scents for relaxations, lilac is hard to ensnare in oil..Use it in perfumes and warm water as a tonic and healing spritz.
The scent produced brings serenity, pleasurable memories and peaceful slumber. Lilac induces calming effect for those who are insomniacs.
Ylang-ylang.....The intensely sweet, heady, floral and spicy scent of ylang-ylang has both stimulating and calming effect. For some, ylang-ylang induces sleep. However, according to research, it stimulates mental alertness.
For many, sniffing the extract of this flower lowers the blood pressure and relieves palpitations. For those who are anxious and in rage, slow down the sympathetic nervous system, a pleasant aroma that puts one to peaceful slumber.
For many, sniffing the extract of this flower lowers the blood pressure and relieves palpitations.
Mandarin... The fragrance is extracted from the outer peel, and gives of a feel of being uplifted and rejuvenated.

I will add more of these wonderful depressions/anxiety helping fragrances as I learn more..

These are all to find naturally or to purchase from Health stores.

Kind thoughts.

Grandy..