Sometimes life gets going and it’s everything you can do to hold on. In these moments I’ve found that instead of trying to keep pace, what my mind and body most want to do is SLOW DOWN. What I really need is grounding.

The disconnect between what the world is screaming at me to do and what my body needs can be highly agitating. Practicing this pause can mean the difference between everything coming to a stressful and damaging head or grounding in a peaceful calm that allows you to reconnect with what you value.

Here are some ways you can ground yourself during these times.

Grounding with Your Breath

Using your breath is a super common and well-known grounding practice. Its use is beginning to grow and expand in the education world. The schools in our district have actually started to incorporate them during morning announcements.

The beautiful thing here is there are many variations that one can use. I’ll list a few:

1. Box breathing: use the same count all the way around. Breathe in for 4. Hold for 4. Breathe out for 4. Hold for 4. [repeat]
2. Belly breathing: hand on stomach, hand on chest. Breathe into the belly and fully expand. Breathe out and fully contract. Anchoring on the movement with the breath. [repeat]
3. Mindful breathing: think of the feeling you want – breathe in ________, breathe out _______ the feeling you don’t want. “Breathe in calm, breathe out tension.” “Breathe in self-compassion. Breathe out self-judgment.”
4. 4-7-8 breathing: Breathe in for 4. Hold for 7. Breathe out for 8. [repeat]

Again, try them out. See what you like. See what makes the biggest impact for you.

Five Senses Grounding Technique

This grounding technique uses the five senses to help you reconnect with reality. What do you SEE, what do you HEAR, what can you TOUCH (or feel the connection of on your body), what can you SMELL, and what can you taste?

In a moment of distress, connecting to these sensory stimulants not only helps bring my reality into focus, but it has the added effect of slowing things down.

The scenario: Trying to get myself and the kids ready in the morning and one of littles starts to battle me about getting shoes on. My anxiety and frustration are increasing as I see the time ticking away on the clock and recognize that my other little one has also spilled his lunch box on the floor.

Phew – STRESSFUL!

Pause. I see the sky getting brighter outside. I hear the soft ticking of the upstairs clock. The taste of my morning coffee and the smell of it brewing are surrounding me. I feel the softness of the new pair of socks I’ve put on my feet.

The whole time I’m tapping into these senses, my heart rate has slowed and the tension decreases. One final deep breath and I remember that I DO have the capability of tackling these things in front of me.

The key here is to use your senses to identify pieces that are CALMING and not the opposite. For example, hearing my kids’ crying, smelling burnt toast, tasting blood (bc I bit my tongue accidentally), feeling the annoying tag on my t-shirt, and seeing tears falling CLEARLY is going to send me in the other direction. 😳

This grounding practice is about slowing down & choosing what to focus on versus succumbing to the tide of overwhelm.

Grounding on a Mantra

This particular grounding exercise is all about using the power of WORDS to reframe and redirect your emotions. I really like this one for specific situations that I know are triggering for me; situations where I am trying to break an old pattern of thinking/acting.

First you want to reflect on this situation and identify what you want or need to hear at that moment. What does your higher self KNOW that your reactive brain can’t access? Using the mantra (often with a breathing practice) can help you get out of your reactive brain and back into your higher self.

The scenario: A conflict arises again with a student I have been struggling with.

My old pattern had been internalizing this struggle to mean that I am doing a terrible job, there is no possible solution, this issue is going to exist forever AND it is going to start negatively impacting THE REST of my relationships with my other students.

Again, there is almost a panic that seems to build as the thoughts start to accumulate and increase in seriousness.

Know the feeling?

Pause. I am doing my best. I am not meant to control everything.

Repeat 3-4 times with deep breaths in and out. Sometimes pairing this with a hand on your heart (or wherever you feel the tension most in your body) amplifies its grounding ability.

A mantra is highly personal. You’ll want to experiment with the mantras to find what feels and works best for you. Journaling about the scenario – what thoughts you have versus what thoughts you WANT TO HAVE would be incredibly helpful in identifying a mantra.

If you’d like to learn more about reframing thoughts, Powerful Ways to Reframe your Thoughts provides guidance on this AND supplies a FREE journaling tool as well!

Grounding on Movement | The Wiggles

This technique is simply about moving your body. I could’ve titled this, “Movement,” or something more boring 😉. When I envision this though, I think about how it looks in action. Wiggling is what comes to mind.

With this grounding technique, you’re using body movement to help the negative energy move through your body.

Another visual of this is a boxer bobbing lightly from one foot to another while shifting their shoulders up and down and moving their head from left to right.

Shake it out. Tap your toes. Pat your head and rub your belly. 😁 Pick a small movement that takes a little concentration.

We get a pause. We get a physical and mental disruption from the reactive brain. We get a release of energy that is building.

I recognize that this technique might not always be practical. Your students may look at you like you’re a little cray-cray, but think about it as an opportunity for modeling. Personally, I found that letting my students know where I was at actually helped build trust and connection.

Grounding with a Touchpoint

Touchpoint literally means a point of contact or interaction. With this technique, you are identifying a touchpoint that brings you out of your reactive brain and back into your prefrontal cortex (your higher self).

This could be you literally touching an item on your person (a bracelet, ring, keychain, earlobe, etc), touching something in your room (a fidget, tool, or decorative item), or it could be moving yourself to a specific spot in your classroom. The act of touching this item or moving to this particular spot is a physical signal that helps to release you from the mental struggle.

The movement takes time and thus creates the beneficial pause we’re looking for. If you’re touching an object, moving your attention toward that object has a similar grounding effect.

Select a touchpoint that brings joy (a soft stuffy, a favorite book, a spot in your room by your favorite plant, a fidget or spinner, standing next to your mental health bulletin board, your grandmother’s necklace, your wedding ring, etc).

Choosing something that reminds you of what you want to center in your life will make this technique even more powerful.

A Couple of Things to Note

Time.

Your brain is going to try to tell you, “YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” In actuality, every single one of these grounding practices could take as little as 30 seconds if you wanted them to. Even 30 seconds of mindfulness goes A LONG WAY in overall well-being and reducing stress.

If you have one of those fancy watches, set a 1 minute timer for yourself. In the grand scheme of whatever the context is, you can GIVE YOURSELF one minute to pause. You’ll be astounded at the impact that even one minute can have!

Exploration.

My suggestion is to try them all. We are all beautifully different and require different things. Plus, what we need one day may differ from what we need the next.

Pick one and try that for a while. Pick another and try that for a while. Notice what works, what doesn’t, or where there is room to experiment.

Your Well-being Matters

Taking care of yourself and your own well-being is SO IMPORTANT. We often think that we don’t have time for ourselves and what we need, but the reality is that this is another lie our brain tells us.

We have time for WHAT WE MAKE TIME FOR.

I love you beautiful humans.

Let’s make time for ourselves. 🫶🏼

Talk soon, friends.