Tool 6 - Ground yourself

A simple exercise to manage your thoughts & emotion

In stressful situations it is easy to feel like the ground beneath you is shaking and your memories, thoughts and emotions can seem like they are sweeping you away. In such cases, it helps to be present in the moment and focus on what you can control.

When you get swept away by thoughts & emotions when dealing with anxiety, it is very easy to lose sight of what you can control. It’s like you’re in an emoțional storm. And there’s little you can do to stop that storm. 

So with this tool, we are aiming NOT to get rid of negative thoughts & feelings, but instead get some distance from them, and just focus în what you can control. 

Here we go:

1. Notice.

Notice your thoughts, feelings or sensations. The trick is to notice them voluntarily and to name them out loud if you can. And use this exact phrase: “I am noticing x feeling, or I am noticing y though. 

Just look inside and see what you can observe:

Ex.: I am noticing anxiety; I am noticing the thought that I will fail and babble; I am noticing the lump in my throat. 

2. Connect.

Take this moment to connect with your body. Whether you stand up and move a bit, or you just start moving your legs, arms, shoulders. Maybe you can push your feet on the ground. 

The aim is to notice the movements in your body, to notice that you have a body and to also notice that you have control over your body. Even though the thoughts & emotions are there, you can move, you can feel your muscles. 

3. Engage.

For this part, I want to to pay attention to where you are. Look at the room around you, look at the light, the floor, the ceiling.

Notice any sounds that you can hear. And notice what is that is important for you.

Why are you here?

What is important to you so that you make room for these thoughts & feelings? 

This part is about noticing that even though your thoughts & emotions are there, you can still notice things around you and you can choose hoe to act. 

Please do this exercise first when you are alone in a room so you can talk out loud (Yup, even to yourself. No problem there, therapis’s recommendation), move as you please and feel free to notice the room and the environment around you. 

This should take about 5-10 min. Don’t rush it, stay with it. 

And remember, try to use this exercise to get yourself grounded and focused on what is important to you, NOT to get rid of thoughts & emotions. It won’t work for that.

But it will work on allowing some space between you and the difficult emotions & thoughts so you feel more free to chose what you want to do. 

That’s all for today and for this topic. 

See you next week with a fresh topic on making mental health simple.