Written by: Sarah Keena, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Being grounded is an experience of feeling safe, stable and present in the moment and in our bodies, of being fully aware of what is going on within us and around us. There are many reasons why we can become ungrounded, for example, from anxiety, trauma, overwhelm, dissociation, the use of plant medicines and some spiritual practices.
What does it Mean to be Ungrounded?
Being ungrounded is a state in which we are no longer fully present in our bodies.
Some grounding techniques require regular practice to help us to hold on to the benefits, while others can be used in the moment when we need them.
It is always a good idea to practice these techniques when we feel safe as this ensures that we are more ready to use them in a trauma response or high stress situation.
Signs of not Being Grounded
Physical
Fluctuating body temperature or difficulty regulating body temperature
Clumsiness, dizziness or feeling uncoordinated
Shaking, tingling or numbness especially in hands and feet.
Changes in physical sensitivity
Ringing in ears
Palpitations
Racing heart
Hearing heartbeat loudly in ears
Mental
Racing or disturbing thoughts
Delusional thinking
Insomnia, elation or mania
Fatigue, exhaustion or tiredness.
Forgetfulness
Feeling spaced out
Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly
Time loss or distorted time perception
Difficulty verbalising or making sense of thoughts
Emotional
A feeling of being in a trauma response (freeze, flop, fight, flight, fawn).
Increase in emotional sensitivity
Emotional numbness
Fear, Panic and anxiety
Feeling unsafe
Paranoia
In the Moment Grounding Tools
5, 4, 3 ,2, 1
Focusing on your senses, tune into the little things around you that might usually become background noise.
What are 5 things you can see?
What are 4 things you can hear?
What are 3 things you can feel (physically as apposed to emotionally)?
What are two things you can smell?
What is one thing you can taste?
Speak these out loudly if you can, however, doing this practice in silence in your own mind works well too.
Cold Water
Splash cold water on the face, neck, wrists, forearms and hands.
If comfortable to do so, a cold shower or submerging your face in an ice bath can be helpful. It is important to remember with this technique to go gently. If we are in a full blown trauma response, jumping into an ice bath may traumatise us further instead of helping to calm us and bring us back into our body.
Movement
When we are ungrounded, this usually means we do not feel fully present in our bodies and this is especially true for those who dissociate and those who enter trance states. When we move our bodies it gently brings our awareness back to our physicality and helps us to become more present
Hold yourself, stroke your arms and legs, experimenting with gentle touch and deep pressure.
Rub your hands together.
Place your hands on your heart.
Wiggle your fingers and toes.
Stomp your feet
Squeeze your hands into fists and then release them.
Walk, pace or dance.
Breathe
Bring attention to the breath, aiming to make the out breathe longer than the in breath. Always breathe in through the nose to avoid hyperventilation and out through the mouth as if blowing through a straw, allowing ourselves to sigh or add sound to the exhale.
The aim is to do deep belly breathing; bringing our breath down as far into our tummy as possible so we can see our tummy rise and fall as we inhale and exhale. Often we may feel our chest is tight or that our breathing is restricted.
If this is the case we can aim to expand our ribcage sideways if raising our stomach doesn’t feel helpful. We can also imagine that we are bringing our inhale all the way down into our pelvic cradle to help further relax into the breath.
The Square breath
This is a breathing techniques using the number 4. Breathe in through the nose for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 4 seconds, exhale through the mouth for 4 seconds, hold the breathe for 4 seconds.
Then repeat the process as many times as needed.
4,7,8
Breath in through the nose for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 7 seconds and exhale slowly through the mouth for 8 seconds, repeating as often as needed.
Daily Grounding Practices
Some of us are prone to becoming ungrounded. Developing a regular grounding practice can help to minimise the impact of this in our everyday life and can help reduce the extent to which we dissociate when triggered.
Connecting with nature, walking in the park, standing barefoot on the earth, swimming in the ocean or simply hugging a tree are simple techniques to practice. There are numerous studies that prove how spending time in nature helps to lower the symptoms or depression, anxiety, stress and lower blood pressure.
Foods that grow below the earth can help us feel more steady, high protein also. When eating or drinking, have the intention of grounding and pay attention to the sensation of food passing through the oesophagus and into your stomach. This allows us to tap into the natural gravitational energy which already holds us steady on the earth.
Movement
Regular movement is essential for mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellness. Finding a movement practice that we enjoy and suits our needs helps us to bypass resistance & enjoy the beauty of our bodies without it becoming another chore to add to our never ending to do list.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of becoming fully present in any given moment. We can practice mindfulness in any given time or place. The aim is to keep our awareness on one object, activity, or conversation using our senses to fully immerse ourselves in the experience.
If we take washing the dishes as an example, we feel the warm water on our skin, we see the bubbles form and pop in the soapy water, we hear the dishes and our hands moving about in the water, we can smell the washing up liquid, we can taste the flavours in our mouth.
Meditation
The practice of meditating strengthens our mind. Choose meditations that have the intention of earthing and helping us feel more connected to our bodies. Regular meditation also improves our mental and emotional stamina, supporting us to feel more in control of our mind and body.
Visualisation
When we feel ungrounded, it can be helpful to imagine roots growing out of the souls of our feet and into the earth holding us and helping us feel connected, stable and safe.
For more information on mental wellness and spiritual development, check out my Instagram and Facebook. And if you are interested in working with me, check out the services I provide on my website.
Sarah Keena, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sarah Keena, is an accredited Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist and a Spiritual Mentor. She has studied Reiki at master level as well as Celtic and Native American Shamanism. Sarah is passionate about empowering women by helping them to heal themselves and to develop their spiritual practices. She helps her clients to process and release trauma and emotional wounds which prevent them from stepping into their truest authentic selves and loving themselves in all that they are.
