Grounding Techniques: How They Help with Stress and Anxiety

By Heather Steele, LCSW — Morrisville Counseling & Consulting

When anxiety hits, it can feel like your mind and body are spinning away from you.

Your heart races, your thoughts speed up, and suddenly everything feels urgent, heavy, or out of control.

Many of the clients I see here in Morrisville — and across Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Apex — describe moments where they feel disconnected from themselves or overwhelmed by fear, dread, or shame.

If you’ve ever felt that way, grounding techniques can help.

Grounding brings you back into the present moment by reconnecting your mind and body.

These strategies calm your nervous system, slow down anxious spiraling, and help you feel safer and more in control.

In this article, I’ll walk you through:

• What grounding techniques are

• Why they work (including the neuroscience behind them)

• When to use them

• Step-by-step grounding practices you can start today

• A real example of how grounding helps clients in therapy

• What to do when grounding doesn’t feel like enough

My hope is that you walk away feeling more equipped, more empowered, and less alone.

What Are Grounding Techniques?

Grounding techniques are therapeutic tools that help your mind and body return to the present moment.

When anxiety, panic, or traumatic memories activate your “threat response,” grounding shifts your focus away from overwhelming thoughts and back to what’s real, concrete, and safe.

Grounding anchors you through:

• Your senses (sight, touch, sound, smell, taste)

• Your body (breath, posture, movement)

• Your thoughts (intentional mental exercises)

Think of grounding as your emotional reset button. It helps interrupt spiraling, reduce panic intensity, and bring your nervous system back toward regulation.

Research connection:

Grounding is supported by trauma and anxiety research showing that sensory input helps deactivate the fight-or-flight response by signaling safety to the brain.

• The American Psychological Association notes that sensory-based grounding helps reduce emotional overwhelm in anxiety and trauma responses.

• Research highlights how shifting attention to sensory cues helps regulate overactive fear centers in the brain.

Why Grounding Techniques Work (The Science Explained Simply)

When you’re anxious, your body activates the sympathetic nervous system, also known as fight-flight-freeze.

This system surges during:

• panic

• overwhelm

• stress

• traumatic triggers

• emotional flashbacks

You might experience:

• a racing heart

• shaking or numbness

• shortness of breath

• feeling “out of body”

• tight chest

• tunnel vision

• spiraling thoughts

Grounding helps because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, which is responsible for calming your internal alarm system.

In plain language:

Grounding tells your body: “You are safe right now. You can breathe again.”

Key research points:

• According to Harvard Medical School, grounding can help regulate the amygdala and restore a sense of orientation to the present.

• Trauma specialists like the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) recommend grounding as a first-line coping skill for both adults and teens.

Grounding doesn’t erase the stressor — but it gives you space to respond rather than react.

When to Use Grounding Techniques

Grounding is helpful anytime you feel:

• overwhelmed

• panicky

• unfocused

• disconnected from your body

• stuck in shame, fear, or rumination

• triggered by past events

• tense or overstimulated

I encourage clients to use grounding both in crisis moments and proactively.

Grounding is useful when:

• Your thoughts won’t slow down

• You feel dissociated or “far away”

• Your chest feels tight

• You’re catastrophizing

• You can’t get out of your head

• You’re trying to avoid anxiety through numbing or distraction

And grounding is also useful when:

• You’re preparing for a stressful conversation

• You’re shifting between tasks

• You’re coming home from a long workday

• You’re trying to fall asleep

• You’re already calm and want to strengthen resilience

The goal isn’t perfection — it’s practice.

A Realistic Example of Grounding in Action

Let’s take a fictionalized client story based on common patterns I see in the Triangle.

“Emily,” a 34-year-old professional living in Cary, came to therapy because she kept experiencing anxiety spikes at work.

During stressful meetings, she’d suddenly feel hot, shaky, and disconnected — like her mind was racing ahead without her.

She described it as:“I feel like I’m underwater and everyone else is breathing normally.”

During one session, when she began feeling overwhelmed while describing a triggering event, I guided her through a grounding exercise:

• She named five things she could see (a window, a plant, the texture of the rug).

• She placed both feet flat on the floor.

• She held a cold water bottle in her hands.

• She took slow, intentional breaths.

After about 30 seconds, her shoulders dropped and she said softly, “I’m back.”

Over time — practicing in sessions and at home — grounding helped Emily interrupt panic before it escalated. She now uses grounding before meetings, during stressful commutes, and even while winding down at night.

Grounding didn’t eliminate her stress immediately, but it gave her her body and mind back.

Simple Grounding Techniques You Can Try Today

Below are techniques I regularly teach clients in Morrisville, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Apex.

Choose the ones that feel right for you.

1. The 5-4-3-2-1 Sensory Method

The classic grounding tool — and extremely effective for panic.

Identify:

• 5 things you can see

• 4 things you can touch

• 3 things you can hear

• 2 things you can smell

• 1 thing you can taste

Why it works:

Engaging your senses interrupts anxious thinking and helps the brain reorient to safety.

2. Deep Breathing with a Longer Exhale

Try this pattern:

• Inhale through the nose for 4

• Hold for 2

• Exhale slowly for 6–8

A longer exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Research note: The VA PTSD Center recommends slow diaphragmatic breathing as a grounding tool for trauma survivors.

3. The Cold Water Reset

Use cold temperature as a shock to the nervous system:

• Splash cold water on your face

• Hold an ice cube

• Press a chilled water bottle to your neck or wrists

This activates the dive reflex, slowing heart rate and calming overactivation.

4. Physical Grounding / “Get Back in Your Body”

Try:

• Planting your feet firmly on the ground

• Noticing the pressure of the chair

• Stretching slowly

• Squeezing your hands together

• Gently shaking out your arms

Movement helps discharge anxious energy.

5. Mental Grounding / Redirect Your Mind

If sensory grounding isn’t available, use thought-based grounding:

• Count backward from 100 by 7s

• Name every blue object in the room

• Recite lyrics or a prayer

• Repeat: “I am safe right now.”

This shifts mental focus away from spirals and toward something structured.

6. Name Your Emotions Gently

Try saying:

• “I’m noticing anxiety in my chest.”

• “My thoughts feel fast right now.”

• “There’s a lot happening inside me.”

Naming feelings reduces intensity — a process supported by research from UCLA and APA known as “affect labeling.”

7. The 10-Second Orientation Technique

Turn your head slowly and visually scan the room.

Identify:

• Where you are

• The exits

• The light

• The colors around you

This helps the brain confirm the environment is safe — a core principle of trauma-informed therapy.

Common Mistakes People Make with Grounding

I often reassure clients about these:

“It didn’t work instantly, so I must be doing it wrong.”

Not true. Grounding works better with repetition.

“I feel silly doing this.”

That’s normal — but grounding is a clinically supported technique.

“I only use grounding in full panic.”

Try using it early, before anxiety rises too high.

“I can’t focus long enough.”

Start with very small steps — even one deep breath counts.

Bonus: 10 Grounding Statements You Can Say to Yourself

• “This moment will pass.”

• “I can slow down.”

• “My body is reacting — not failing.”

• “I am in control of my breath.”

• “I am safe.”

• “I’m allowed to take time to calm down.”

• “This feeling won’t last forever.”

• “I can handle this moment.”

• “I’m coming back into my body.”

• “I don’t have to figure everything out right now.”

What if grounding alone isn't helping my anxiety?

Grounding is powerful — but it’s not meant to replace deeper healing.

If anxiety is affecting your:

• sleep

• relationships

• work

• appetite

• daily functioning

• overall well-being

…it’s time to explore anxiety therapy.

At MCC, I help clients:

• identify triggers

• understand their nervous system

• build confidence in calming tools

• process trauma

• reduce anxiety long-term

• reconnect with their bodies

• use evidence-based treatments like EMDR

If you’re struggling, it doesn’t mean you’re weak.

It means your body and mind are asking for care.

You Don’t Have to Manage Anxiety Alone

If grounding helps but you still feel overwhelmed, hopeless, or constantly on edge, therapy can help you find real relief.

If you’re in Morrisville, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, or anywhere in the Triangle, I’d love to support you. You deserve tools that truly help and a safe space to figure out what you’re feeling.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation.

Let’s take this next step toward calm, connection, and healing — together.