Grounding

What is grounding? Meaning and definition

Grounding means bringing your attention back to where you are: your surroundings, your senses and the people around you. It's a way of feeling connected again when you're caught up in your thoughts.

Picture yourself in a car park, five minutes before a hard call. Your mind has already had the conversation three times. So you stop, feel the seat under you, and look around. There's a blue car, a trolley and a tree moving in the wind. The call is still coming, and you're back in the car park rather than inside it.

Grounding doesn't have to be an exercise. A walk between two meetings, a phone call with someone you love or five minutes outside can all do it, and many of them can be planned into an ordinary day.

When does grounding work well?

• When your thoughts are racing. Your senses give your attention somewhere else to rest for a moment.
• Just before something hard. A difficult call, a meeting, or walking into a full room.
• Between one part of the day and the next. After a full inbox, and before you walk in the door at home.

Many people use grounding when they're anxious or overwhelmed, and it may ease the feeling for a while. It's something to try in the moment, and other kinds of support may suit what's underneath.

How to ground yourself

1. Stop for a moment. Step away from what you're doing, even for a couple of minutes.
2. Notice where you are. Feel your feet on the floor, look out of the window, or go outside.
3. Do something with your hands or body. Hold a warm mug, stretch, or walk to the end of the road.
4. Connect with someone. Say hello to whoever's near, or call someone familiar.
5. Go back when you're ready. There's no right length of time.

How to choose what to do with the time you have

Start from the time you actually have, because any gap can do something.

• A couple of minutes: feel your feet on the floor, look out of the window, or make a drink and hold it.
• Ten minutes: step outside, stretch, or call someone familiar.
• Half an hour or more: go for a proper walk, spend time with someone, or do something with your hands, like cooking or gardening.

If paying attention to your body feels uncomfortable, look outward instead, and notice what's around you.

How to feel grounded with Xale

An app can't ground you, and it can help you make room for what does. The examples are shown in Xale, and each one ends with how to do the same thing in other apps.

Reflect in a note

Try this when something's weighing on you, and you'd like to set it out in words.

1. Open a new Note, and give it a plain title, such as "This afternoon".
2. Write whatever's there, for as long as it's useful. Messy is fine.
3. Add a line on what you can see and hear from where you are right now.
4. Stop when you've said enough, and leave it there.
5. If you can, leave the screen there and go outside. Once your mind has less to hold, the world may feel closer.

In other apps: use any notes app, or a paper journal you can leave on the table.

Empty your mind with a mind map

Try this when your thoughts are going round, and you'd like to see them laid out.

1. Start a new Mindmap, and name the middle for whatever's on your mind.
2. Press Tab to add a branch and Enter to add another beside it, until you run out of things to add.
3. Look at the whole page. It may be smaller than it felt.
4. Right-click anything that needs doing and choose Make task.
5. Close the map. The thinking is safe here, so you don't have to keep doing it.

In other apps: MindMeister, XMind or Miro all work, and so does a sheet of paper with a circle in the middle.

Use empty slots to reconnect with the world

Try this when your day is full of screens, and you'd like some time that's connected to the world around you.

1. Open Day, and start with your daily necessities: lunch, dinner and a walk. Give each one a real place in the day, and leave some other slots empty on purpose.
2. Drag Activity from the tray to a slot, and choose the closest one, such as Walk, Grounding, Family time or Social.
3. Give it a title that says what you'll actually do, such as "Lunch outside, no phone" or "Dinner at the table".
4. In its notes, add anything you want to remember, like which bench gets the sun. Then press Add to plan.
5. Keep the rest of the gap for yourself. You don't have to fill it.

In other apps: add a calendar event with a clear title, or simply write "outside at 1" on a sticky note.

Leave a few minutes before and after something hard

Try this when you can see a difficult moment coming on your calendar.

1. Open Day, and drag Transition from the tray to just before the hard block, such as a difficult call.
2. Choose lead-in, then pick Walk, Stretch or Breathe, or write your own title, such as "Stand by the window". A daily necessity works too, like a proper lunch or a short walk.
3. Set how long it runs. It can be as short as five minutes.
4. Drag another Transition to just after it, choose wind-down, and pick Drink, Walk or Debrief.
5. When the lead-in starts, step away from your screen.

In other apps: add a five-minute calendar event before the call, and name it after what you'll do.

Connect your tasks to the people in your life

Try this when your work feels abstract, and you've lost sight of who it's for.

1. Open a task, and in Deliver to, choose the person who's counting on it.
2. Do this for a few of the tasks that matter most to you.
3. In Tasks, set Group by to Deliver to. Your list is now sorted by the people in your life.
4. Pick one person, and do one small thing for them today.

In other apps: start each task with a person's name, or keep a page for each person you care about.

Make a small grounding habit that's easy to begin

Try this when you'd like grounding to be part of ordinary days, not just the hard ones.

1. Open Habits and press New habit, then give it a name you'd enjoy seeing.
2. In Description, write exactly what you'll do, and choose somewhere pleasant to do it. See the two examples below.
3. Set how often you'd like to do it, such as Daily or a few times a week.
4. Drag it from the tray to a time on your day. Then drag Transition to just before it and choose lead-in, like making a cup of tea and carrying it to that spot.
5. If you miss a day, nothing happens. The habit is there again the next day.

Here are two descriptions you could use:

• "Grab a cushion and find a spot on the floor to lie down for 10 minutes."
• "Grab a piece of paper, and notice three easy objects you could pick up and put in your pocket."

With Xale Pro, a habit can have several steps of its own. Without it, write them in the description.

In other apps: tie it to something you already do, and keep the cushion or the paper where you'll see it.

What to do if grounding doesn't help

• If sitting still is hard, try it while walking.
• If your mind keeps returning to the thought, that's ordinary. Notice it, and go back to what's around you.
• If being alone makes it harder, call someone, or go where other people are.

How to keep grounding going

• Practise when you're calm. A technique is easier to remember in a hard moment if you've tried it on an easy one.
• Pick your one favourite. It's easier to reach for one thing you know than to choose from a list.
• Attach it to a place. The car park, the bottom of the stairs, the moment before you open your laptop.
• Notice what helped. After a hard moment, a line in a note on what you tried can help you choose next time.
• Get away from the screen. Everything above is only there to make room. Close the app, and go out into the real world, into nature if you can.

Grounding: common questions

What is the 5-4-3-2-1 method? A well-known grounding exercise where you name five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell and one you can taste. Some people find it useful, and a simple walk or a moment by the window can work just as well.

What's the difference between grounding and mindfulness? Mindfulness is a wider practice of paying attention to the present moment on purpose. Grounding is a short, practical way of doing that, usually using your senses when your thoughts have run away with you.

Can grounding help with anxiety? Many people use it when they're anxious, and it may ease the feeling for a while. If anxiety is affecting your life more widely, it's worth talking to a doctor or mental health professional.

How long does grounding take? A minute or two is common. Stop whenever you feel ready, and repeat it if you'd like.

Is grounding the same as earthing? They're different. Earthing usually means walking barefoot on the ground. Grounding here means using your senses to bring your attention back.

Related topics

• Compare with Mindfulness: the wider practice that grounding draws on.
• Try alongside it: Breathwork and Body scan.
• Use it when things pile up: Overwhelm.
• Make room for it with Buffer time and Decompression.