Ground Control: Quick Stress-Release Techniques

With final projects coming up, pandemic anxiety and job applications for the summer, we all need to take a little time to de-stress and reset. Grounding techniques are a huge help to keep your mind grounded and refocus to the present, and they can be done anywhere and anytime. Although they’re often used for people in anxious or stressful situations, grounding exercises can be used by anyone who needs to hit the reset button. 

Here are a few simple grounding techniques that I’ve used during some stressful times: 

5-4-3-2-1:

This technique is quite well known, but remains quite effective. Using your 5 senses, focus on your surroundings to help tie you to the present:

5. Name five things you can see 

4. Name four things you can touch 

3. Name three things you can hear 

2. Name two things you can smell 

1. Name one thing you can taste

Take your time, observe the world around you, and really connect with every sense. By doing this, you can help reset your brain and calm yourself down if you’re anxious. 

Full Body Tension Release:

Sometimes when we’re stressed, our bodies tense up without us noticing. Is your jaw clenched? Your back slouched? Your fists tightened? Even if you can’t feel it, you might still be tense. Here’s a short series of exercises to relax you from your head to your toes. Hold each position for five seconds, and take two deep breaths between each exercise:

1. Raise your eyebrows as high as possible

2. Clench your eyelids shut

3. Open your mouth wide and stretch your jaw

4. Touch your shoulders to your ears

5. Take a deep breath into your chest

6. Suck your stomach in

7. Draw your right forearm up to your shoulder and clench your fist. Repeat on the left side

8. Pull your buttocks together

9. Pull your right toes upwards and squeeze your thigh muscles. Repeat on the left side

10. Curl your toes downwards

Finish by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths, making sure to release any tension left in your body. You should feel loose and relaxed, and more ready to focus. 

Square Breathing:

It might sound a little cliche, but taking deep, meaningful breaths can help you calm down and refocus. Square breathing, also called box breathing, is my favourite method. Close your eyes and breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, and hold for 4 seconds, before repeating as many times as necessary to relax. This method is simple but effective. There are also lots of animations or gifs online if you are worried about not keeping up with the timing. Spending a few minutes to focus on calming your breath helps take your mind off of stressors temporarily and makes it a lot more effective to focus afterwards.

Finally, self care is the best way to really ground yourself. Not only can it help you relax and focus later on, but it can really help with your mental health in the long term. Although sometimes it’s hard to carve out some meaningful time for yourself when you have a busy schedule, it is better to appreciate the time off you have than to stress constantly and lose productivity. If you only have a few minutes, write in a gratitude journal, say some positive affirmations, or take a few minutes to quietly meditate for a little pick-me-up. If you have a little more time, feel free to take a calming bath or go through a skincare routine. If you haven’t been focusing on what you’ve been eating, take some time to prepare a good meal. Finally, make sure you get enough sleep, which helps reset the brain, and actually helps with memory if you’re studying. 

And just a final reminder to take some time for yourself during this stressful time. You deserve it. 

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• calm down
• de-stress self care
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• mindful
• mindfulness
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• Stress Management