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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

As finals season starts to slowly creep upon us, it is important to take a step back and take time to take care of yourself. The stress of attending school via Zoom, not being able to spend the holidays with your loved ones, and living in a pandemic can be huge stressors on anybody, so make sure you know how to get you know how to get your mind off of what may be bothering you. 

I tend to let stress and anxiety get the best of me. It seems like I have a never ending to-do list. Since I started college in 2019 there have been constant assignments, papers, midterms, and more that get piled onto my plate and added onto my to-do list. At some point, it becomes overwhelming and it’s difficult to focus on anything besides my stress. The techniques I am going to show you have saved my behind during stressful times. A technique that has worked wonders for me is grounding.

Grounding is a technique used to relieve stress, anxiety, dissociation, and much more. It is used to bring you back to the present, the here and now. It shifts your panic to clarity of yourself or to your surroundings by forcing yourself to focus. Although there are a few techniques, and everyone practices differently, here are a few that I have been recommended and that have worked wonders for myself:

  1. Be sure to go outside and take a breath of fresh air. Changing your surroundings is important!

  2. Sit in a comfortable chair (or stay standing, whatever is most comfortable for you) and press your feet into the floor. Notice how it feels to be sitting in the chair. Notice how it feels to have your feet on the ground.

  3. Recognize your senses, think about what you can see, smell, hear, feel, and taste.

  4. Focus on your breathing. Start by breathing in through your nose with a closed mouth for at least 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and then exhale for 8. Repeat this a few times. 

It is so easy to get caught up in what is bothering you and within your own thoughts. The first step is being able to recognize that you’re stressed, overwhelmed, or overthinking. The next step is to take care of yourself and practice these techniques and to ground yourself from your stress and other worries. Hopefully this technique will help you in the same way it’s helped me and many others! 

Don’t let stress overtake your life. You got this.

Hey there! My name is Jehnaveiv and I am an undergraduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I am psychology major with an education minor. My passions include making playlists, trying new recipes, and spending quality time with my loved ones.