7 Minute Grounding Exercise to Reduce Anxiety

Being a Mom is really hard work and often times we can feel like our body and thoughts are all over the place. Give yourself 7 minutes to ground in with this quick and simple technique the kids can do too!

Grounding is a process of connecting to the present moment and your surroundings. This can be done through any of the senses, sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. The purpose of grounding is to bring yourself back into the here and now when you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious. It helps to center and calm you so that you can think more clearly.

There are many ways to ground yourself, but here is a quick and easy one that only takes a few minutes:

- Find a comfortable place to sit or stand. You can close your eyes if you like, but it is not necessary.

- Start by taking a few deep breaths. Fill up your belly, ribs all the way up to your heart space and hold for a second. Then let all go.

Try that again...

-Inhale through your nose filling up your belly and ribs and hold at the heart space. Then exhale out your mouth letting everything go.

- Now, begin to notice your sits bones, the two hard bones at the base of your pelvis. Feel how they are pressing into whatever surface you are on.

- Next, think about 3 sounds you can hear, maybe it's the cars driving down the street or better yet, the sound of your own breath.

-Now, think of 3 things you can taste, perhaps your morning coffee, your gum or think past to an amazing breakfast you had once on vacation.

-Next, as you breathe through your nose, what do you smell? Can you detect 3 different things? What are they?

-Next, open your gaze and look around you and notice 3 things you see.

Repeat as many times as you need to feel grounded and calmer.

Comment your experience below!