Sensory Grounding: Learning to be in the Present Moment
What is sensory grounding?
Sensory Grounding reorients you to the present moment, rather than being stuck in the past or future. Grounding skills can be used for managing anxiety or can help you regain clarity when in an intense emotional state. They often involve engaging the 5 senses.
Why does sensory grounding help?
Utilizing sensory grounding can help you return to the present when experiencing flashbacks, unwanted thoughts, distressing emotional states, and urges to engage in destructive behavior. Utilizing these techniques can take time and practice, but they do offer relief.
“The body always leads us home … if we can simply learn to trust sensation and stay with it long enough for it to reveal appropriate action, movement, insight, or feeling.”
Examples of Sensory Grounding
Create a Grounding Handprint
Begin by tracing your hand on a piece of paper and label each finger as one of the five senses. Then take each finger and identify something special and safe representing each of those five senses. For example: Thumb represents sight and a label for sight might be butterflies or my middle finger represents the smell sense and it could be represented by lilacs.
After writing and drawing all this on paper, post it on your refrigerator or other safe places in the home where it could be easily seen and memorize it.
Whenever you get triggered, breathe deeply and slowly, and put your hand in front of your face where you can really see it – stare at your hand and then look at each finger and try to do the five senses exercise from memory.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Technique
Name 5 things you can see in the room with you.
Name 4 things you can feel (“chair on my back” or “feet on floor”)
Name 3 things you can hear right now (“fingers tapping on keyboard” or “tv”)
Name 2 things you can smell right now (or, 2 things you like the smell of)
Name 1 you can taste (or your favorite flavor)
Cognitive Awareness Grounding Exercise
Re-orient yourself in place and time by asking yourself some or all of these questions:
Where am I?
What is today?
What is the date?
What is the month?
What is the year?
How old am I?
What season is it?
