Safety Net Alliance

Grounding techniques help you live in the moment, even when intrusive thoughts threaten your peace. Here are a few simple methods you can try:

1. Focus on the Object: Pick something in your surroundings. Examine very detail: the colors, texture, size, shape, and any unique characteristics.
2. Five Senses:
   • Name 5 things you can see
   • 4 things you can touch
   • 3 things you can hear
   • 2 things you can smell
   • 1 thing you can taste
3. Literal Grounding: Place your feed flat on the floor, take a deep breath, and say to yourself, “I am in the present moment.”

I’ll give it a try now with each technique:

1. Focus on the object:
   • I am choosing the pencil cup in my office.
   • There are two pairs of scissors. I wonder who is missing their pair.
   • I see highlighters in pink, yellow, green, and blue.
   • There are two little drawers. I forgot I had so many post-it notes.
   • The cup isn’t so much as cup as a little desk organizer.
   • The organizer has a black metal mesh.
2. Five Senses
   • 5 things I can see
     • The pencil cup
     • My keyboard
     • A reversible plushie
     • An empty cup
     • A notepad
   • 4 things I can touch
     • My fuzzy pajamas
     • The pleather of my office chair
     • The smooth wood finish on my desk
     • The edges of my phone case
   • 2 things I can smell
     • Not much, I’m stuffy!
     • Again, not really smelling anything now.
   • 1 thing I can taste
     • A hint of the last girl-scout cookie I ate
3. Literal Grounding:
   • Okay, that one was weird. Maybe it’s better to say, “I am in the present moment” silently in my head.