10 Ways to Ground Yourself and Conquer Life

Grounded is a state of being conscious and present in the moment, so that no matter what is going on around you, you stay balanced, centered, and aligned with your soul and true self.

In order to navigate the challenges and struggles of life without giving in or breaking down, you need to be emotionally stable. This is where you maintain emotional balance and control in stressful situations. Life can throw us into situations where we can feel overwhelmed by sadness, misery, anger or frustration. You may feel like shouting, screaming, fighting or going crazy. In these situations, the best thing to do is to try to remain calm. This is essentially maintaining emotional balance. You can do this by grounding yourself. This is where you rely upon special skills and techniques to gain control over your emotions so that you don’t do something that you’d regret. Also, grounding yourself gives you a new perspective of the current situation.

Here are 10 ways to ground yourself and become emotionally stable.           

1.  Physical grounding

Physical grounding is the process where you focus on your senses and become aware of your surroundings. You can shift focus from the stressful people or circumstance you are in and transfer it to the materials, decorations, or lighting in the area. Physical grounding also involves focusing on sound. If you hear a soothing sound during a stressful circumstance, then you can focus on it and leave out all the other noise. Engaging in physical activity such as weight training, jogging, running or relaxed walking can also take your mind off the stressful situation and help you to gain emotional calmness and control.

2. Perform some self-soothing techniques

We all have voices in our heads. They tell us things which can be constructive or destructive in nature. If you find yourself in a challenging, stressful situation, you can perform some self-soothing. This is where you mentally tell yourself some positive, uplifting things. Encourage yourself by thinking that despite the current difficulty, you have encountered bigger challenges and survived. Hence, you will survive this too. Positive self-soothing is a very powerful way to ground yourself and develop emotional stability.

3. Mental visualization

This is a method of grounding yourself by visualizing a scene that is totally different from the one playing out in your life. If you find yourself caught in an argument, you can begin to visualize a scene that is calm, serene and where you feel in full control. If you find yourself at the receiving end of some condemnation, you can mentally visualize the words to your favorite song to fully distract you from your reality. In this way, you stay emotionally stable and grounded throughout. Your mind is so powerful.

4. Meditation

Practiced by people all around the world for centuries, meditation is a highly effective way to ground yourself and become emotionally stable. You can meditate while sitting in the comfortable position by simply sitting in a chair with you back upright and your hands on your lap (no need for fancy hand positions). Take the time to become aware of your breath. Stay in this mental state for at least five minutes. Your mind will wonder, but every time you become aware of it wondering, you bring your attention back to your breath. This will help to clear your mind and heart of conflict resulting in emotional stability.

5. Breathing exercises

Controlling your breath is one of the easiest and most effective methods to grounding yourself. Simply breathe in through your nose, feeling your belly expand. On the breath in count to two. Hold your breath and count two. Proceed to exhale and count three. Repeat the practice again with all your focus held on your breathing. When your mind wanders, bring your awareness back to your breath. Practice this every day and you’ll get so good at it that you can stabilize your emotions in real time whenever required. 

6. Sit in stillness

For most of us, losing control of our emotions is a direct result of having too much on our plate. You may find yourself handling too many responsibilities and obligations all at the same time. This will drive you crazy and result in outbursts. How can you relieve this? Simply take the time to sit in a position or place where you are completely still. Switch off your phone and sit in a spot where there is no noise or bothersome company. Take the time to be alone and focus on yourself with no thought in mind. Spending some time in this position can help you to calm down and figure out what can be eliminated in your life to make it easier.

7. Listen to music

Music is a universal language. The words, tune, melody and singer's voice all carry some energy which can help to balance out your emotions. If you find yourself in an emotionally taxing situation, listen to some music that relaxes you. Let it play and focus on every note with no other thought in your mind. Gradually, you will relax and find emotional stability. 

8. Walk on earth with your bare feet

This is an interesting way to get grounded. Whenever you feel emotionally overwhelmed, you can regain stability by getting in touch with mother Earth. Take off your shoes and have a stroll on the grass and dirt. Enjoy feeling the dust between your toes and the blades of grass under your feet. In doing this, you are electrically grounding your body, while also allowing yourself to relax and balance out naturally.

Enter a state of flow

The state of flow is where you’re so focused on an activity that it engulfs you, takes all your attention and you enjoy it so much that you even lose track of time. We all have an activity which we love to do. It’s possible to use it to become more emotionally stable. To get rid of unwanted, negative emotion, simply busy yourself with the activity which you are passionate about. Release all your tension in the activity and focus on it fully. Let go of other responsibilities or even the concept of time. After entering a state of flow, you’ll feel much better and possibly even have the solution to get out of a stressful situation.

10. Take a hot bath in a tub

Immersing yourself in hot water is an effective way to ground yourself and release tension. If you can, find some Epsom salts and mix them into the water that’s even better. Not only will it relax you and ease emotional tension, it’ll cleanse your skin. Taking a bath takes off the day's sweat and rids you of negative energy too. I always recommend a shower rinse after. This leaves you refreshed and ready to face the challenge or situation head on.

For you to feel grounded, balanced, and function normally and productively, you need to be emotionally stable. The tips that are indicated above are tried, tested and real ways to accomplish this. You can use them to handle the storms that can brew in your life. They’re guidelines on how to keep calm and emerge as an empowered problem-solver, true to yourself.