The world can be a busy and unrelenting place and I have definitely experienced times when I was swept off my feet by uncertainty and stress and I didn’t land in the best of places. Irritable, tired, racing thoughts etc….
Coming to a place of ‘grounding’ just means returning back to yourself in the present moment. Here are some of the habits and activities I have discovered that work for me and allow me to break from all the noise and uncertainty to ‘ground’ back into myself.
Perhaps you can tell me what some of your ‘grounding’ habits are.
Painting
I discovered how much I love painting a couple of years ago. I go to organised events to paint so there’s a little bit of a social element involved, but when I get going I tend to be very quite and focused on what I’m doing. I love to get lost in the piece of work I am painting and I really enjoy the creative process; adding in dimension, depth, texture, contrast and whatever else I think is needed for the painting to come alive.
I could do it for hours because to me it is so calming. It is the only thing I am focused on in the moment and all other things temporarily dissolve away. It’s quite freeing.
Yoga
I usually turn to yoga when I am at home and have access to my laptop. I know when it’s needed too, as my thoughts are all over the place, I feel insecure, and I don’t know what to do next.
In comes Yoga with Adriene, with her kind, warm hearted and down to earth yoga videos. She immediately slows the pace down by focusing on breathing and slow deliberate movements.
It’s really a god-send when I’m overwhelmed by life/work and I need to step back to take a moment.
Exercise
Pretty obvious one but it’s here because it actually works. There are so many overall health benefits of exercise for the body, and especially for the mind too.
The best type of workout for me that helps with ‘grounding’ would be ‘Cardio Kickboxing/Boxing’ because I find it so fun. I get to immerse myself in the kicking, the punching and the high energy of it all. And before I know it, 30 minutes have passed and that’s my workout done for the day.
I choose something I find fun because I can really focus on it and I get really into it. My mind isn’t wandering to thoughts like ‘When is the timer up?’ ‘My legs are BURNING!’ or any other life and work worries that make me feel off-balance.
Like paining, I get lost in the activity of kickboxing, giving my mind a break from the constant worries and thoughts I am having. Plus I feel cool and badass, punching, kicking and working up a sweat.
Music
In the moments I reach for music, it really is a roll of the dice what I will choose.
Perhaps it’s some Opera – I like the Flower Duet from the opera Lakmé as I like to sing along. The harmonies are so pleasant to listen to, especially when you have two singers whose voices really complement each other.
Or maybe I pick some Musical Theatre – The Greatest Showman, anything sung by Cynthia Erivo, Les Mis, The Lion King etc…..
I could choose some Impressionist piano – My choice would be Clair de Lune from the composer Claude Debussy. Clair de Lune was cool long before Edward from Twilight.
And of course, anything from the 90’s, 20’s and now. Hip hop, pop punk, girl boss anthem. You name it, it’s probably somewhere on my Spotify.
Writing
An underrated yet incredibly beneficial method to stay grounded.
With writing I can get all my unfiltered thoughts out onto the paper so they stop swimming round my head. This helps me to think clearly again and stops me jumping to conclusions. I sometimes solve the problem I was struggling with when I write and journal, as I clear my head by putting all my thoughts onto the paper, arranged into an understandable narrative.
Humans, we love a narrative.
Those are some of the examples of grounding habits and activities I use when I need to but everyone is different and may use other methods to come back to Earth and back to themselves. I hope these give you some ideas and help the next time you need grounding.
The Mind Library 
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