Self-Awareness Grounding Exercise
Learn: Learning self-awareness is the key to understanding and managing your intense emotional responses so that you can begin to improve your life and your relationships. Check in with yourself.
Change: Here’s a quick exercise to boost your self-awareness.
Get comfortable and focus inward. Sit down, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. The best way to calm your nervous system is with slow breathing. This will signal your body that you are safe and your nervous system can begin to relax.
Know your body’s energy level. On a scale from very tired (low energy to very energized (high energy), where are you at this moment? Notice any areas of tension or relaxation in your body.
Check your thought traffic. If your thoughts were a car on the road, are you driving in traffic with lots of noise? Is your mind a bustling highway racing to get to the next destination? Are you driving on a calm country road, focusing on the landscapes around you? Recognize you can control the car you drive and your emotions do not have to be in the driver’s seat.
Recognize your emotions. Are your emotions pleasant or unpleasant? How intense are they? What do you need to do to reduce the intensity? Emotions are short lived and they will pass. It is simply enough to acknowledge that you are feeling something, label the emotion, breathe through it and let it go.
Grow: This exercise helps you quickly assess your internal state and stress levels. It can show you if you’re in a good place to move forward with whatever you’re about to do next. For example, if you’re gearing up for a tough conversation and feel tense and distracted, it might be wise to either delay the chat or work to improve your mood first. Incorporating these techniques into your daily routine can make a huge difference.