The following concepts described here go hand in hand.

Grounding is the process of connecting with the reality of your external world.  You can focus on stimuli or sensations you are experiencing in your body and your surroundings.  This helps you to detach from negative thoughts permeated with emotional distress. One could describe this as “Being in the Moment”.

Once you are “in the moment”, you can center yourself. Centering is the internal focused awareness that you are connected with your inner self.

Practicing grounding and centering is an effective way to calm unhelpful emotions, such as anxiety, fear, or anger.

To ground and center yourself you can:

1. Take a ‘helpful’ breath
2. Use your 5 senses to ground you by focusing on identifying what is happening in the environment and your physical body in that particular moment. This way your primitive (fight, flight, freeze) brain can shift to a safer place.
3. Help your brain recognize where you are so that your emotions can be calmed and you can begin to use the thinking part of the brain to center yourself.

When centered you are more able to mindfully integrate thoughts, emotions, physical feelings, and behaviors.

Practicing these 3 steps provides an opportunity to detach from unhelpful emotions and thoughts and connect you to the present moment, creating a better sense of calm, comfort and control.

Additional Resource

https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/grounding-techniques