{"id":7276,"date":"2023-03-30T18:10:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T22:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifebylaseraway.vipdev.lndo.site\/uncategorized\/3-therapist-approved-grounding-exercises-for-managing-anxiety-symptoms\/"},"modified":"2023-08-23T19:02:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T23:02:30","slug":"3-therapist-approved-grounding-exercises-for-managing-anxiety-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/life.laseraway.com\/mind\/3-therapist-approved-grounding-exercises-for-managing-anxiety-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Therapist-Approved Grounding Exercises for Managing Anxiety Symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How to manage anxiety levels<\/h2>\n

Many of us experience anxiety, which is a natural response that occurs when we\u2019re feeling unsafe in a number of ways. While anxiety can present in many forms, many individuals experience physical symptoms of anxiety, including a racing heart, shakiness, sweaty palms, and difficulty focusing. Luckily, there are a number of different grounding exercises you can use to help manage anxiety symptoms when they arise.<\/p>\n

First off: what is anxiety?<\/h2>\n

While experiences of anxiety can vary widely, a simple definition of anxiety is a physiological response occurring when our bodies think we are in danger. At one time, this was evolutionarily very important. Humans needed to be able to run from predators. However, in modern society, this is less applicable (although it still can be at times).<\/p>\n

Physiologically, when we become anxious, the fear response in our brains is activated. When the fear response is activated, it shuts down parts of the brain that are involved in logic and reasoning.<\/p>\n

When we are unable to access logic and reasoning, we are at the mercy of the parts of our brains that are focused solely on survival. We are unable to recognize the difference between a genuinely life-threatening situation and something less serious. For example, if you are someone who becomes anxious in crowds, your brain may be having difficulty recognizing that crowds are not a life-threatening situation (trauma can also greatly affect what our brains identify as a threat). In many cases, we are not in an actual life-threatening situation. We can try to tell our brains all we want, but it often will not get through if we are having a fear response. In that case, what can be done?<\/p>\n

Three grounding exercises to help manage anxiety<\/h2>\n

Grounding skills are highly effective and often simple techniques that can be used to calm our bodies and nervous systems when we have an activated fear response. While there are many that exist, here are a few simple and effective ones.<\/p>\n

1. Breathing<\/h2>\n

<\/span> <\/span>Deep breathing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to calm our nervous systems. There are many techniques to use. Usually, the simpler the techniques are the best so that we can access them in our most anxious states. Below are a few options:<\/p>\n