Grounding when the alarm will not switch off

After serious harm, the body sometimes keeps sounding its alarm long after the danger has gone. Grounding is the work of showing the body, rather than telling it, that the present moment is a different moment.

Name what is around you

Look for five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch, two you can smell and one you can taste. Say them, silently or aloud. The point is not the counting. It is that naming what is actually here occupies the part of the mind that has gone elsewhere.

Lengthen the out-breath

Breathe in for a count of four, then out for a count of six or eight. The long out-breath is the part that settles the body, which is why sighing helps. Do it for a minute, not for twenty.

Put weight through your feet

Press both feet into the floor, hard enough to feel it. Push your palms against a wall. Carry something heavy across a room. Effort through the large muscles reaches the nervous system faster than reasoning does.

Practise when you are calm

A practice learnt during a crisis is rarely available during the next one. Use these when you are already settled, often enough that they become familiar, and they will be there when you need them.