Dove's Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. Podcast

Your Body and Mind Are Connected: Here's Why Grounding Matters

• Demetria Nickens • Episode 28

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 How Can Grounding Techniques Help Regulate Overwhelming Emotions During Moments Of Distress? 

Ever feel like your emotions are spiraling out of control? Mental health expert Demetria Nickens reveals a powerful antidote: grounding techniques that can transform moments of distress into opportunities for presence and peace.

"We have one body right, and it's all connected," Demetria explains, challenging the common misconception that our physical and mental states operate independently. This insight forms the foundation of effective grounding practices that help regulate overwhelming emotions. When we're distressed, we're typically fixated on something that has already happened or worried about future outcomes. Grounding breaks this cycle by redirecting our awareness to "the absolute right now."

Demetria shares several accessible techniques anyone can use, from the structured 5-4-3-2-1 sensory awareness exercise to simple mindful walking or box breathing (inhaling for four counts, holding for four, exhaling for four). The beauty of these approaches lies in their flexibility and simplicity—they require no special equipment and can be practiced in just 5-15 minutes during regular work breaks. "Just taking time to be with yourself and know what you're really feeling can be everything," she notes.


Ready to transform your relationship with difficult emotions? Listen now to learn how simple grounding practices can help you stay present, regulated, and emotionally resilient—no matter what life throws your way. For personalized support, visit DovesInnerBeauty.com for a complimentary consultation or call 336-298-6599.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Dove's Inner Beauty Podcast, where we foster emotional awareness, one individual at a time. Leading the way is Demetria Nickens, a certified mental health first aid instructor and trauma recovery coach with over two decades of experience in fostering emotional awareness in others by engaging their mental health. Awareness in others by engaging their mental health.

Speaker 2:

Feeling emotionally overwhelmed. Grounded might be the lifeline you didn't know you needed. Demetrius shares how sensory based practice can calm your mind and body in real time. Welcome back everyone. I'm Garfield Born, Co-host slash producer. Back in the studio with the one and only Demetria Nickens, certified mental health first class instructor and trauma recovery coach. Demetria, how's it going?

Speaker 3:

Going all right. Going all right. How are you?

Speaker 2:

That's good, good, I'm blessed, I'm blessed. Right, how are you? That's good, good, I'm blessed, I'm blessed. So tell us how can grounding techniques help regulate overwhelming emotions during moments of distress?

Speaker 3:

So great question. So, when we think about grounding techniques, it's important to understand, kind of, what grounding is, because everybody doesn't even know what grounding is. This idea of being able to be more in the present with yourself, right, understanding what you're feeling from a mental standpoint, but also from a physical standpoint, right, people always seem to think that physical and mental are so separate from each other. But we have one body right, and it's all connected, and so it is important to recognize that, because of that connection, our bodies can help us mentally and our mental can help our bodies, because they're all together, they work together. So it's important to recognize that. So, when we think about this idea of grounding, there are many different ways that people do it, but, honestly, it's about being in the presence, right With yourself. And so what do I feel right now? What do I see right now? What do I smell? Right now? We're really engaging. When you're grounding, you're engaging your senses, whether that's sitting inside, whether that's your feet in the grass outside, no matter where you're at or what you decide to do, when it comes to grounding, it's just this idea that I want to be in the present moment. So when we're in distress, we are thinking about, possibly something that happened in the past, even if it's the past a few seconds ago, right, I got a phone call and I'm upset about a thing, right? Or somebody did something and now I'm mad about it, or I mean just anything. Right, it could be anything but nine times out of 10, when we feel like we're in a distressed moment, something has happened to put us in that distressed moment. And so when you try to ground yourself, right, the idea is you're not thinking about the past or the future, you're thinking about the absolute right now. And so grounding is about being able to say you know what? Stop all the noise, all the things. I'm not thinking about the past, I'm not thinking about the present, I'm not thinking about the future, excuse me, I'm thinking about right now, just right, absolutely right now. What do I feel right now?

Speaker 3:

Sometimes people will say, okay, start with five. Right, what are five things that are blue that I can see in this room? Cool. What are four things that I can smell in this room? What are three things that I can touch in this room?

Speaker 3:

And then literally just going down the line of your senses to kind of bring you back into the present moment versus being in the past or being in the future, right, and so because you're in the present moment, you automatically kind of stop yourself. It's like a distraction being able to just kind of stop yourself from thinking about everything else that's going on. Just be right here in this moment. A lot of people don't want to be in the moment with themselves, right, because they're worried about all the thoughts that are going to come in their mind.

Speaker 3:

But if you can stay focused on what is happening in the present, like just sitting in a chair right now, right, we're both sitting in a seat.

Speaker 3:

How's your butt feeling that seat? Is the seat hard, is it a soft? Is it a cushion? Right, how do you feel in that seat? You're in the present. I'm thinking about oh, what's going on in the seat? Am I hot, am I cold? Right, what do I feel? And being very intentional about those feelings, both mentally and physically, keeps you in the moment, right then and there, and not past or future. And so grounding just helps to just stay present with yourself. Where are you at right now? And just it's like just taking this gauge of oh okay, I'm not feeling too bad right now, like if I'm just thinking about right now. I'm not too bad right now, or I'm cold right now, or no, I'm just really hot right now, or whatever it is. You're focused on the right now versus whatever else that you had going on, and so it helps to really pull you out of that thought pattern that you were in that may have been this negative cycle of thinking.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, as a lay person listening, a lot of things come into my mind here, thinking about the parent whose child is just driving her crazy and she's trying to breathe, breathe in, breathe out. Count from one to 10 backwards. Yeah, is some grounding techniques better than others, depending on situations?

Speaker 3:

I think it depends on the situation. Yeah, breathing, breath is life. People take that for granted. I feel like I say that a lot, but breath is life and people do not take the time to really breathe right, like, really can you feel the breath entering your nose, exiting your mouth? Is the breath hot, cold, right, when you can take the time to think about just those minute details? You're not thinking about something that's distressing you in the moment. You're thinking about those minute details. You're not thinking about something that's distressing you in the moment. You're thinking about those minute details. And so I really do think that it depends on the situation how upset you are, how much you get in your head as a person.

Speaker 3:

I think different grounding techniques help for different people. It's important to at least try different grounding techniques out to know which ones work best for you. There are some people who, if they're outside and their feet is in the grass, in the dirt, they feel like they are grounded with the earth and that is just the best place that they can be. It's peaceful, that's all they need, right? Can they get outside and get their feet in the dirt and in some grass, and it helps them to just be the best person they can be. Other people they're like okay, this does nothing for me. What you? What are you talking about? So what can I go get some shoes Right? You like them at all. So it just really depends on the person.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I and I noticed and you know some people like to go by the water and play with the birds and stuff like that. Yeah, and I noticed and you know some people like to go by the water and play with the birds and stuff like that. How do you incorporate some of this in your daily routine to alleviate stress?

Speaker 3:

Oh man. So I would say you know, if you get 10, 15 minute break at work, right, how do you take that break? Right? Do you sit there still at your desk and eat? How helpful is that right? Use some of that time to breathe, do some breathing exercises. We call it box breath.

Speaker 3:

So this idea of inhale for four, hold it for four, exhale for four and just continuing that for maybe five minutes, it's very 10 minutes right. Very helpful to kind of what we call regulate the nervous system and just get you back to a level of what they call like even keel. This idea where you're not so heightened in your senses, your senses calm down, that's your body, that's physical right. And so being able to say, all right, I'm gonna calm my nervous system down, I'm going to do some box breathing and I'm just going to stop, or maybe you're the person that at work, you got to go take a walk at work. That is like those are like grounding techniques, even though people don't think about it.

Speaker 3:

This idea of self-care right, being able to say you know what?

Speaker 3:

I'm going to go outside in this beautiful time and walk and just feel the breeze or the sun or whatever hit my face. It's beautifully grounding because you're in the present of walking right, you're presently outside and you're walking and you're paying attention to you walking and being outside right, and maybe you're getting your frustrations out, maybe you're thinking about all the things, but there's ways to kind of help. So, no matter what you're doing, 10, 15 minutes right, everybody has the ability to take 10, 15 minutes. You just have to find those 10, 15 minutes and be able to say you know what? I'm feeling a little heightened right now.

Speaker 3:

Whatever the emotion is in this thing, I'm just going to breathe, or I'm going to go outside, or I'm going to ground, I'm going to sit in this chair, I'm going to sit outside and I'm going to focus on just what's happening right now in the present. So just taking time to be with yourself and know what you're really feeling can be everything. Even if it's just five, 10 minutes, it can be very, very helpful to you and you never really realized how helpful it can be until you try it.

Speaker 2:

And most people on the job, they do get breaks, yeah, so you know. Demetria's showing you how to take them and get grounded. Love it. You have a wonderful rest of the day. We'll see you on the next episode.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to the Doves Inner Beauty podcast, where we foster emotional awareness. One individual at a time For a complimentary consultation. Individual at a time For a complimentary consultation visit DovesInnerBeautycom or call 336-298-6599. That's 336-298-6599.