Healing in the Moment: Grounding Techniques for Emotional Pain

There are moments in grief and trauma when the emotions become overwhelming.

Your heart races.

Your mind spirals.

Memories flood in.

In those moments, something simple but powerful can help bring you back to the present: grounding.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing practical grounding techniques that therapists often recommend for emotional overwhelm, trauma triggers, anxiety, and grief waves.

Grounding helps anchor your mind and body in the present moment so you can regain a sense of calm and safety.

We talk about:

• What grounding is and why it helps

• When to use grounding during emotional overwhelm

• Mental grounding techniques

• Physical grounding techniques

• Soothing grounding techniques

• How faith can help anchor us when emotions feel too heavy

If you’re navigating grief, trauma, or difficult emotions, I hope this episode gives you tools you can return to when the waves rise.

And even in mourning… we rise.

Xx K

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi friends, welcome back to Rise in Morning. I'm your host, Kristen Hajjar. If you're new here, this space is where we talk about grief, faith, healing, and learning how to keep rising after deep loss. Because even in mourning, we rise. So before I jump into today's episode and topic, I just want to check in, see how you guys are doing. Um, I have not been doing that great the last week or two. I've noticed my mood shift. I'm become a little bit more withdrawn and quiet. And um, I'm not sure if there's anything that's really triggered it. I think it's just the waves of grief, you know? So I'm trying to pick my myself back up again. And um, you know, showing up in front of the camera, showing up for you guys helps, but it's hard sometimes, to be honest. Um yeah, it's just it's just hard sometimes to show up when my mental space isn't like that great. And, you know, it's hard to talk about some of these subjects and still put on a smile or a brave face or something. But, you know, it's just hard sometimes. And I sometimes miss episodes, sometimes I'm feel like I'm doing really great and ahead of things, and I think that's just life, and that's also grief that sometimes you just feel like you're you're doing okay, and the next minute you're not. And I think you just have to do the best you can in those moments, and that's what I'm trying to do now. And which also got me thinking, you know, my sister had told me a story uh the other day about a woman that she ran into in Whole Foods. She was a cashier, she was uh an older lady, maybe around her 60s, she said, and the cashier was crying. Um, she was trying to cover her emotions up. And um, my sister asked her if she was okay, what was wrong. And the lady said that she had just recently lost her mom. And, you know, they play music in in Whole Foods and and grocery stores, and the song that was on, she said, reminded her of her mother. And my sister told me that she was very sympathetic to her story, and she tried to talk to her a little bit. And the lady that was in line next to my sister had these beautiful bouquets of flowers, and somehow she had said, like, these are for my mother. And my sister was like, Oh my gosh, like they're beautiful, but you know, the cashier just lost her mother, and that's why she's emotional. So maybe just don't let her know that. Um, so then you know, the the woman was like, Okay, oh my gosh, like, yes, you know, but it this story breaks my heart because why why is it not okay to show your emotions? Why is it not okay to break down and not have everything all together all the time, especially when you've recently lost somebody? Or maybe it could have been years ago that you lost someone, but why is it like that woman why was she like in a hurry to kind of like cover her emotions up and everything? It's just so sad that that that that's the way it is in society that we can't just feel what we need to feel and then move on, you know? And I don't know, that story just really kind of broke my heart. I know where that woman's coming from. I've cried many times in a a store or grocery store. I I've mentioned before that I I don't till still to this day, I don't go down any baby aisle at all in any store. And that's because the last time I did do that, and it was just by like habit, because that's the aisle I would go down. My my kids were still very young, and I would still go down the baby aisle, the baby food aisle, whatever, because I I needed to. And I did it out of habit and I broke down because, you know, those were all the things that I would purchase. And it's it's it's still hard. It is hard. So I just felt bad for the woman and and the story that my sister was telling me. And you guys don't lose out on the opportunities to tell your loved ones that you love them, like here and now, you know. You hear, like, oh, go call your mom, go call your sister, but really do it. Be there for your friend. If you say you're gonna be there, be there. If you're best friends and you haven't spoken to her in like days, there's a problem. Like, be there for the people that you say that you love and don't wait until they're gone to write all these beautiful things about them. Um, tell them now. Tell them how special they are to you, how much you love them, how much you appreciate them, uh, how much they do for you, uh whatever that is, take the opportunity to call the people that you love, to text them. I I prefer call, but you know, whatever, whatever is gonna get you to do something, just do it. Because once they're gone, it is too late. And you do want to be able to tell them these things and not just like post it for whoever on the internet to read. So that's kind of like where I'm at right now. I'm I'm a little bit emotional uh these days, and that's okay. And I'm doing the best I can and I'm showing up today, and and we're gonna segue into today's topic, which is coping. So it's a great uh episode to listen to if you need some coping skills. So stay tuned. So, as I just mentioned, today I want to talk about something incredibly practical, something that has helped many people dealing with trauma and anxiety, grief, and overwhelming emotions. It's called grounding. And if you've ever felt like your emotions suddenly have become too much to handle, then this episode may really help you. So, what is grounding? Grounding is a set of simple strategies that help bring your mind and body back to the present moment. When we experience trauma or grief, our minds tend to travel elsewhere. Sometimes we can go into the past, replaying painful memories, and sometimes we jump into the future, imagining the worst case scenarios. And sometimes we feel so overwhelmed that we almost disconnect from the moment entirely. Grounding helps bring us back, it anchors us into the present moment so that our emotions don't completely take us over. Instead of being consumed by the pain, grounding helps us create like a little bit of healthy distance from it. Really quickly, I want to remind you that if you love this channel and podcast and find it helpful, please leave me a five-star review if you're listening. Make sure that you're subscribed to my YouTube channel or Spotify. It really helps me out and the show. And when you leave a positive review, it helps others see the show. I'm a one-woman show and it takes a lot of time and preparation to put these episodes together. So please take a few seconds to do so. Thanks. And you can find me anywhere on my socials at Rise in Morning for extra tips and community. So why does grounding matter? When emotional pain becomes overwhelming, our nervous system can go into like survival mode. People may feel panicked or fear or heightened anxiety, really emotional, numb, disconnected. And sometimes all of those things at the same time can be true as well. But grounding works by bringing our awareness outward rather than inward. Instead of getting lost inside the emotional storm, we begin to focus on what is real and what is present around us: the room, the sounds, our breath, the sensations in our body. And slowly that helps our mind realize something. I am safe right now. Pain is a feeling, but it's not who we are. So we must not let it take control of us. So when do we use grounding? Grounding can be used anytime, anywhere. It can help when you feel triggered, when your emotions suddenly spike, you're overwhelmed by grief, you feel disconnected or numb, your thoughts are racing, or when your emotional pain feels like it's climbing too high. Some therapists even suggest rating your emotional pain on a scale from zero to ten. If your emotions rise above a six or a seven, grounding techniques then can help us bring us back down. And I learned all of this and these techniques from my current therapist that I've been seeing now for going on three years. So I find them really helpful. And we're gonna talk about the types of grounding. So these are the three main types of grounding: mental grounding, physical grounding, and soothing grounding. Each one helps in a different way. So let me break each one of these down for you. Mental grounding uses your mind and focus. For example, you might look around a room that you're in and start describing it to yourself in detail. You might say, the walls are white, there's a wooden table, there are three chairs, it's cold in here. You are simply observing without judging. Another technique is playing small mental games with yourself. This is my personal favorite. You might call it listing. My therapist calls it categorizing. For example, list types of dogs, cities you visited, foods that start with the letter A, or my personal favorite, I would list brands from A to Z or produce from A to Z. For example, I'll do like the brands, um, Aquazora, Bottega, Cartier, and so on. And if it's produce, apples, blueberries, carrots. And these are simple mental exercises to simply pull your brain away from the emotional and overwhelming parts. These simple mental games pull your brain away from emotional overwhelm. And I found this to be very effective for me because by the time I got to letter E or F, I'm thinking of like the next brand or the next produce. And that's the whole point of the mental game. So pick a category that you're interested in or that you're well versed in, start naming things off. And pretty soon you'll notice that your emotional state is starting to calm down and you're just become more present. All right, physical grounding. Physical grounding uses your body and senses. This is also a good one. And this is also a technique I used a lot when my grief was at an all-time high. You might run warm or cool water over your hands or face, touch objects near you and notice their texture. Feel your feet pressing into the ground or go touch grass. Literally, like everyone likes to say, but there's merit to it. Feel the sun on your face, the warmth. Take slow breaths and pay attention to each inhale and exhale. You can also simply notice the weight of your body in a chair. These sensations help remind your nervous system. I am here, I am present, I am okay in this moment. And the last grounding technique is the soothing grounding. It involves speaking kindly to yourself. Now I know this might be a difficult one, especially if you've lost someone in a traumatic or sudden way. The coulda, woulda, shoulda's will invade your mind almost always the most. But when you do it, think of it as almost the way you would comfort a child. You might say things like, I'm safe right now. This moment will pass. I can't handle this. I'm doing the best that I can. You might picture someone you love or remember a place that feels peaceful to you. A beach, the mountains, your bedroom, a place where your heart feels calm. My faith perspective on this. As Christians, grounding can also look like anchoring ourselves in God's presence. Sometimes grounding can be as simple as repeating a verse slowly, like Psalm 34, 18. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those Christian spirit, or taking slow breaths while praying quietly. You might say something like, Lord, help me be still, give me peace, calm my anxiety, carry what I cannot handle. Sometimes the most powerful grounding is simply remembering that God is with us in this moment, not just the past, not just in the future, but right now and all around. And you can trust that he will bring you through anything. If you're walking through grief, trauma, or overwhelming emotions, grounding can be a very gentle but powerful tool. It helps you stand in the moment without being swallowed by it. It takes a little bit of practice and you do have to remind yourself to try to do these techniques. But once you realize that they are helpful, you will continue to do them. And remember, sometimes healing begins with something very simple and that God is here with you. Thank you for being here with me today, for listening or watching wherever you are. And if this episode helped you, please share it with someone who may need it. And please don't forget to support this podcast. Leave a review, like, comment, share, subscribe, all the things. And remember, even in mourning, re rise.